Welcome to My Social

I'll start by scolding Microsoft PR for not sending a review model back in November, when I asked. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. I like the Zune. It's no lump of coal, and the device's rap comes from comparisons to iPod. Using a Zune would have greatly impacted my blogging about it, for the better. My Christmas Zune came from the local Target.

Zune was a late add to my Christmas wish list, prompted by Microsoft's release last week of a Windows Vista-compatible update to Zune Marketplace. I read a bunch of reviews on the device, noticing a common element: Seems to me that many reviewers really liked the music player but were cautious about saying so. Some of those reviews: PC Magazine, Ars Technica and CNET. Based on these reviews, my good experience with the Zune Marketplace and scouting expeditions to the local Circuit City and Target, I put the device as the only item on my Christmas list.

Santa delivered a black Zune, Zune A/V Pack and Digital Lifestyle Outfitters Action Jacket neoprene case. The DLO case came with a promo for 12-free issues of Rolling Stone.

The out-of-box experience is phenomenal. Packaging does matter, and the Zune box and contents evoke quality and attention to detail. The experience reminds of iPod three to five years ago. I've read plenty of snide comments about how Zune best compares to earlier iPods. If that's meant as negative, I see a positive, too. I think the iPod out-of-box experience was much better back in the days when Apple packaged the music players in bigger boxes with more goodies inside. Zune delivers that kind of experience today. Even my graphic designer wife, who is fanatical about her iPod nano, praised the Zune packaging.

By the way, I've used iPods since November 2001, when Apple released the music player for sale. I've used successor products since, including iPod Photo, iPod nano and iPod with video. I've also used many competing products, from manufacturers Creative, Rio (which is defunct), Samsung and Toshiba. None of those other devices delivered a user experience comparable to iPod, in part because of ongoing synchronization problems with Windows Media Player. Little improved when Microsoft launched PlaysForSure two years ago. PlayForNotSure applies to the bulk of my synchronization experiences, particularly with DRM content purchased at most online music stores.

By contrast, Zune actually delivers a good experience. When I plugged in the music player for the first time, the software immediately launched a firmware updater, then synchronized music with my Windows Vista PC. The process was quick and easy. Pundits will argue that Microsoft copied Apple. In process, maybe yes; in technology, absolutely not. Microsoft's rights management and synchronization protocol function very differently than iPod/iTunes.

The Rights Stuff
I signed up for a three-month Zune subscription and only put DRM content on the device. I don't much care about owning stuff. Just the opposite: Subscription is more appealing. I've lived through two major format revisions--vinyl to CD and CD to DRM-protected download--and repurchasing content long ago lost its novelty. Other than the convenience of immediacy or single track purchases, I can no longer justify paying for DRM content that has usage restrictions and less quality than tracks on CDs. Right now, Apple's model is pay to own, with no available subscription option.

As for synchronized content, I'll confess to: Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, Hellogoodbye, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, Matisyahu, Panic! At the Disco, +44, Snow Patrol, The Sounds and Zero 7.

Zune handles well. The device feels rugged and looks to be pretty tough to scratch (that's a test for a loaner, not my own unit). Comparisons to iPod diminish what Microsoft has delivered. Sure, the Zune is huge compared to the diminutive Shuffle or nano--and it's is larger than the 80GB iPod. But larger isn't the same as too big.

Zune marketing is the antithesis of Apple's, which no doubt is intentional. Apple produces great iPod ads, but their emphasis is on the individual--as are those iconic white ear buds seen bobbing by the dozens on most city blocks. The iPod experience is singular. Microsoft's "Welcome to the Social" tagline and content sharing technology and marketing approach emphasizes community. Maybe Microsoft has a better understanding of people born between 1978-2000--so called Generation Y, Millennials, Echo Boomers or MySpace Generation--than does Apple.

Right now, sharing requires two Microsoft music players, which is an unlikely circumstance given the huge number of iPods in use and the much fewer Zunes. But the mind boggles what sharing Zune could do with that built-in WiFi. It's Christmas, and even Microsoft employees get a holiday, so I won't be asking about the underlying synchronization protocol; but I assume that it's MTP (Media Transport Protocol). If so, Microsoft could enable MTP photo sharing between consumer WiFi-enabled digital cameras and Zune. Already, Zune works with Xbox 360. I can envision a number of sharing scenarios--with laptops, digital cameras and other devices--that could revitalize opportunities for partners abandoned when Microsoft dumped PlaysForSure for Zune.

Microsoft's main demographic is clear from the marketing: 18- to 24-year-olds that haven't yet amassed collections of purchased music or locked into iPods. While scouting Zune at the local Super Target, I watched a twentysomething guy eying the music player. He could have been plucked from any Zune commercial. He fit the type so well, he could have been one of those marketing, stealth shoppers. I think not.

The Sounds
I took the chance on the device in part because of the Zune Marketplace, which appeals to my sense of music discovery. Zune Markeplace is a startling contrast to MSN Music, which needed a good music editor or program manager. Good editorial selection is stamped all over Zune. But music editor's touch is something the iTunes Music Store has had since opening. While the Zune Marketplace artist and album selection satisfies, some missing music mystifies. I wanted to download the Foo Fighters album "Skin and Bones," which iTunes Music Store and even MTV URGE carries. The album is a Zune Marketplace no show.

Zune Marketplace could be better, but it's a great start. Search is wicked fast. I think URGE has better programming and great playlist integration with Windows Media Player 11. Apple is the gold standard, but Zune is a silver or bronze, depending on the avenue for discovering music.

I see nothing terribly wrong with the experience Microsoft delivers with the Zune, in itself. Problem: Microsoft's entertainment strategy is much broader than Zune, which doesn't fit in anywhere else but Xbox 360. About a month ago, I charged, "Zune is a mistake. While Microsoft's Zune marketing beckons, 'welcome to the social,' the device is instead antisocial with the existing Windows Media ecosystem." From the perspective of how Zune doesn't fit in with Microsoft's own products, my position is unchanged.

However, after using the music player and Zune Marketplace, I concede that Microsoft has done good work. More importantly, I see Zune as transcending Microsoft's Version 1 syndrome, where first iteration doesn't have be good enough. There are good reasons why Microsoft is renown for getting products right on the third try. I think Zune delivers a good experience, and there is foundation for Microsoft to improve the experience through firmware upgrades. So version 1.2 or 1.5--maybe even 2.0--could eventually be the Zune received as a Christmas present.

Apple's iPod is iconic now, the way Sony's Walkman was about three decades ago. There is a cultural, societal force behind iPod that goes way beyond Apple's terrific marketing. But that shared cultural experience is singular in its consumption, as seen by all those white earbuds attached to lone iPods. With Zune, Microsoft seeks to create something shared, something in common.

Now, if I only had another Zune or knew someone with a Zune to share with. Then: Welcome to my social.

Anyway, Merry Christmas!