Zune Gets More Social
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Microsoft's music guru, J Allard, is no Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. Zune is no iPod wannabe. Does it need to be? |
Overnight, Microsoft announced new Zune devices and a new Zune music store, and unveiled a new music social networking site. While there will be thousands of Apple and iPod comparisons today, they're pointless. Microsoft isn't gunning for Apple, nor should it given how far ahead iPod is. Instead, Microsoft is playing the long game by focusing on existing customers and extending "Live" social networking concepts.
Microsoft is sticking to its strategy of leveraging Xbox for Zune. The product strategies—and social networking services—are clearly aligned. I had planned to really zing Microsoft for the approach, because the twain, gaming and music, often don't mix. But on deeper consideration, Xbox and Zune alignment makes a helluva lot of sense. Apple's success with iPod is a major reason.
I'm from Northern Maine, where I grew up watching Canadian television. One popular Canadian kids show, "The Friendly Giant," opened, after the "Early One Morning" musical introduction, with the giant beckoning, "Look up, look waaaaay up." Zune is at the giant's feet looking up at iPod.
From that position, Zune would have to be a whole lot better than iPod to grow in size. That isn't going to happen suddenly. Growth takes time. Microsoft understands this situation because of Windows' success and the failure of competitors, including Apple, to significantly gain desktop operating system market share. Economies of scale, including partner ecosystem, create barriers to new entrants.
So, Microsoft is focusing on what's core, its existing customers. Xbox was the first customer starting place, and Live will be next for Zune. Social networking—forming and maintaining relationships—is the underpinning concept for Live, Xbox and Zune. Windows is there, too, with easy transfer of recorded television shows from Vista Media Center. Overall, it's a sensible, long-term approach, given iPod's huge market share.
Still, Microsoft could move a heck of a lot faster and show more wherewithal. The new Zunes are oh-so last year. The new flash Zunes are about the same size and shape as the 2005-2006 iPod nanos, which Apple has replaced. Surely, Microsoft knew that Apple would, as in past years, overhaul its iPod line up. The new squat nano delivers stunning video; iPod Touch is, well, all about touch; and iPod Classic has twice the storage capacity of the top-end Zune. Microsoft beat Apple to market with a Wi-Fi music player, but it is Apple that first offers a Wi-Fi music store. Earth to Microsoft: Why did you let Apple whomp you? Maybe better stated: Why did you let the giant stomp on you?
I haven't yet seen the new Zune players, and Microsoft won't be launching the new Zune Marketplace and new Zune Social social networking site until next month. So, there is little for me to say about execution yet.
But I will say this: IT organizations should carefully watch Microsoft's Zune strategy. The company is betting big on collaboration and social networking across all its product lines. Microsoft's enterprise "People Ready" campaign is more than marketing. It is a philosophic approach that runs through Microsoft product development. Whether Dynamics, Live, Office, SharePoint or other Microsoft software, the company's focus is enabling relationships.
Geeks are stereotyped as being anti-social. Maybe the stereotypes are wrong. Welcome to their social.
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- What Apple DRM-Free Means to Microsoft, Microsoft Watch, April 2, 2007
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- Jobs Calls for DRM Freedom, Microsoft Watch, Feb. 6, 2007
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- Whoa, Zune Is Social, Microsoft Watch, Jan. 1, 2007
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Comments (7)
Derivative design issues aside, when will these new players turn a dime for shareholders? Xbox has cost us over $5 billion to date, and Robbie Bach told analysts Zune would show a net loss in the hundreds of millions for the foreseeable future.
WTF, over?
Posted by Ed T | October 3, 2007 1:28 PM
Apparently the Zune is still a USA-only product. I must see this as a sign that Microsoft is still incubating its baby. It isn't ready for the world yet.
Posted by Chris L | October 3, 2007 2:07 PM
iTunes WiFi and the soon to come iTunes tagging are social--not to mention Apple's reincarnation of the Newton (it's rumored, soon to be released UMPC).
So how is Microsoft innovating in the social area?
Posted by HG | October 3, 2007 2:26 PM
Can anyone add?
Microsoft hit with patent suit from Vertical Computer
By John Letzing
Last Update: 4:57 PM ET Apr 20, 2007Print Subscribe to RSS Disable Live Quotes
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) Vertical Computer Systems Inc. said late Friday it has sued Microsoft Corp. for allegedly infringing a patent related to computer application generation. Vertical Computer (VCSY:vertical computer sys inc com new
News, chart, profile, more
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1:53pm 10/03/2007
VCSY 0.02, +0.00, +10.5%) said in a prepared release that the suit was filed April 18 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Vertical Computer said in the release that Microsoft's .NET system violates a patent Vertical Systems filed in 1999, and awarded in 2004, covering "a system and method for generating computer applications in an arbitrary object framework."
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Microsoft Reveals .Net Source Code
By Darryl K. Taft
October 3, 2007
Microsoft will give developers a view into the source code but won't let them touch it.
Be the first to comment on this article
Microsoft is willing to show its code but doesn't want anyone touching it.
ADVERTISEMENT Scott Guthrie, general manager of the Microsoft .Net Framework in Microsoft's Developer Division, said that based on customer and developer feedback, Microsoft is releasing the reference source code availability for the .Net Framework under the Microsoft Reference License to give developers the chance to understand more about the inner workings of the framework's source code.
Guthrie said the Microsoft Reference License allows viewing of source code, but not modification or redistribution. The source code will be downloadable and viewable by anyone who accepts the license agreement. Meanwhile, Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., on Oct. 3 will also introduce a capability in Visual Studio 2008 to allow .Net developers who are debugging applications to debug not only into their own source code, but also .Net Framework source code using Visual Studio 2008.
The release of the .Net Framework reference source code falls under Microsoft's Shared Source Initiative, which encompasses a spectrum of source-code offerings, complementing the company's other activities around sharing source code.
"A developer writing C# or VB [Visual Basic] can set a breakpoint in their code and then step into the library function and see our code," Guthrie told eWEEK. "The access to the source is nice, but the debugger integration is really nice. You don't have to manually configure anything."
He said the move to release the source code is part of Microsoft's push toward more transparency.
Click here to read more about Visual Studio 2008.
"This is something we've been working on for a while, like what we've done with ASP.Net, AJAX [Asynchronous Javascript and XML] and our Dynamic Runtime Library framework, where we've exposed the source in different ways. Eventually, our goal is to open up all the libraries."
Andrew Brust, chief of new technology at Twenty-Six New York, a New York consulting and services firm, called Microsoft's move "very bold and very smart."
"This will help developers and make them feel more secure," Brust said. "When developers can see what the underlying framework code is doing, they can debug more effectively. When developers know what the underlying code is doing, they feel better. All developers like to know what's going on under the hood...It's an agnostic mindset. Seeing is believing, and allowing developers to see is a great gesture of respect."
In addition, he said this move "will help Microsoft blunt at least some of the critique from the Open Source and LAMP [Linux, Apache, MySQL and Perl/Python/PHP] communities and their arguments of peer review strengthening the code base. Microsoft's Reference License won't let people change the code, but they can easily verify its quality. They can also catch any gaps in quality, and that deterrence effect will add credibility to .Net."
Microsoft will provide developers with the ability to download and browse the source code with the .Net 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 release later this year, Guthrie said.
In a blog post, Guthrie wrote that Microsoft will "begin by offering the source code (with source file comments included) for the .Net Base Class Libraries (System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, System.Text, etc.), ADO.Net (System.Data), ASP.Net (System.Web), Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms), and WPF (System.Windows). We'll then be adding more packages next year."
In addition, he said, "We will enable the .Net Framework Library source libraries to be downloaded via a standalone install (allowing you to use any text editor to browse it locally). We will also provide integrated debugging support for the .Net Framework libraries within VS 2008."
In summary, Guthrie said that "having source-code access and debugger integration of the .Net Framework libraries is going to be really valuable for .Net developers. Being able to step through and review the source should provide much better insight into how the .Net Framework libraries are implemented, and in turn enable developers to build better applications and make even better use of them."
Brust said the source-code access will be "a very good learning tool for developers. Seeing how Microsoft wrote the Framework code will help other developers write their code in a more congruent fashion and learn Microsoft's techniques."
Posted by I-Man | October 3, 2007 2:51 PM
The absolute last priority in my life is seeking out how many teenagers are listening to Jay-Z and Britney Spears. I could care less. Three-play squirting has and will continue to be a failure. What's the social again?
Posted by Zune 1.1 | October 3, 2007 5:10 PM
Zune2 sounds interesting. I look forward to reading reviews of the shipping product, and related sites.
It's a nice touch that Zune is software/firmware upgradable, so owners of older units can add new features.
Posted by TomT | October 3, 2007 11:07 PM
Joe , you wrote " Microsoft's music guru, J Allard, is no Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. Zune is no iPod wannabe. Does it need to be"
That is personal attack , that is not Microsoft Watch supposed-to-be
Posted by John | October 4, 2007 12:12 AM