Jumping on the iPod bandwagon with Zune

Microsoft tried and failed to dethrone the iPod with the Portable Media Center once before, now they are trying again with the Zune. Yeah well Microsoft can just join the rest of the copycats, the iPod will always be the dominant species in the world of the portable music player and it definitely doesn’t look like its going to change anytime in the near future pending a meteorite landing on the iPod manufacturing plant and even then there probably wont be any hope.

However to Microsofts credit it seems Microsoft may have done something it hardly ever does, it learned from its past mistakes. Microsoft’s marketing found that it wasn’t the features nor its ridiculously high price that were selling the iPods as they learned all too painfully with the failed feature rich and expensive Portable Media Center. What made the iPod so successful was its simplicity. Perhaps the first time in the history of technology that simplicity beat out complexity.

Zune: Yet another iPod killer...

So now Microsoft is attempting to fix their mistakes and make a comeback on Apple. Well all I can say is (somewhat regretfully) is that they are too late. The market has split itself up into two categories, on the one hand we have Apple’s mp3 players constituting 85% of the market, and then we have another bunch battling it out for the remaining 15%. Industry analysts think Microsoft will fall into battle for the 15% category with the Zune.

The Zune is no more than an iPod copycat, just like the Portable Media Center, except it dumps all those extra features from the Portable Media Center to become an even bigger iPod copycat. But its doing its best to pretend it isn’t one, sure it looks like it and it even copies the layout interface, the software plan (such as Apples ‘iTunes’ system), EVERYTHING! All this is, is the biggest iPod copycat on the market, the only reason there isn’t any more of these is because other companies can’t afford to mimic apples system behind the iPod, that’s all. Now big bad Microsoft is doing it, and nobody will stop them save the market which will refuse to buy the Zune seeing it is no more than an over glorified iPod, the market still wants to have the brand name iPod offers them, and Microsoft isn’t going to change anything with another brand name. Too little too late.

It’s silly, it’s boring, it’s a tried and true concept, and only Apple has done it properly. So what will Microsoft achieve from all of this? Can you really take a copycat, make it all shiny then present it for sale and say ‘here it is, better than the other one’ with no justification and still sell it? I think Microsoft can’t do what made the iPod so successful, simplicity. Microsoft can't do simple, it’s against its nature, which is why it can’t take out Apple, not in this market. Apple has made its mark and it doesn’t look like it will be lifting anytime soon.

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Posted By: Ahmed - Category: entertainment, apple

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Comment by Joy

September 18th 2006 03:04

Hmm... And yet I'm still holding out for the Creative Zen V Plus to be released stateside. I like the round corners and the way it's designed. Even the Zen Vision M was pretty sleek. So no, I don't think everyone's copying Apple. I just think that Microsoft needs to do something VERY unique to beat out the Apple marketshare. Like, for example, offer nicely-colored mp3 players. For a start. And not brown. Brown is bad.