Microsoft's Zune: The iPod Clone You Hate to Love

By James Coates
Chicago Tribune

While I remain disgruntled over how PlaysForSure was transformed into Plays for Suckers, I like my new Zune. For a lot of us with Windows computers and a love of music and movies already acquired as MP3 and Windows Media Audio files, the Zune is absolutely first rate.

Today's tune is Zune, and it's being written none too soon. It was nearly two weeks ago when Microsoft's new music, movie and photo player named "Zune" fulfilled widespread predictions that it was going to debut with a thud.
Let me say first that my take on this milestone event in Windows history comes amid a bit of heat.

I guess I've been persona non grata at the Zune side of Microsoft for the past few weeks after I questioned the ethics of the company's effort to immolate the iPod by creating in Zune a virtual carbon copy of both Apple's world-beater music player and the exclusive online store where iPod owners shop for new music.

Image Is the Thing
The Zunies refused to talk to me about their ethics then and I haven't heard from them since. Nevertheless, I like the US$249 Zune as a good-looking piece of well-crafted technology. It adds great new mobility for owners of pictures, movies and non-copyright-protected music already acquired. Furthermore, it works great when hooking up and synchronizing with Windows XP while simultaneously charging the battery through the USB cable.

The 2.5-inch-by-2-inch screen is dramatically larger than the video iPod's display, and the rubberized metallic case is just plain slick. Other than that, it looks like an iPod, except that it's 1 inch longer.

Let me turn, however, to some reasons why Zune's early sales appear anemic and its short-term prospects aren't much to write home about. It's got a lot to do with image.

While aping Apple may be a good business, there is an unpleasant whiff about how the Zune underscores Microsoft's reputation as a ruthlessly competitive behemoth focused on bucks and still more bucks.

Start with how Microsoft spent more than a year suckering potential Zune competitors in the Windows world into a program called "PlaysForSure" that was designed to make all mobile music players work instantly with Windows computers.

This seemed great because things were getting chaotic with competing Windows music player makers and music sellers offering different machines and different schemes for downloading music for a fee.
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