Microsoft thinks different about legacy customers
It’s the world turned upside down — can this be Microsoft showing up Apple in the care and feeding of customers? The Redmond giant unveiled the second-generation of its Zunes late last night, and by most accounts, they’re perfectly decent music/video players for anyone who doesn’t demand an “i” in front of the product name. The units include some nifty features, including Wi-Fi syncing with your computer, more sharing and socializing abilities, and support for additional media formats. There’s also been a redesign of the PC software interface and the Zune Marketplace, the latter now stocked with some 3 million songs, a third of them DRM-free. Definitely a step foward, though nothing to get Apple nervous.
But Microsoft is winning major PR points for making all the second-generation improvements available as a download to fully upgrade first-generation Zunes. Given the way that Apple recently rattled some of its fans with its swift iPhone price cut, its aggressive response to iPhone hacks and its artificial limiting of the iPod Touch’s capabilities, some see an opening that’s hard to imagine. “Microsoft has nowhere to go but up, with Zunes,” writes Mary Jo Foley. “It so far hasn’t demonstrated any prowess at outwitting Apple on the design or feature fronts. But might it score points by providing stellar customer support/service — something Apple has been criticized for not doing with the iPhones and new iPods?” OK, it’s just one case involving one product, but still … nice touch.
“include some nifty features, including Wi-Fi syncing with your computer”
Yeah, as long as you are wired to a charger or cradle. Nice definition of wi-fi: works as long as you are connected to a wire.
LOL
Don’t get me wrong - it’s nice that Microsoft’s doing this, but all that it means is that they haven’t moved the Zune platform forward significantly in the past year.
Apple switched processors in the iPod a couple of years ago, but until then, regularly added features to older iPods with firmware updates - and they still add features to newer models occasionally.
As a shareholder, I’d rather Apple focus on innovating and expanding their market than adding features to products that are about to go out of warranty. As an Apple customer, I know the products are well-built and tested, and refreshed regularly - so I don’t waste time pretending to be impressed with some fake corporate benevolence made possible by technical stagnation.
Does the Zune download update that ugly brown case color too?