Steven Levy, Jupiter Research Gets in On Zune Bashing
- December 11th, 2006
- 1 Comment
Who is a poor gadget guru to believe? Microsoft and Zune fans are saying that the Zune is so hot that it’s making babies with Angelina Jolie but Michael Gartenberg and Steven Levy, two gadget wonks with a high standing in the tech community, are saying it’s horrible. It’s enough to drive a body to drink!
Gartenberg says that the Zune is ugly and should have used flash. Levy, who is flogging his new book (read it, by the way, it’s really good) believes that MS’s payment of $1 per Zune sold sets a horrible precedent and that old media gurus are a bunch of morons.
Both of these fellows are fairly well respected, if a bit late to the Zune-bashing table. But it’s definitely nice to see old timers like Levy get out his clobberin’ hammer once in a while.
A Universally Bad Idea [SteveLevy]
Lessons of Zune [JupiterResearch]
drdrew (Who am I?)
1 year ago
both articles make valid points, two things that keep getting overlooked, or not enough attention, are consumer knowledge and brand loyalty.
brand loyalty - show me a mac user that would rather a zune and i’ll show you something else stupid. digital media players are only around a 20% household penetration, but virtually everyone knows what an ipod is. therefore, when people are ready to buy/upgrade, most will stick with what they know either through loyalty or exposure.
consumer knowledge - reviewers are looking at this from a ‘been there, done that’ standpoint forgetting that the zune is targeting the other 80% with promises of easier sharing, easier purchasing, easier etc, not specifically the uber users. case and point, at the mall this weekend i overheard someone ask for “the one that plays microsoft mp3’s” - not the brand of player. upon further eavesdropping did not mean the wma/wmv formats either. this person had a “microsoft computer” and wanted it make sure “it worked” and didn’t want the “apple one” because of compatibility fears. if even one in every hundred of the 80% of people that are left are like this, the zune will become very ‘popular’ if even
under false pretensesbecause of consumer ignorance and/or misunderstanding.fwiw, i realize it sounds as though i contradict myself with the “sticking with what they know through exposure, eg, ipod” statement and the story above, but that also means exposure of “apple vs microsoft” - compatibility struggles, proprietary hard/software, and bashing each other since, oh, the beginning of time…