Shots Across The Bow

The Microsoft Zune

Short version: I bought a Zune.

I like it.

Longer version:

I've been wanting to get a music player for over a year now, but couldn't find one a really liked. During my days of dreaming about winning the World Series of Poker, I thought about getting a pair of Oakley Thumps, but I could never bring myself to pay $250 for sunglasses, and the limited capabilities and memory of the mp3 player didn't do much for me either. I also didn't want to get an iPod because, well, it's an apple. I was leaning towards a Creative zen, similar to the one I got for my son this Christmas when I saw the Zune.

I liked the 30G of memory, and the larger screen, and yielding to a long delayed impulse, I got it.

Installation was smooth on my laptop, taking about 20 minutes in total, including searching my computer for all its media files and ading them to my library, then automatically syncing the library to the Zune, which leads to my first quibble.

What if there are files on my computer that I don't want synced? What if I have those kind of files? You know, the ones I wouldn't want just anybody seeing? Not that I do, mind you, I'm just asking is all. How do I get them off my Zune once they're there? Deleting files from the Zune is not a very intuitive process; there's no DELETE function on the Zune itself. Instead, you have to delete the file from your library and resync. Of course, that doesn't help you with the files the come preinstalled on the Zune. Since they aren't part of my library, I have no idea how to remove them from the Zune.

Moving on, once the Zune is synced and charged, you're ready to listen and play your files. This couldn't be easier. The interface is very easy to navigate, and the large screen keeps everything clear. I could easily move through and pick out what I wanted to hear. For me, the only problem is that there is no STOP button. Once a song starts, you can pause it, but you can't stop it except by choosing another song, or a video, or by shutting off the Zune. This may be a common feature of MP3 players, or a simple function of my ignorance due to the total lack of documentation that comes with the Zune. In either case, a plainly accessible stop button would be nice.

The Zune software installed on my laptop takes care of all ripping chores and moves very quickly. I can rip a CD to my library in a couple of minutes or so, and then the next time I sync or charge my Zune, I'm good to go with my newly ripped music. Downloading is also a breeze. The Zune comes with a free 14 day trial subscription to Zune Pass, the Microsoft version of NetFlix. For $15 a month, about the cost of a CD, you can download all the music you want from their website, and it will play on your Zune or your computer for as long as you keep up your subscription. These downloads do not include burning rights, so you can't make a CD copy unless you actually purchase the song. You have the option of either using the subscription service, or purchasing entire albums or individual tracks. A full album in most cases will cost you about $11 bucks, with individual songs going for just under a buck.

And that brings us to the nitty gritty; DRM. The Zune has implemented a DRM mechanism that some folks don't like at all. First, the Zune is not compatible with earlier Microsoft DRM schemes, so songs purchased using those schemes will not play on the Zune. To a new adopter like me, this is no big deal, but to somebody who has already invested a few hundred bucks in music, this could be a deal breaker. In order to play their paid-for songs, they'll have to convert them to the mp3 format, or burn them to a CD and re-rip them.

On the other hand, Microsoft did make provisions for some file sharing. Zunes have built in Wi-Fi, and can share files back and forth with other Zunes within about 30'. DRM protected files can be shared with other users, who have three days, or three plays of the tune before they have to purchase it for themselves.

Now, I don't have a problem with any of this. I believe in paying a fair price for what I get, and I don't see any reason why people think they should be able to get music for free.Using the Zune Pass, I can listen to hundreds of songs a month, and if I like them, I can buy them and burn them to a CD cheaper than I could buy the CD without knowing what's on it.

This is a win-win; I get more music cheaply, and the artist and the record company still make money.

Now, there is a small fly in the DRM scheme. If I load content that is not copyrighted on my Zune, and share it with other Zunes in a protected, ie wma format, the three day three play limit is still in effect, and there's no key to turn it off. Of course, the quick fix to that is to load non protected material in a non protected format, like mp3.

Pretty simple.

As it should be clear to almost anybody, the DRM scheme in use on the Zune can be easily bypassed by virtually anybody with a computer and an internet connection, but it makes it very easy for those of us who want to be honest to do so, without extorting ungodly amounts of money from us.

Now, you may have noticed that I haven't talked much about the video side of the Zune. There's a good reason for that. AS far as I can tell, the Zune is very limited in the number of video formats and codecs it will support. None of the videos on my laptop, no, not even those made the jump. Included in the Zune help is a link to a webpage with instructions on how to download Windows Media Encoder, and use it to convert your video files to the appropriate format and codec. I ran through a couple of videos I got from You Tube and the process worked fine, and the resulting videos played very nicely on the Zune screen. I would be happier if the Zune supported more video formats, but that's going to be a simple fix for Microsoft to make.

I'm in the process of taking my Firefly DVDs and converting them for my Zune. Now technically, this is a copyright violation, since I have to defeat the copy protection on the discs to do this, but I'm pretty sure that copyright laws exist to protect the content, not the format, and I bought the content fair and square. Fair use has always allowed for people to make archival copies, and that's what I'm doing. By the way, the Zune software makes it very easy to disable video file sharing, and I did so.

All in all, I'm very happy with the Zune. The most glaring deficiency is the lack of support for more video formats, and that's one that I hope will be addressed by a firmware upgrade in the near future. It's a shame to have that nice big screen with little to show on it. The integration of the Zune with it's PC software and the Zune Marketplace, especially with Zune Pass, is excellent. Every album I've looked for was available, from early Bill Cosby to the Kingston Trio, to John Mellencamp's latest.

Buff up the video, and I'll be totally satisfied.

Posted by Rich at January 30, 2007 7:01 PM | TrackBack