gizmodo.com — One of our moles on the inside told us Microsoft just had a meeting to determine the price of the 30GB Zune. The final tally: $229.99. Microsoft was going to go $289.99 to undercut the iPod by $10, but since Apple dropped the bombshell that they were lowering prices to $249, Microsoft had to scramble to undercut the lower price as well.
Sep 20, 2006 View in Crawl 4
reziarfgSep 21, 2006
I say this from a completely unbiased position, I do not own an ipod (or any other music playing device for that matter). I run Windows XP/Debian and I have friends who use macs, there's nothing wrong with them.Ok, let's look at this logically for just one second.1) Just because it's the first string lineup for Microsoft, doesn't mean it's going to be full of problems.2) Can we agree that it's at least better functionally? As far as number of features go, it's just got more.3) If you don't like how it looks, very well, don't purchase one. But that doesn't mean others need your permission to find it appealing.4) It IS cheaper, spin it how you'd like, but if this report is correct, the Zune will cost less than the iPod, simple as that.5) Guys, wait for the silly device to come out before berating the thing, maybe there is a reason to hate it, but we just don't know yet.In conclusion, it all comes down to brand faith. If you're an apple fanboy, you're just going to buy/own/use an ipod and there's nothing anyone can say to sway your judgement because you are already decided. If you don't like ipods/apple/macs or for some crazy reason have a particular devotion to Microsoft, then you're going to argue in favor of their products. It's just that simple, no one can win, because no one is listening to the other argument, they're just spewing out their own propaganda.
razeiSep 21, 2006
"Misinformed, I guess. That was the complaint I heard frequently before. Maybe that was only true for older players."You've always been able to. An iPod is just a spare hard drive in a pretty case.
lynnSep 21, 2006
I hope this price is correct. If so I will be buying a Zune the first day of release.
dbassSep 21, 2006
@threepio said:"but for that you're still getting everything that an iPod does ..."Does it buy tunes from iTunes Store? I must have missed that.
jharperSep 21, 2006
The bigger issue with the DRM is that Microsoft won't share in the WMA department. No support for Macs. Why not? Apple plays fair with Windows by providing DRM'd material for their OS via iTunes.
tmcdiggSep 21, 2006
THIS IS GOOD, prices for the 30gb models are coming down due to competition at the higher end (60-80+gb models vying for lower priced leader). So, prices are well on their way to replacing my 2001 RioVolt mp3 cd player (prices couldn't go possibly any lower for the holidays like black fwiday or xmas now could they?_;-)But for all things being equal... does the Zune have the same expanded feature-set as the creative zen pmp players? Like open sourced codecs, radio, voice record, possible video out, etc?The other thing I was wondering about is WHY haven't tablet sized PMP's made their way into the market place... you could possible include laptop sized hd's, 7-10 inch screens and much longer battery life in these form factors. But lets not get too carried away.. we DON"T need another tablet-pc fiasco at the overpriced levels we've seen.
Closed AccountSep 22, 2006
Theres a difference between having multiple companies involved in the manufacturing of a product and rebranding a product.
sundaybrunchSep 23, 2006
Steve Jobs is a ****Alex Alb**** is a ****Kevin Rose is a ****Bill Gates is a ****.Their mothers and fathers, ****s! ****s! ****s!
Closed AccountSep 23, 2006
Remember though, the VAST majority of iTunes users are running it on windows PCs.Apple NEEDED to support windows or else the iPod would have tanked badly (at leats compared to where it is now).MS simply don't need to cater for apple owners. There is no point.The best thing for MS is that if apple owners want to get a zune, they'll also have to go and buy a copy of windows and use bootcamp or parallels on their macs. More $$ for MS.
mikemacmanOct 17, 2006
30GB is not enough for me. 80GB ipod all the way!