To Zune or not to Zune?

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks due to my busy schedule, but I did want to take a few minutes to post about one of my new favorite gadgets, the Microsoft Zune. One of the first questions I invariably get is, "What is a Zune?", and my answer usually consists of a chuckle and a brief explanation of what the device does. I think that Microsoft needs to brush up on its marketing on the device. The Zune is basically Microsoft's answer to the iPod by Apple. The iPod is a great device that turned 6 years old this past October, and has essentially defined that which is the portable media player for the better part of those 6 years. It wasn't until the past couple of year that there was any REAL competition to the iPod. There are many other devices out there that are LIKE the iPod in that they play music an videos, but the iPod has something else....seamless integration with iTunes. A couple of years ago Microsoft released the Zune in a 30GB format and small selection of colors. The 1st Gen Zune left alot to be desired, but it had some interesting new features that some people found to be enough to contemplate switching. Some of these features were, wireless syncing, widescreen viewing of videos, but it wasn't enough to unseat the iPod or even truly compete.
So here we are now in 2008 after the release of the 2nd Gen. Zune back in October of '07, and with the addition of the flash-based Zunes and the 80GB Hard Drive model, things are looking up for the Zune. The Zune Software has been redesigned also, and so far it looks like it's a whole lot better than the previous versions. The software and the firmware release as of the time of this writing are both at 2.5, and with the addition of even more content, the Zune is slowly but surely working it's way towards being a much more polished platform.
There is also something else interesting that the Zune provides, and that is "The Social". As if any of us needed yet another social network, right? On the other hand it is an interesting concept, but it does need some work yet. I have used "The Social" a little, and so far I am not really sure what I am supposed to do. It is nothing like Facebook or MySpace, and it does not seem to have a really easy way of making friends. The other issue is that there just aren't as many Zune users out there. I am sure that will change in the months and years to come.

Until next time.....