For some time now, Apple has dominated the market place with its intuitive IPOD. It is compatible with many formats, plays tons of videos, and has UBER storage. Who wouldn’t get one?
When the Zune first released, it was plagued with buggy firmware and faulty hardware. Many people (myself included) found that after dropping the device once, it would be easily damaged. It was also bulky and heavy, much larger when compared to the then IPOD Video. Another annoyance people found was the lack of removable hard drive space, meaning you were unable to use it as a portable drive for your files and backups. Zune had rough beginnings indeed, controlling only a small share of the mp3 market by the end of its first year.
Now let us fast forward. Zune software has again updated. A newer Zune, the Zune 120 released with 120 gigs of storage. The touch pad is more responsive, the number of crashes has gone down, and its slimmer than the older Zune. The Zune software has a more refined navigation, much better than the IPOD classic, and its sound output has better quality. Not to toot the horn of the Zune, but the screen is huge, doubling the viewing size of pod casts and videos than on the IPOD. The Zune subscription pass, a unique music subscription service offered only by Microsoft, allows a monthly paid subscription to millions of songs archived on the Zune Marketplace. Its wireless capabilities have also increased, allowing you to view the Zune Marketplace, and tag songs heard through the Zunes built in radio for later purchase.
The IPOD classic was also modified in the past year. The addition of the genius play list allows users to create a smart play list of songs grouped together in similar categories. This is a new feature, introduced first in the IPOD touch with firmware 2.1, and allows users to find new similar sounding music. Similar to the way Pandora Radio works; users found it much easier to locate new music. It still features the cover flow option and has a vibrant colored screen. It sports a portable hard drive capability, which makes it a plus in the market, but other than the genius play-list feature it has no real new functions.
So who wins? Do the new features of the Zune make it a better product than the IPOD Classic? Or does IPOD still hold a viable market share because of its name? What do you as a consumer believe? The IPOD Classic 2g, or the Zune 120?
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