After seeing the interface that will come with the Zune in action, I actually was pleasantly surprised (Eugenia blogged about it too). As most of you will know, I’m a minidisc guy, however, that Zune video made me think about .mp3 players for a while. Firstly, the Zune has a few advantages over the iPod:
No click wheel. I fcuking hate the clickwheel; too sensitive, no tactile feedback, circular finger motion to perform a linear action (unintuitive).
A better interface. I love the slick transitions of the Zune interface, and in general, it looks more pleasing than the white/blue iPod interface.
However, major concerns from a minidisc fan like me remain:
Battery life. I’m used to 30+ hours of playback from one AA battery (which is what my MD does). I can go for weeks with one battery (I roughly use my MD for nine hours a week). Other than that, these .mp3 players rely one a proprietary accu, in other words, when the battery dies, you are fcuked.
Sturdyness. I can just throw my MD recorder around, I can let it fall down, I can dip it in water; it won’t break down. I sure as hell won’t dare to throw my harddrive-based .mp3 player into the back of my car from the front seat. I also carry my MD in my school bag, and I handle my bag with anything but care. With the Zune (or the iPod) I’d have to continuously worry I might handle my bag carelessly; and no, my jeans pockets are already filled with my keys and my phone.
Size. My MD is about 7x7x2cm; the Zune is larger.
Scratch resistance. The casing of MD players is fairly scratch resistant, and as for the screen; well, you don’t really need a screen with an MD player, so scratches on it are fairly irrelevant.
They are harddrive based. When the harddrive dies, you have no player anymore. When one minidisc dies, who cares, I got about 70 others here.
Price. Both the Zune and the iPod are way too expensive for what they do (play music).
Lack of recording capabilities. I need to be able to digitally record from my hifi set using optic cables; the classic way of copying CDs onto MDs. Zune/iPod can’t do this.
Very important: Both the Zune and the iPod heavily rely on computers. I don’t want to rely on computers. My minidisc recorder can record from any source, anytime, via whatever means (optic, analog, microphone, you name it).
So, in order to win me over, these harddrive .mp3 players still have a lot of improving to do.
