2008 Woodie Awards
Microsoft's Zune versus Apple's iPod
Ray Quero
- Page 1 of 1
|
John Madden, the great football
player, coach and announcer once
said, "The only yardstick for success
our society has is being a champion.
No one remembers anything
else." Winning is the goal and now
everything has an arch rival: Notre
Dame vs. USC, Boston Red Sox vs.
the New York Yankees, and UW vs.
WSU. Rivalries don’t just stop at
schools and sports, they’ve spread to
the world of business.
Last November Microsoft
unleashed its mp3 combatant Zune
into the digital music playground to
compete against the Apple Ipod. If
you have money to spare you can
purchase either one of these, but
which one reigns supreme?
The Zune and Ipod both come
with built-in memory. Both players
come with their very own marketplace
so you can easily find the latest
charts, new releases and download
the latest songs.
Microsoft Zune
Good:
The Zune throws down with a
nice 3 inch screen. The screen can
Bad: Zune has done its best to enter the MP3 digital play war but lacks many innovative features from Apple. The Zune doesn’t have the little features like a clock, games, stopwatch and calendar. These things seem irrelevant which may be a reason why Microsoft didn’t implement these
Apple iPod Good: The iPod may have a smaller screen but is thinner, smaller and lighter then its nemesis. It comes in at 4.8 ounces in comparison to Zune at 5.6 ounces. The smaller and lighter feel of the iPod makes it feel more portable and a lot more comfortable to carry around. Both the Zune and iTunes marketplaces allow the user to download songs but at iTunes you’re able to download movies, TV shows, podcasts, and games at reasonable prices. The software that comes with iPod gives you more variety of things to download which gives the iPod more potential. The
Bad: Despite all of Apples technology they failed to get the users more involved. iPod doesn’t allow music or pictures to be transferred from one device to another. Having this feature would be a money making feature especially with the amount of iPods in the market. With the iPod the user does not have the ability to change the background or theme like the Zune. The iPod also does not sport an FM tuner radio. This may not seem like a big deal for most but for some, listening to the same old songs just gets a bit boring. The lightweight and thin design also makes the iPod feel more fragile and breakable. This means more money from the user has to be spent on device protecting accessories just to keep their iPod in good shape. Zune may have a bigger screen and have a wireless feature, but the touch wheel patented by Apple is one of the most innovative features the iPod sports. Not only does iPod have more features- it also has more choices. If 30gb of memory is to much for you, step it down to an iPod nano, or an iPod shuffle and have a choice at all different colors. features, but for those who like to do more then just listen to their mp3 players, it’s a setback. Perhaps the most important thing that sets the Zune back is that it’s taken Microsoft forever to get it out in the world. The iPod has been out for about four years now and they have had more time to get their mp3 player out at the right time and have more accessories to accommodate their consumers.
be held vertical for those nice portrait
pictures and turned horizontal
to watch crystal clear movies. Now
you might think that 3 inches is one
small screen but when you’re viewing
images and movies that small, the
half inch the iPod lacks makes a huge
difference. Microsoft also wanted
the consumer to be able to individualize
their Zune by adding a feature
to have changeable backgrounds and
changeable themes. Microsoft also
implemented a neat wireless feature
that allows you to transfer music and
pictures to another Zune device. It
also sports a built in FM radio tuner
so when you get bored listening to
your own songs, you can switch to
radio mode and jam that way. The
Zune Marketplace also holds a slight
edge over the iPod. Downloading
songs is only 79 cents compared to
the 99 cents on iTunes.
Be the first to comment on this story