Chris, you're the first tech writer I have read recently to actually understand that this iPod vs. Zune vs. Everybody Else war has little to do with DRM systems. With current research showing that fewer than 20% of iPod owners and less than 5% of Windows based portable player owners are regular buyers of DRM-wrapped songs from online stores, that means that 80% of iPod owners and 95% of the other guys simply do not care about DRM file playback capability. To these buyers, the iPod preference is purely about the iPod + iTunes software user experience. When viewed from that reality, Zune comes up magnificently short. For starters, Microsoft made the classic "outsider" error: They failed to make the Zune sync with iTunes, the market leading jukebox software. From that bad choice, the errors in design judgment compound downward.
People like what they like, tell others what they like, and influence each other through a peer-promoted human marketing chain. The iPod has that human promotion chain whirring in high gear.
Good luck to Microsoft with the Zune. They will need it.
Chris, I had this epiphany the day I splurged and came home with a shiny new 450MHz Cube, and a 22-inch Cinema Display. It, quite literally, changed my life. Since then, I have been the world's most eager proponant of "more screen real estate is never enough." I presently use both 30-inch and 23-inch ACD's on my own Powermac. And, I own perhaps the only company in existence where it is expected that all employees (from clerical to shipping, to... everybody) has multiple, large displays on their desks.
I have seen the workflow improvement from having gazillions of pixels. So, it blows my mind when I visit another business and see rooms full of people squinting down at 15-inch displays on their desks, trying to earn income for the company. Don't business owners and managers have a clue about the value of providing workers with great tools?
So, welcome to the "I Get It" club, insofar as the joys of having lots of screen space. Watch yourself (and your credit card), or, you'll end up a member of the "I Want The Most And Biggest Possible" display-buying club, as well.
Ah... the pleasures of a 30-inch Cinema Display HD... :-)
I'm a typical adult professional, affluent Mac user, with a tricked-out G5 system with dual Cinema Display, and a couple of Powerbooks. Yes... we do exist, and in pretty large numbers. That said, I've so far bought three Mac mini systems, mainly just because I could, and to explore uses I would have never explored with any otehr Mac... print server, home media center Mac... one dedicated to radio and TV, with a RadioShark and EyeTV 200. I doubt that I'm the only example of this type of buyer.
Hadley, I became so convinced of your conclusion a couple of years ago that I invested my life savings into a startup company dedicated to only building products that hit this "90% of the expected features" formula, and filling the remaining void with great, simplified design, instead of clutter. The result has been amazing, as we're already approaching our 100,000th customer.
You're not alone. :-)
Tell you what... If December 31st comes and goes without having seen a number of terrific new products released, surrounded in a swirling PR buzz of "anniversary," then I will grumble right along wiht everyone else. Frankly, I would rather see unrushed, well-crafted products released when they are ready... and spread out over the year, than to be hit between the eyes with some dramtic, fancy something on the 1st week of January.
I'm willing to give Jobs & Crew the time to deliver on that "anniversary year" promise.
I think you were not looking. Steve Jobs spent a considerabel amount of precious keynote time on the anniversary, Apple rebuilt the 1984 commercial, showed it there, and has it posted to their site. Steve specifically announced that a variety of products would emerge during the anniversary year. And, Jobs (and others upstairs in Apple) have been hugely more accessible to the press over this month than at any other time in recent history... all in the name of the anniversary.
Where have you been?
http://www.macmice.com
Psst, iPod versus Zune is really a format War
The Monitor is the Revolution
Where Will 900,000 Mac Minis Go?
In Praise of Minimal Design
In Praise of Minimal Design
Apple Ignores The Anniversary
Apple Ignores The Anniversary