To start, I am a big fan of the Zune.  The Zune hardware is definitely on par with (and arguably better than) its iPod and creative rivals.  And, it looks like the Zune HD will be a nice continuation of this product line.  But, the power of the Zune ecosystem is the marketplace.  For me, this was the biggest differentiator.  The Zune software is quite unique.  I find music to be one of the most creative and passionate mediums.  And, I think the marketplace reflects this with its unique while playing backgrounds, colorful player themes, and mixview (see more in the Gizmodo review).  You can really tell that the group that created it was really into music.  It really is a stark contrast when you compare it to other media players (most notably iTunes).

But, I think it is time for a change.  Recently, Palm announced the Pre.  And with the device, it announced a hack for it to support iTunes.  This got me thinking.  The first thought I had was (1) why would someone want to sync with iTunes when there were obviously better options out there, and (2) why are iTunes competitors not taking advantage of this growing problem.  The Pre is not alone.  I have an e71.  And while I can sync it to Windows Media player or Nokia’s own suite, I think it would be nice to sync it to my Zune marketplace.  I understand the DRM limitations, but I do not purchase DRM media.  So, I think for 90% of the users this would not be a problem.  With the growing number of smartphones and feature phones, I think it would be a no brainer for Zune to be the goto marketplace.  And, all Microsoft would have to do is provide an open-source (I know this would be tough) way to communicate between the two mediums (drivers, or whatnot).  And I guarantee that whether it was via enthusiasts or third-party manufacturers, the connection piece would be built without much effort from Microsoft.

Not possible?  Mozilla is already doing it with Songbird.  And, honestly, I am going to give it a shot.  But, it would be nice to see options.  And, allowing the Zune marketplace to sync with other third party devices would be my immediate choice.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 9:13 am and is filed under Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.