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me == jealous

I'm patiently waiting for the Zune v2 (software) announcements before I give up on my v1 Zune. If they don't make me feel the love I might have to jump ship.

It's a FATTY!

Man, the proportions on this thing are grotesque. Still a nice bit of kit, but not Apple's finest hour for design IMO

:P

I have LONG been a MS die hard user and have been following their quest to unite all media and allow for sharing between devices. My last purchase a year ago was a Zune. Yes, it was a first version, however Microsoft said they would be providing regular updates and there was even some talk about a Wi-Fi music store. This NEVER happened and I only used my Zune to listen to music once in a while.

I did purchase some music here and there from the Zune store, however I was always worried they would dump this one day just like they did with MSN Music and most recently URGE. The selection was never very large, and the UI did not work with the whole Vista look. Video's never have been added and it has almost been a year with only 2-3 small updates for "performance" issues. No new features, no new Zune software, no media center ability, no videos, nothing. Just music.

Then something happened last week that made me question EVERYTHING. Not one, or two, but THREE new iPods were introduced from Apple.

I will say I have NEVER used iTunes, never installed it, or ever wanted to. That was until I watched the video of the new iPods. So I thought "ok, might as well take a look." All I can say is WOW. What have I been missing! iTunes is loaded with stuff the Zune cannot even touch. Everything from music, to music videos, to TV shows, movies, audio books, podcasts, and video podcasts. I will say they the performance of iTunes is "ok" and several people have made comments on how it performs on Vista. But it is easy to use and it has tons of content.

Sooo, I purchased a iPod nano on Friday and do NOT regret the decision. As a matter of fact, I love to show it off.

People of commented on the "fat" size. It is NOT fat at all. It reminds me of a small version of the new classic. Shorter, but with a 16x9ish screen that is AWSOME to look at. Performance is fast and the apple iPod UI blows Zune out of the water. It is FUN to use and it is GOOD to look at.

Another reason I got it was because of the Nike+ system. I am not a runner, but I want to start and this will help give me motivation to keep going. Several people have commented on how the Nike+ system changed them from not ever thinking of running or walking to now enjoying it.

Anyways, long POST....

Like I said, Microsoft has an R&D of a small country, yet Apple always seems to get what the customers WANT and get it right in terms of look and style.

Oh, BTW, I also purchased a new Mac Mini....we will talk about that some other time.

@Will Wilson- I'm holding out until Zune's announcements for this holiday season. If they don't up the ante (ahem, WiFi sync/download, ahem, videos in the Marketplace, ahem, etc.) then I'll probably jump ship.

Tod - I was thinking the same, but I have watched Microsoft to long on to many projects. Yes, they will have a better device, however it will be just behind what the iPods can now do. Microsoft always is a little behind in this area and Windows Mobile is a good example. They sit to long on something. Zune 2 will be just short of what the current iPods can do.

You should take a look at one and test drive the new UI, it is very good and fun to use.

The only thing that Apple can do to screw this up would be to keep the same "my way" attitude they currently have on working with the content providers. NBC has left and hopefully others will not follow. Apple does need to start working with the providers while at the same time the providers need to realize that customers like having a simple price and central location to get things and not all over the place at a wide range of prices that only work on certain devices.

The color alone is enough to make me drool...

I finally broke down and bought an iPod. I got an 8 GB red Nano, too. It's very nice. I have to admit I like playing the games. I was surprised that when empty it only had 7.3 GB free, though.

Buck