I know, nobody owns a Zune. When it comes to portable music players, it's all about the iPod. By owning a Zune, I feel as though I've become "that guy," the snotty, pompous, artsy MP3 owner, but despite feeling like the odd man out, there are lot of reasons I love my Zune. I love how the Zune touchpad operates, over all iPod's variations. With a second generation Zune I can scrub a list with simple up/down, left/right gestures across the circular touchpad. I scrub and the cursor moves in the direction I indicated, and I can touch the pad to stop on what I want. Then, I click on the pad, and I enter the menu. I feel this is a lot more intuitive than either the circular, round-the-bout touch pad of the Classic and Nano iPods or the latest and lamest reintroduction of touchscreens into the computer field. They sucked when they first came out, and they still suck now.* What is great about the second generation Zune is that I can turn the scrub feature off if I want some good old-fashion clicking. I can memorize how many clicks I need to get to my favorite artists, so I can somewhat safely operate my vehicle when I'm listening to my Zune through the radio. Not having to look at my MP3 player keeps my eyes on the road. In addition to having buttons to physically click, I find the graphic user interface of the Zune is nice to look at and incorporates another aspect that seems lost in the iPod, album art. The album art is the dominant image on the screen, and the album lists always contain a small portrait of the image on the left-hand side of the screen. I know iPods do that, but the interface does not incorporate the images as prominently. One downside of the Zune is compatibility. iPods can sync with iTunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player... etc. The Zune can only connect to the Zune Software. Why not to Windows Media Player is beyond anyone's guess. However, the Zune software is simple enough to operate, has friends features, and has a browser accessed profile for your sign-in name. These features are genuinely really neat. Since music is loved by so many people, and most people are proud of the music they listen to, having the ability to show off what you have listened to through "Badges" counting who and what albums you listen to seems like a no-brainer for MP3 players. The browser side profile allows people who do not have a Zune to check out what you listen to. Plus, you can even add your friends to your Zune, so the player itself will update your friend's status, profile, and what they are listening to. The visualization in the Zune software is a slideshow of album work and the band to which you are currently listening to. The effect can become mesmerizing. You can read bios and see pictures of the band as you're listening to their music. So, even though you're limited to the software you can use to put music on the Zune, the software itself is great, and has an easy-to-use/browse online music library where you can listen to samples and purchase music. Finally, the wireless feature of the Zune allows you to sync it with your Xbox 360 and experience your Zune's music and videos on the television. The wireless feature also allows you to sync to your computer wirelessly so that you can purchase music without the need to be linked to your computer. Finally, if you have a radio transceiver for your car, your Zune will automatically sync if your computer is on. Thus, if you so desire, you never have to bring your Zune out of your car. Just make sure its attached to the radio transceiver when you leave the car and any new music to tell your computer to put on the Zune will be there the next time you're in your car. I see the appeal in iPods. There is nothing wrong with them. However, given its great features, I will stick to my Zune. You should think about giving them a try yourself. *I know upcoming Zune HD has a touchscreen. I am (probably) going be unimpressed by the touchscreen just as much as I am other products. Just because a blanket of post-modernism in the consumer world has blinded people into thinking that touchscreens are a new and good idea does not mean that they necessarily are. Perhaps I'll rant about touchscreens later.
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