Okay, the headline is a little misleading. The folks at Apple are downright brilliant in their business approach. I mean, I saw all that they announced at their “Rock ‘n Roll News Conference” or whatever they called it, and it had little substance. But the flash that came with it drove people insane. More people in this world watch with baited breath all the live blogs about Apple’s “announcements”, and they blindly ignore press conferences from our President or current events from around the world that will actually be relevant in their lives.
So, yeah, Apple’s got a good marketing department (except they need to find a new format for commercials – yes, I get it, if I get a Mac, I’ll be as cool as the nerdy kid from Dodgeball and Accepted. Sign me up. I use a PC so I must be a fat, nerdy guy, right?). So why do I say I don’t understand it?
If you boil down Apple’s products, from a pure technological standpoint, it’s a mixed bag. They have certainly done some innovative things with the iPhone and the iPod Touch. There’s no denying that. It’s simply amazing that there are so many apps that you can purchase, and Apple is making a killing on it. But at what expense?
- Apple seems to forget the initial purpose of the technology. The iPhone is not an iPod, nor is it a computer. At its core, it’s a phone. The main reason people rely on this thing is because it’s a cell phone. It replaces whatever cell phone they are using. As such, it needs to have the functions of a cell phone. Cell phones today can handle MMS (that means “texting” pictures and videos to other phones). Why did it take Apple until version 3.0 to include this? They basically said, “We’re releasing a phone that doesn’t have all the functionality that your current phone has, but we’re going to add a bunch of other stuff you never knew you needed instead!”
- The price points are obnoxious. Mac laptops top $1,000 on the low end. My favorite argument from Apple fanboys is that they are cheaper in the long run. Yet, most people don’t buy new computers because their old ones all of a sudden stop working. They buy new computers because technology advances and they want the newest and latest functionalities. So they will get rid of their Macbooks for new Macbooks. On top of that, iPhones are priced at levels formerly reserved for business phones, and the monthly fees are astronomical. I grow very weary of listening to people complain about the tanking economy and how many people are running around with no money, because they are willingly choosing to pay exorbitant prices for these things. [Note: this is not a defense of Windows. I have the same gripes about their software, too.]
- In some ways, their business model is outdated. I just got done reading an article about Netflix in this month’s issue of Wired. The beauty of what Netflix is trying to accomplish is providing all-you-can-eat content and entertainment at a flat rate. Microsoft has done the same for music with the Zune (see below). Now, the iTunes Store was revolutionary at the time – a la carte downloading of your favorite music legally. But without a subscription option, they are losing their grip on music.
Now, on to the Microsoft Zune. The company recently announced their newest release, the Zune HD. This is such a beautiful, worthwhile device that is lost on so many techie nerds that are writing reviews condemning Microsoft for what they consider to be a “too little, too late” product. Their biggest gripe? The lack of an app store. Yes, every reviewer in the world seems to feel that everything needs an app store because Apple has one. And you know what? Palm did that with their Palm Pre, and all I saw was articles about how they didn’t have as many apps as Apple’s does. So why bother? Are we keeping up with the Joneses here?
And those reviewers are missing the point: the Microsoft Zune is, at its core, a media player. You can add other functionality if you want, but the device is designed clearly for music lovers. I’m a music junkie – I love finding new music to rock out to. I find the local radio extremely limiting. When I decided I was getting an mp3 player, I narrowed it down to an iPod or a Zune. Do you know why I picked the Zune? The Zune Pass.
The Zune Pass is one of the giant elephants in Apple’s rooms that nobody seems to notice. For $14.99 a month, I get – quite literally – unlimited music. There isn’t an artist I can’t find in the Zune Marketplace, either. I’ve had my hard drive crash several times, and I haven’t missed a beat on my music, because it’s easy enough for me to repopulate my library with unlimited music at a few clicks of my mouse.
And the Zune HD, along with the accompanying update to the Zune desktop software, has taken the awesomeness of unlimited music to new levels. First, they added a “Quickplay” feature, which to me has been long overdue. I’m a big fan of throwing my Zune on random when in the car, and I often find myself hitting “next” over and over again until I get to something I recently downloaded. Now, I can use the “Quickplay” feature to listen to recent music, and I can manually “pin” albums to the “Quickplay” playlist, too.
In addition, my new favorite feature is the Smart DJ, which works like Pandora, and it is the true benefit to having a Zune Pass. If you’ve ever used Pandora, you know that you can enter in your favorite artist and it will put together a “radio station” that you would probably like, based on your musical stylings. The Smart DJ lets you do the same thing, but integrates the station with your current collection, along with the entire Zune Marketplace library. With a Zune Pass, you can listen to whatever you want, whenever you want in the Zune Marketplace anyway. This was a development that just makes sense.
They’ve also added high-definition radio capabilities to their built-in FM radio. Oh, and if you hear a song on the radio that you like, you can flag it on your Zune and download it when you hop on a wireless connection. You know what Apple announced as their latest iTunes development? Liner notes. They thought it would be cool to have “bonus features” on their albums like liner notes and other stuff like that. Yup, the iTunes store has all the innovation of vinyl records.
As criticisms mount about no “Zunephones” or app stores, Microsoft has quietly and deliberately perfected the music experience of having an mp3 player, while Apple continues to push farther and farther from what got it there in the first place: music.
I’m a Zune fanboy. I bang the drum and wave the pennants. You know why? Because the Zune caters to the need I want it for the most – my love for music. That’s why you get an mp3 player. So, as a Practical Nerd, I want to encourage you to go get a Zune for your music needs. I don’t want you to do it to “stick it to Apple”. I don’t want you to do it in hopes that you will drive up sales of the Zune. I want you to do it because I honestly believe that, as a music lover, you won’t get a more pleasant, complete, or innovative experience.
Enjoy your weekend.
Tom is an entrepreneur and freelance writer, working out of his apartment full-time, or wherever he feels like taking his laptop. He doesn't take long European vacations or blogs on the beach. He's an Average Joe that took control of his life. He wants you to do the same.
