The Future of Zune?

June 6, 2008 10:53 AM

What should I tell my 13-year old niece about the future of her Zune?

She has been disappointed in her choice of mp3 player (30 gb) since she bought it 2 years ago. If I recall, the Zune had a promising future, but those promises don't seem to have panned out.

posted by jaronson to computers & internet (18 comments total)

Microsoft probably isnt going to let it die, but its intrinsic value as a music player is not diminished. Functionally it works just as well as an ipod, and there are some things it can do that your run of the mill ipod still cant. Honestly I would look into one myself if I had some more extra cash and wasnt too lazy to rip apples hooks out of half of my music.
posted by BobbyDigital at 11:02 AM on June 6

Tell her to keep using it until the hard drive or battery dies, whichever comes first. Then tell her that, at that point, if she wants to get another .mp3 player, you'll help her decide which one to get.

If the kid's interested in all the whys and wherefores of the Zune's failure, or about Microsoft's big dreams of stealing Apple's thunder, or about marketing cool or product successes and failures or the consumer-electronics biz in general, you could certainly talk to her about it. But most adults aren't particularly interested in those kinds of topics, let alone 13-year old girls.
posted by box at 11:04 AM on June 6

If she got it 2 years ago, has she upgraded the software on it? I would say that's the best advantage of the zune. I bought a refurbished 1st generation last year and was able to upgrade to the 2.0 software, giving it all the functionality of a brand spanking new one.

That said, who knows what the future of any mp3 player is. I agree with box, keep using it until it dies and then get the newest latest and greatest. These certainly aren't 5 year products, the technology moves to quick.
posted by pencroft at 11:07 AM on June 6

What promised features are you talking about? Microsoft just released the Zune 2.5 client, which included a firmware update for the Zune. They also announced that they are going to release games for the Zune, which are playable right now if you download the SDK.

The previous updates have included Wifi sync as well as MCE integration.
posted by wongcorgi at 11:08 AM on June 6

It would be helpful for you to know why she's dissapointed in her Zune: is she unhappy with its functionality or is she unhappy with the perceived "cool" factor? Giving her the opportunity to talk about and to guide her in isolating expectations vs. reality can help her in her future as a savvy consumer.
posted by jamaro at 11:09 AM on June 6

What are you talking about?

I got one from woot for 80 dollars. MS shortly released the new firmware which gave me the feature to synch my zune wirelessly via wifi. It plays wma videos and mp3s just fine. The new client fixed some bugs from earlier. I dont know what else you expect it to do.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:24 AM on June 6

Also the battery life on it is pretty good. I suspect the last firmware update helped with that, because Im not charging as often.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:25 AM on June 6

List of changes in firmware 2.5 here.
posted by damn dirty ape at 11:34 AM on June 6

Here is a forum for hacking the Zune. Third-party hacks can extend the life and utility of even crappy old hardware. I drank the Ubuntu linux koolaid and my 640mb ibook is much more useful now. It has no wireless, but that's ok, because I want a distraction free writing box.

http://www.zunehack.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=4
posted by mecran01 at 11:42 AM on June 6

Guys, all the platform-type rationale in the world won't make a 13 year old girl want a Zune, even if it had better features at half the price (not saying it does.)

She's a teenage girl. She needs an iPod. Preferably the same one all the other girls have.

Features have nothing to do with it. What parents (especially male parents, and I guess uncles) seldom understand is this: an iPod is a fashion accessory first, a music player second, and a piece of technology ninety-fourth.

Be a cool uncle. :)
posted by rokusan at 12:06 PM on June 6 [1 favorite]

I have also heard good things about the firmware updates so definitely check that.

As others are suggesting, it seems a fair guess that a 13-year-old is not necessarily basing these feelings on some sort of absolute functional assessment or whatever, just feeling like she picked the second choice and that EVERYONE has an iPod could be a big part of it.

Just a guess but particularly the social aspect of sharing content via wireless connection was a big hype point earlier on - every ad showed sexy alternative people doing super cool things while sharing songs and videos via their special relationship with Zune. Don't see much of that in more recent ads - because of course is utterly dependent on other people having the things and most of your friends have iPods.

So maybe a little pep talk about how everyone who gets into gadgets and technology occasionally picks things that turn out to be not the most popular or successful, but it just means you're an independent thinker who will get the scoop on the next cool thing one of these days.
posted by nanojath at 12:25 PM on June 6 [1 favorite]

Apple has refurbished iPods, if price is a concern. Most of my iPods have been refurbished and they've worked great.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:55 PM on June 6

What should I tell my 13-year old niece about the future of her Zune?

I know the future of her Zune: It will function, as it does currently, as a music player until such as a time as the probably-cheap (like most consumer devices including the Ipod) construction fails, at which point it will in all likelihood be easier to replace than to repair.

I really don't think it's good for anyone to encourage the kind of shallowness rokusan describes. If she needs a fashion accessory she could perhaps get some jewelry or other fashion accessories which could easily be cheaper, of higher quality than any consumer electronics, and not an unnecessary triumph of form over function. If this is the concern, I'd tend towards flat-out informing her that worrying about the Ipod being more fashionable than the Zune is childish and silly, but I'm an asshole.

If she is unsatisfied with the Zune's performance as a music player then there may be reason to consider the Ipod or some other device.
posted by TheOnlyCoolTim at 1:01 PM on June 6

Two years ago she got it, when she was 11? The future of the device is that it is going to fall further and further out of fashion so fast that it might take on a handsome red glow. This would be true to some degree about an older iPod as well.

She is probably taking lots of steps that distance her 13 year old self from her 11 year old self. Zune, in spite of the fairly high quaility and value for money of the device, has not broken into fashionabilty. So, she has an unfashionable, outdated toy that was not all that cool, whatever the hell that even means, when it was new. Her peers (or more accurately her perception is that her peers) all have the newest flavor.

I agree with the "cool uncle helps her get an iPod" but would add "really cool uncle helps her get an iPod while also helping her understand the motivations". Being fashionable is far from the worst thing in the world. Being fashionable but not thinking about anything is closer.
posted by dirtdirt at 1:15 PM on June 6 [1 favorite]

If she needs a fashion accessory she could perhaps get some jewelry

My god, jewelry? Why waste money on the mp3 player she wants when you can get her a gold butterfly that sits there on her neck until she loses it?

Look, there's nothing wrong with wanting an iPod. The price difference with a zune is negligible. You can teach her all the morality lessons you want in other areas, just give the girl a freaking iPod. You won't ruin her.

(does she have the brown zune? Cause that would explain a lot)
posted by Dennis Murphy at 1:27 PM on June 6

I'd tell her I'd been thinking about picking up a Zune to tinker with and hack on, if only I could get someone to trade one for my reburbished iPod, which it turned out I'd wasted my money on since I was now thinking about getting the new iPhone.
posted by cairnish at 2:33 PM on June 6 [1 favorite]

If the kid's interested in all the whys and wherefores of the Zune's failure, or about Microsoft's big dreams of stealing Apple's thunder, or about marketing cool or product successes and failures or the consumer-electronics biz in general, you could certainly talk to her about it.

I think this is a good moment to let her know that sometimes you get what you pay for. Why save $50 or $100 (a lot to me, a lot to a 11 year old...) if you will not be satisfied with what you get? I like a deal, just like the next guy. However, as a general rule there's always a reason something is priced $100 cheaper, or why something is selling well but priced $100 more. I think it's a good lesson to learn, not to always chase the deal.
posted by pwb503 at 3:37 PM on June 6

Pickup a Zune Home Kit (dock, AC adapter, remote) for $20, and resize some choice threadless designs as Zune backgrounds.
posted by unmake at 7:29 PM on June 6