Zune will defeat iPod if it turns into a PDA

    The output of the Zune player was not taken as warmly as Microsoft marketers expected. Experts are trying to understand what Microsoft’s marketing miscalculation consists of and how the company can correct the situation. There is little doubt that she will correct the situation and eventually achieve leadership in this market. After all, the entire history of Microsoft's development shows that the world's largest IT company is excellent at copying the innovative ideas of competitors and adapting them to the mass market, gaining the role of leader in it. It is likely that the story will be repeated with a portable player.

    It’s clear that the battle between Zune and iPod is just beginning. Opponents only took starting positions and took the first steps. The years of struggle are ahead, and Microsoft has a clear advantage here in financial resources and other administrative levers. The Zune product may well be worse than the iPod in its consumer qualities, but at the same time gain a greater market share. However, Microsoft is clearly trying to surpass the competitor technologically. How much is this?

    Judging by the first reviews of Zune, technological leadership is difficult. The huge potential that is laid in WiFi is not fully realized. The large display is a fiction, because the resolution remains the same. The Zune device itself turned out to be rather overall and heavy in comparison with the iPod. Engineers did not even round the corners, due to which the design seems even more heavy. The fake wheel is not impressive either.

    The Zune device does not work in any OS other than WinXP, it is not compatible with many music formats such as DivX, OGG, protected WMV and WMA-DRM9. Worse, Zune software does not even support podcasts. A huge number of problems in the field of usability.

    Of course, the company can correct all errors and release a new version of proprietary software. But that’s not enough to kill the iPod. How can you beat a competitor? One possible solution: turn Zune into a full-fledged handheld computer .

    In fact, Microsoft will never make the player more elegant and beautiful than Apple. Due to what, then, can it be made more popular? The same method is suitable here, due to which Windows-based computers defeated Apple computers, that is, a variety of software.

    If iPod is a narrow-function device, then Zune can position itself as a universal computer running Windows, for which a wide variety of software from various manufacturers is available.

    Apple prohibits modifying their devices and discourages those enthusiasts who try to hack the built-in firmware and install on the iPod, for example, some games or a text editor. This means that Microsoft must allow all these modifications, meet users' requirements, equip Zune with programs for reading electronic books, for working with e-mail, for VoIP-telephony via WiFi - and then only marginalized users will remain among Apple users.

    Steve Ballmer recently said that a Zune-based handset is getting ready. Let's see how the battle of the Zune-iPod continues in the mobile market, although here Microsoft should have a huge advantage due to the experience of developing software for mobile smartphones.

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