Zune Experiment Week 1: Zune Pass Is Surprisingly Seductive
A couple days after I brought home my Zune HD demo, I found myself at Cafe Presse reading a New York Times article about Holly Miranda, her new album, and her former band, The Jealous Girlfriends. I took out he Zune, looked the Girlfriends up in the Zune Marketplace, and downloaded the band's self-titled record. I can't do that with an iPhone/iPod/iPodTouch.
The Jealous Girlfriends This post is the latest in a series experimenting with the Zune, Microsoft's MP3 player that The New York Times yesterday called "a barely-noticed niche player."
Sure, those players have wi-fi (or better) as well as various app offerings. But I'd have to pay for the album to get the whole download on my phone/mp3 player. But, I was using Zune Pass, the $15 a month subscription service that gives me unlimited access to all 6 million songs (and I get to keep 10 downloads a month forever, unlike so many other subscriptions services).
Sunday afternoon I was at my folks' place reading a review of a performance by Joe Lovano and Us Five. I didn't have my Zune with me, so I simply added their record, Folk Art, to the note on my iPhone where I keep track of the records I mean to listen to. For the most part, with Zune, I don't have to worry about the note. I can just download the album, and begin listening right away. This is, after a week, the best thing I've discovered about the Zune.
Yes, I know it's not unique to Zune, there are other subscriptions (Rhapsody, Napster, etc.), some that even work as apps on the iPhone. But the idea that I can keep (some) tracks forever and actually download then on the go has me at the very least interested in keeping my Zune experiment alive for a few more weeks.
The Bad News: I can't use this thing on Macs, which is what I use at work. I have to hook up to the old PC we've got at home (and barely use). This is going to be a problem. Why won't Zune won't play nice with Apple the way iTunes is good to Windows?
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