BackStage: I’ve Switched to Windows Phone.

This past week we took some time off to gather strength for what is sure to be one of the busiest winters at ZuneSpring headquarters. So what did I do with my little slice of bliss? I dumped my Zune HD.

To be fair I didn’t exactly dump my Zune HD, I merely relegated it to living room status in place of my new completely decommissioned Zune 120; but for me the implications are clear. The Zune HD will not be traveling with me daily anymore, neither will it have Zune Pass downloads stored. Why? Because it’s time to refresh, and my idea of a refresh in this case is to go with an all-in-one solution to my needs, and to me Windows Phone is a no brainer.

Here’s the way my thinking works. If my needs have outgrown my current mobile device in January I replace them with something that covers my needs at the time. For the past four years I’ve carried a phone and a Zune (plus an iPod Touch for two years). In that time I’ve grown ridiculously tired of having to charge so many devices.  Carrying so many devices wasn’t the only problem I had with my current situation.  The Zune HD was clearly better in terms of discovering music but wasn’t much help to me outside that capacity. I consider having a calculator that starts within a reasonable time to be a benefit. I consider a built in speaker to be lovely. I think having a web browser that works is of importance.

So far the switch has been great with a few caveats.  Regular FM signals are just as lame as I remember, and not being able to use channels has also been a downer. The battery life leaves much to be desired. The feature set has holes so big I could drive a minivan full of suburban children who visit McDonalds too much through. With that said I believe the experience can and will get better.

I don’t mean to drone on about how great it is and how great Zune HD isn’t because the Zune HD is a great piece of hardware. It got me through a solid year of enjoying my favorite forms of entertainment but just like it’s non-touch Zune siblings it’s just that built for entertaining not actually getting anything done. Here’s to you Zune HD, it’s been good but a Windows Phone device is more of a match for a twenty-two year old. I’ll remember the good times, and the bad ones too.