Ask ZuneSpring: January 2010

Somewhere along the road to getting ZuneSpring up and running in WordPress, emails began to pour in from potential & current owners of Zunes, something I hadn’t really been expecting. Going forward we’ll answer our favorites and most asked questions in this column as well as a companion segment our ZuneSpring Live podcast. If your questions haven’t been answered here, please feel free to write us at TheTeam@ZuneSpring.com. Now, this months questions!

Why upgrade my Zune?

Jake asks “What’s the best reason for getting a ZuneHD? I’ve got Zune 16 that works just fine, and I’d only be able to afford the cheap ZuneHD anyway.”
Answer: You present a very valid point. So far Microsoft has shown utmost loyalty to Zune owners, allowing them to upgrade their players, in the Zune 30’s case nearly three years running. The truth of fact is simple. If your Zune 16 does everything you want it to, and fits comfortably where you need it to, then stay with what you know. If it doesn’t, then and only then should you look into a ZuneHD. Microsoft’s latest player does a lot with a little form factor but, there is a learning curve, and some things earlier users took for granted are gone. There’s no hardware controls for playback functionality like your Zune 16 for example. Also you need to be sure that the features you want are, and I say this with no reservations, worth upgrading for and are available on today’s ZuneHD firmware and hardware. It really comes down to what your parents also instilled in you while teaching you about the value of money: By for today’s sake, not tomorrows disappointment.

Does the Zune Team even listen?

Emily asks “All this time and still no apps! Do they even actually listen to us?”
Answer: Although I’m a recent adopter of a ZuneHD, I already feel your pain. Let’s take this situation for what it really is. 16 applications isn’t exactly nothing. ( I agree it’s not much either.) That being said there’s a few things that are as fundamental to this situation as it is to getting a Zune in general: Why did you buy a ZuneHD? If you made the purchase because you liked ZunePass, or The Social, then obviously you made the right decision based on the information you had at the time. However, if you plunked down your hard earned quid for a device that didn’t have all the functionality that you wanted, well.. then you probably made the wrong decision. At this point Microsoft is specifically focused on creating the best end to end music experience that’s possible on a mobile device, something that right now doesn’t involve opening an application marketplace. Maybe we’ll get there sometime this year or maybe sometime in the future, but right now opening up the marketplace is not something their ready to do and I see nothing wrong with that, mostly because I wanted a device that took care of my media experience first. As far as listening to feedback, I believe that they really do listen to what Zune users have to say. If you need evidence, just read this forum thread over at AnythingButiPod.com Thanks for your question, although I’m not entirely sure you got the answer you wanted. I really want an open application marketplace for Zune as well. Time will tell, I think.

Thanks to both Emily & Jake for sending in their questions! As I mentioned, I’m looking to make this a monthly feature on ZuneSpring. If you, Dear ZuneSpring reader, have any questions, any at all, please send them to theteam@zunespring.com I’ll try to answer them either here or via a reply email. You should also feel free to ask, questions via our new Twitter handle, @ZuneSpring. Also if you have answers for any of our questions askers, you too can contribute, just reply in the comments.