IPod vs Zune

One of the unfolding stories in the tech world that I have not covered this year is Microsoft's entry into the world of MP3 players. Called "Zune," it goes into direct competition with Apple's iPod. All I can think of is that Microsoft, like in the past, got jealous when Apple hit a home run with their iPod. How dare anyone outsmart Microsoft and take control of the huge MP3 download market?

Less than a year ago, Microsoft decided to try and play catchup with Apple and began developing its own player. Yesterday, it hit the market with less than spectacular results, as was expected by most analysts. As we are entering the Christmas season and you may be thinking about buying a portable music and video player, we thought you might like to know more about Zune and how it stacks up against the iPod.

First, the price...Zune sells for the same price as a comparably equipped iPod...about $249 for a 30GB-equipped hard drive. The Zune screen is slightly larger than the iPod (3" vs 2.5"), which is good if you plan to watch a lot of videos. But, of course, that makes the Zune larger in overall size than the iPod. It is also heavier, so if you carry it in your shirt, it will make your pocket sag much more than usual.

Zune's extra incentive over iPod is the ability to share music with a friend via a built-in wireless network. Sounds good, but there are some limitations. First, you need a friend who owns a Zune. Second, each song you share lasts for only three plays or three days on your friend's Zune. And third, if you share a song with a friend, you can never share that same song with that friend again. Also the wireless part of Zune will not surf the Net, nor will it synchronize with your computer (you can only do that by a USB cable). Maybe those features will be addressed in a future version.

The Zune Marketplace has around 2 million songs for download, while the iPod iTune's Web site, has 3.5 million. To buy songs for your Zune, you spend points that you must purchase in $5 increments, a system that is similar to the e-commerce model on the Xbox 360 but annoying compared to the convenience of using your credit card to buy songs on iTunes for 99 cents. Deceptively, Microsoft sells its songs for 79 points, but it costs you 99 cents to accumulate that many points. For unlimited songs, subscriptions cost $15 a month.

As many reviewers pointed out, the Zune feels like a first generation product and the a rule of thumb for buying Microsoft's products is not to purchase anything from them until the 3rd generation.

As I said earlier, retailers reported first day sales of Zune were very slow. But Microsoft says they don't expect to make much headway vs Apple for at least four years, but they plan to spend hundreds of millions of dollars over that time to make it happen. Apple should stay on their toes with their iPod as this same strategy was used by Microsoft on their X-Box gaming console. They are now the number one product in that market.

So, the bottom line is that if you have been thinking about buying me a portable MP3 player for Christmas because you like my writing so much, I would prefer an iPod over a Zune. Thank you in advance.