By SteveJack
Routinely lambasted here and by many others (see related articles below) for Microsoft’s choice of brown plastic, draconian sharing limitations, a fake click wheel that’s really just a four-way button, and other flaws, Microsoft’s re-branded Toshiba Gigabeat called “Zune” has interestingly found no such reaction from Engadget.
Their opinions on the Zune are so out-of-step with the consensus of the rest of the tech media and analysts, that it really grabs your attention; especially when they keep it up for days and days in the face of Zune pans coming from all angles. When a lone media outlet gets excited by and lauds a device while many, many other media outlets are, at best, underwhelmed by the same device, it should make one wonder what the heck’s going on. Note to Engadget, if you haven’t noticed during your busy week of trying to drum up Zune anticipation from gadget geeks, nobody wants a Zune outside of the Ballmer household – and they’re all brainwashed.
On September 14th, under a headline breathlessly exclaiming “Microsoft launches the Zune!” Engadget wrote:
Microsoft is busting out the Zune today, and we’ve got the rundown… As for ballyhoo, wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is where the real action is at, and it works pretty much like we’ve been hearing: you can share a full-length track with a friend, and they’ve got three times to listen to it over a three day period, after which they can flag the song for purchase on the Zune Marketplace — unless they’re an unlimited “Zune Pass” subscriber, of course. You can also share playlists and pictures with your buddies, along with what we suppose are “unprotected” homemade recordings… Of course, it all really comes down to matching your Zune with that snazzy new fall wardrobe of yours, and to that end the Zune comes in black, brown and white. Sadly, Microsoft still won’t spill the beans on pricing and availability (other than a vague “this holiday season”), so we’ll keep an eye out for that just like always.
Yes, it’s so sad that Microsoft won’t let us know exactly when we can get our hands on one of these Zunes and how much we can expect to pay for the privilege.
Later the same day, Engadget covered initial reactions from a group of three bloggers that Microsoft flew out to Seattle for an “all-expenses paid first-look at the new device.” All were quite positive about Zune – in stark contrast to others who presumably were not treated to Microsoft’s “all-expenses paid first-look at the new device.”
• Glenn over at Coolfer thinks it feels a little heavy, but that the navigation is intuitive and simple. He likes the brown-colored Zune best, saying that it looks better in person than in pics (which we sure hope is the case).
• Amrit from Stereogum wishes it were thinner, but thinks the Zune’s wireless capability is “pretty hot.” He concludes that the “Zune is long on ideas, but may be short on time.”
• MOKB discovered the one confusing feature about the Zune right off the bat — the “scroll wheel” which turns out to be a directional pad, but actually liked the navigation once they got the hang of it.
See, according to Engadget’s exceeding limited and possibly tainted roundup of “The Blogsphere,” brown is cool, Zune’s limited viral DRM-wrapped Wi-Fi is pretty hot, and that fake scroll wheel – well, you’ll like it when you try it.
Also on the 14th, Engadget “interviewed” Microsoft Corporate Vice President J Allard, who Engadget referred to as “the one and only J Allard,” under a giant photo of Mr. Clean himself. I’ll leave it to you to decide if you think the “interview” is a puff piece or not. By any measure, “hard-hitting,” it ain’t.
After letting J Allard impart a Zune press release to their readers, Engadget reported on Zune’s expected battery life:
With wireless off we can expect a 12 hours of music playback at 128Kbps, 3.5 hours for video playback, and 4.5 hours when running a slide show. Compare that to the 30GB iPod’s 14/4 hours and the 80GB iPod’s 20/6 hours, and it’s a little difficult to fully envision the payoff for [Zune’s] added thickness and height. Still, remember: bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless. Ah well, we’ll just hope upon hope that’ll be something the [sic] fix before release in a couple months.
So, even with the Wi-Fi off, Zune’s battery sucks, but “remember: bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless.” Also, Engadget holds “hope upon hope” for a fix before release. Why is Engadget hoping so fervently for a Zune battery fix? Do they “hope upon hope” for iPod feature upgrades?
On September 17th, Engadget reported on a “Zune knockoff” thusly:
Everyone, say hello to Oriphe Industrial Limited’s MPF2110, which is “liking Microsoft zune” (yeah, we’re liking it too).
Get it, yet? Engadget likes the Zune. Don’t forget – well, forget about Zune’s battery life – just remember, “bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless.” Mmmkay?
On September 18th, Engadget reported on Wal-Mart’s slip-up of briefly posting the 30GB Zune’s price of $284 online, writing, “a whole $16 shy of the magic $300 number we were expecting Microsoft to hit isn’t too shabby.”
$284 for an untested first generation Microsoft product that’s really a re-branded Toshiba Gigabeat – with a fake click wheel designed to fool the ignorant, no less – that only works with Microsoft’s first generation Zune-only music store “isn’t too shabby” compared Apple’s 30 GB iPod that works with iTunes and also plays TV shows, video, and movies for only $249? Only on Engadget, folks.
Which brings us up-to-date, day five of the Engadget Zune lovefest. Under an 800×760 pixel montage of Zune promotional imagery, Engadget announces:
Kinda hard to believe Microsoft is giving us some Zunes to give away when they won’t even tell anyone when they’ll be out in stores (“holidays 2006”) — but make no mistake about it, Engadget’s going to be the first place to hook someone up with a Zune. You want to be the first among your friends — hell, the first ever — to get one? Here’s the deal…
In closing, I have only one question for Engadget: Was it just the free Zunes for your giveaways or is Microsoft paying you guys, too?
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Related articles:
Microsoft’s underwhelming Zune a ‘viral DRM’ device – September 18, 2006
Motley Fool’s Jayson: Microsoft’s ‘just plain ugly’ Zune a meager offering, not an iPod killer – September 15, 2006
Crave at CNET: ‘Microsoft Zune, all the excitement that brown can bring’ – September 15, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune underwhelms – September 15, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft Zune ‘a design mistake’ – September 15, 2006
Microsoft hypocrisy exposed with Zune: What ever happened to ‘choice?’ – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft Zune with fake scroll wheel ‘hardly an Apple iPod killer’ – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft Zune won’t spoil Apple’s biggest iPod Christmas ever – September 14, 2006
Microsoft unveils Zune 30GB player, Zune Marketplace; declines to disclose prices – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft’s Zune an ‘underwhelming’ repackaged Toshiba Gigabeat; no threat to Apple iPod – August 30, 2006
Microsoft confirms brick-like Zune to be made by Toshiba – August 25, 2006
Microsoft Zune is chunky brick made by Toshiba – August 25, 2006
Zune: Apple cannot lose. Microsoft cannot win. – July 26, 2006
“Snazzy”(!!!)…isn’t that a word used only by grandmothers and old aunts who say how “snazzy” you look in those new trousers they’ve bought for your Christmas gift (when you were hoping for an iPod, no doubt)? Zune does suck.
It is a Zune Giveaway because no one wil buy them…
Brown?! – goes with Ballmer’s hair… heh!
I am sorely disappointed in Engadget…
That interview with what’s his name must have muddled their brain…
I don’t know if I will have room End-gadget in my bookmarks anymore…
There is a “sold” sign on the door.
MDN in bold
So I went to the site to try to sign up, and on the page to give away the zune I saw a Mac and an iPod advertisment. Kind of ironic.
Bleh–I guess now we know what they’re about.
Isn’t Engadget run by the same people who own Gawker? No wonder they’re stupid sellouts who think they’re cooler and more relevant than they actually are.
wow this guy is a total douche.
i mean, comon people everyone knows the Zune is gonna fail and all, but why does everyone feel the need to trash it so bad? dont get me wrong, i love my ipod as much as the next guy, but does that mean we have to be so cocky about it that everytime something good is said about a competing product we have to go on a rampage? I’m a long time reader of engadget, and personally, i like to see a site that talks about more than just the ipod.
Sorry, I take it back. They’re not owned by Gawker.
However, they still suck megaballs.
mrwright613,
The issue is that Engadget seems to be promoting the Zune and their overall coverage of the Zune is very, very much at odds with many other tech media outlets. Now, lo and behold, Engadget is giving away Zunes?
Come on, it’s not at all difficult to see.
As usual, SteveJack nailed it.
Engadget has definitely jumped the brown shark.
mrwright613 (Engadget apologist),
Engadget did this to themselves.
Don’t shoot the messenger: SteveJack just hoisted Engadget upon their own petard.
Bravo, SteveJack!
You caught Engadget red-handed… or brown-nosed in this case.
First prize in the Engadget competition is a Zune.
Second prize is two of them.
I’ll leave it to you to decide if you think the “interview” is a puff piece or not. By any measure, “hard-hitting,” it ain’t.
Has MDN ever done a “hard-hitting” piece on Apple?
Is there actually documentation that Microsoft pays people to write positive articles about them or is that just something we Mac users like to say?
Just curious, it would be interesting to know for sure.
journalism student,
MacDailyNews “hard-hitting” Apple:
Apple in secret deal with Microsoft to hide Macintosh from world?
So, where are all the new TV shows on Apple’s iTunes Store?
I could market Macintosh better than Apple Marketing in my sleep
Apple should STOP advertising hard drive-based iPods for joggers and runners
There are plenty of other examples, too.
Also, if you haven’t noticed, Engadget is supposed to be an independent tech gadget source. MacDailyNews (even in name) makes no secret of their “Appleness” even though they do criticize Apple from time to time.
Engadget: on the Microsoft payroll.
ms are SO greedy
yet SO inept at getting into new markets
“”all-expenses paid first-look at the new device.” All were quite positive about Zune – in stark contrast to others who presumably were not treated to Microsoft’s “all-expenses paid first-look at the new device.””
So what you’re saying is peopole who’ve actually touched and used the device are positive about it, while those just making up their comments having never touched a real Zune are not?
Hey, MicroSuck trolls!
It must suck to be you guys. Literally.
HA-ha!
BURN.
Looks like Engadget opinions are now worth..mmm let’s see….about the same as a secondhand free Zune that can’t be given away. On eBay, bidding for their giveaway Zunes start at 1 cent, but there are no bids, even Allard won’t bother.
Silly silly Engadget. Just not good enough. Just too Microsoft.
“Team with Microsoft. Prepare to fail.”
Engadget: <strike>im</strike>partial advice, or just in league with the Devil…
I hate to spoil the party here, but brown is the “in” colour this autumn. Just check out any clothing store and you will see plenty of browns, meaning that the comment about matching the “fall wardrobe” actually has some relevance. Of course, if you look at the fall fashions you will find they are in tasteful shades of chocolate, coffee and earth, so I’m not sure why Endgadget feels that the Zune’s turd brown would actually co-ordinate well. There’s no accounting for taste.
Brown…the new black? Not…
If I want to coordinate with my wardrobe, I’ll just buy iPod cases of the appropriate color — already have a nice brown leather case that looks way cooler than the Zune…
Hey, if I got an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle, I’d say cool stuff about Microsoft too…don’t need an all-expenses paid trip to Cupertino because Apple products are already cool (besides, I’m practically just down the street from Infinite Way)…
Brown IS the hot color this year. It is all over the place in stores. Clothes, accessories.
I find it VERY entertaining to see macdailynews complaining about lack of impartiality. And for the post saying macdailynews takes Apple to task: Puhlease!!! This article just comes off as sour grapes. Macdailynews didn’t get a Zune to rip to shreads, as they sure would “impartially” do. Show me an article where Macdailynews says ONE good thing about Zune, or talks bad about Apples horrid DRM scheme…
“Routinely lambasted here” is all you need to read from this article. Complaining that someone else is not impartial, but start YOUR article with those words.
“draconian sharing limitations,”
Where are the article slamming Apples DRM limitations on the number of times you can copy the music YOU PAID FOR????
This sight gets it’s journalism pedigree from Fox News. No spin is too much…
brownisin,
I guess we can see from your monicker that you don’t get it.
Give up trying before its too late.
brownisin: Where are the article slamming Apples DRM limitations on the number of times you can copy the music YOU PAID FOR????
could you give an example of what kind of copying you’d like to do with your iTMS songs which the DRM prevents you from doing?
brownisin asked: “Where are the articles slamming Apples DRM limitations on the number of times you can copy the music YOU PAID FOR????”
Macaday is correct, you really don’t get it, do you? The thing is, YOU DON”T OWN THE MUSIC!
Example: when you buy a CD, you own the medium (the CD) on which the music is recorded. You don’t own the composer’s music, or the musicians’ performance, or the graphic designer’s design and layout – or the right (copyright) to ‘exploit’ these things.
Like it not, that’s the law. How else are composers, musicians, graphic designers, etc to make a living? (Oh, and the record companies too – but let’s not go there.)
DRM has to be limited if creative people’s rights are to be protected, while at the same time giving end-users some flexibilty beyond just playing the CD or the download.
Just my 2 cents (I’m not a lawyer!)
I love everything Apple, but I would like to add one thing for accuracy:
The Zune has a built-in FM Tuner, so to compare “apples with apples” (as it were), the 30GB iPod is actually $249 + $49 (tuner) = $298 which is essentially what the Zune (presumably) will cost.
Now, don’t get me wrong, for $300 the iPod is WORLDS above Zune, but fair is fair- the iPod similarly configured is about the same price.
Where are the article slamming Apples DRM limitations on the number of times you can copy the music YOU PAID FOR????
You can copy a song unlimited times, but it can only be in the same playlist a limited number of times. Or you can burn a playlist to audio CD and copy that unlimited times. Apple’s DRM is about as liberal as you can get while still keeping the labels happy.
Re: the Zune knockoff, I thought that was the first time anyone has bothered to copy Microsoft, then I remembered the Linux variants that are modelled on Windows. Why not just copy Apple and cut out the middle man?
I scanned part of the article, when it first came out. When I got the gist of the message, I figured these guys were MS fanboy shills and stopped reading.
MDN MW: report.
I read the engadget blog fairly regularly and the text of the entry does not even sound like a typical engadge story.
“Microsoft is busting out the Zune today, and we’ve got the rundown… As for ballyhoo, wireless Zune-to-Zune sharing is where the real action is at”
I don’t recall seeing that style of writing. I believe that the story was not even written by the engadget staff. I believe it was written by a 40 year old pr guy at m$ who is trying his very best to sound hip.
What Are the Symptoms of Microsoft Paranoid Personality Disorder?
People with MS-PPD are always on guard, believing that others are constantly trying to demean, harm, or threaten them. These generally unfounded beliefs, as well as their habits of blame and distrust, might interfere with their ability to form close relationships. People with this disorder:
Doubt the commitment, loyalty, or trustworthiness of others, believing others are using or deceiving them
Are reluctant to confide in others or reveal personal information due to a fear that the information will be used against them
Are unforgiving and hold grudges
Are hypersensitive and take criticism poorly
Read hidden meanings in the innocent remarks or casual looks of others
Perceive attacks on their character that are not apparent to others; they generally react with anger and are quick to retaliate
Have recurrent suspicions, without reason, that their spouses or lovers are being unfaithful
Are generally cold and distant in their relationships with others, and might become controlling and jealous
Cannot see their role in problems or conflicts and believe they are always right
Have difficulty relaxing
Are hostile, stubborn, and argumentative
What Causes MS-PPD?
The exact cause of MS-PPD is not known, but it likely involves a combination of biological and psychological factors. Early Windows computer experiences, Stockholm Syndrome, including physical or emotional trauma from Microsoft, and chair throwing “i’ll fscking kill you ” threats by Steve Ballmer, are also suspected to play a role in the development of MS-PPD.
How Is MS-PPD Diagnosed?
If symptoms are present, the doctor will begin an evaluation by performing a complete Windows replacement with a Apple Macintosh computer and software.
If the doctor finds no physical reason for the symptoms, he or she might refer the person to a psychiatrist or psychologist, health care professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illnesses. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a person for a Microsoft influenced personality disorder.
How Is MS-PPD Treated?
People with MS-PPD often do not seek treatment on their own because they do not see themselves as having a problem. When treatment is sought, psychotherapy (a form of counseling) is the treatment of choice for MS-PPD. Treatment likely will focus on increasing general coping skills, as well as on improving social interaction, communication, and self-esteem.
Because trust is an important factor of psychotherapy, treatment is challenging since people with MS-PPD have such distrust of others. As a result, many people with MS-PPD do not follow their treatment plan.
Can MS-PPD Be Prevented?
Although prevention of the disorder might not be possible, treatment can sometimes allow a person who is prone to this condition to learn more productive ways of dealing with situations. To avoid buying Microsoft products or being employed by the company in the first place.
iPod Radio Remote
Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. You also get a set of earphones with a shorter cable that’s a perfect fit for the remote. Compatible with iPod nano and iPod with video.
….extra eahones and remote, handy when ipod on belt/ or jacket pocket
First post!!! yeepee
Ordinarily, I laugh at the “Microsoft is paying so-and-so” conspiracy theories. But when it’s this obvious…
Even if they are paying, let’s see how the thing does in the wild. People want to win anything that’s free, particularly kids and teens. Just because this contest is getting attention doesn’t mean a thing about how the product is likely to do overall.
What M$ is doing may bite them in the ass. They are promising a really high quality user experience. I have a feeling they’re going to have trouble delivering. It’s going to be the same story: over-promise, under deliver.
Step back a moment and consider something about the Zune: There’s lots of high schoolers out there who live in a different culture than most of us know. They spend hours communicating with each other by online chat, often with 8-16 chats running at once. They do MySpace, Yahoo, etc. and share everything. They usually have cell phones and download ringtones, music, etc. like mad.
This wireless sharing feature will hook them hard – as long as they can get their folks to pay for it (like they do their cellphones). To be able to beam music back and forth, buy it on a whim, and share it instantly on the playground, in the lunch room, and in hallways between classes or during free periods could really catch this generation.
I’m just saying, don’t count it out as the next big thing. For those of you over 20, odds are you haven’t seen the culture I’m describing close enough to understand what’s going on out there. It’s amazing (and not really in any good way).
BTW, people need to remember that this is an opinion piece (by definition, partial), unlike Engadget articles which are supposed to be reviews of technical gadgets and as such impartial.
Maybe the 3 bloggers who got the all-expenses paid trip did really like the Zune, or maybe they liked the all-expenses paid trip.
But whatever the case, I doubt MS chose random bloggers, my opinion is that the bloggers were probably MS lovers in the first place, so they wanted to like the Zune. Just like some mac users (myself included), can sometimes want to like an apple product, just because it is Apple.
Interesting exposition by SteveJack. But I think the explanation is simple really. Sites that review tech gizmo products including mp3 players have an interest in there being a lot of new players out there for people to have to choose between. How to choose? Well, come to engadget of course! Also, if you have trouble making something work, where do you go? Engadget or other similar sites.
So sites like Engadget, Gizmodo, even cNet, they all have a built in bias against the dominance of the iPod. The world doesn’t really need these sites with the iPod (as far as mp3 players go). You pick an iPod, it works. There’s limited decisions on buying, and little tech troubleshooting.
Plus, the site is run by tech heads for tech heads. One distinct class of apple or iPod haters are tech heads that actually prefer tech to be harder than apple makes it. If it’s not harder (i.e., doesn’t take more knowledge they have), their knowledge is useless. Nobody likes to be useless.
‘Brownie is doing a heckuva job’.
Whether you agree with SteveJack’s premise or not, he certainly is a masterful writer. Starts it slow, builds it and shapes it and then wham!
SteveJack damns Engadget with their own words. Wonderfully done. It really is.
(For the record, I agree: Engadget’s is Microsoft’s bitch. Sell outs!)
SteveJack wrote:
Get it, yet? Engadget likes the Zune. Don’t forget – well, forget about Zune’s battery life – just remember, “bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless.” Mmmkay?
Oh shit, that was good!
Engadget is dead to me now.
I’m still trying to figure out what the photo on the white Zune’s background is supposed to be… two people splashing in water near a NYCesque bridge? I’m having trouble thinking of any such suspension bridges that span bodies of water clean enough for a couple to enjoy splashing around in
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Engadget podcast: unsubscribe
Wow, an absolutely disgusting, unfounded accusation. You should be ashamed of yourself.
First off, Engadget is a BLOG, not CNN. We have opinions and we aren’t afraid to share them. I think the Zune has a lot of flaws, all of which we are quick to point out, like its limitations on file-sharing and its poor battery life. Do we think it’s healthy for their to be a solid alternative to the iPod? Absolutely. Do we think that the Zune is that alternative? No, at least not yet.
You obviously didn’t note in our J Allard interview where we try and pin him down to give a real answer to our questions about PlaysForSure — or to give any real answers at all.
You misunderstood our quote about the Oriphe — we actually like the Oriphe player, we love knockoffs.
I thought it was important to point out that MSFT had flown music bloggers out to Seattle to play with the Zune. It showed they were reaching out to that community, and I made it clear that the trip was bought and paid for.
Normally we get accused of being biased against MSFT and towards Apple. The truth is that those who are biased themselves dislike any coverage we have of “the competition”.
We had wall-to-wall coverage of everything Apple announced last week, we even liveblogged their keynote. MSFT fanboys didn’t like that much. Then we had wall-to-wall coverage of the Zune announcement, which the Apple fanboys didn’t like much.
The simple truth is that we’re enthusiastic about gadgets and new technology and try to cover this stuff as much as possible. No company, advertiser, or sponsor has any influence over our editorial, and there is a very strict wall between advertising and editorial.
Peter Rojas
Editor
Engadget
sorry, but as a longtime apple user and grafik-designer i am a little disappointed by the design of iTunes 7. the zune marketplace as shown in the screenshot on engadget however looks pretty good. i have to admit. i am sad now.
Engadget’s Rojas doth protest much in his comment above, but Engadget’s coverage of Zune and their decision to hold a Zune giveaway is more than a bit too fishy for my taste.
SteveJack is entitled to his opinion and has no reason to be ashamed. I happen to share the same opinion.
Peter: You’re an editor, and you can’t distinguish between they’re/there/their?
Mr. Rojas,
It’s not how much coverage you devoted to Apple and Microsoft, it’s how you covered Zune.
The issue is that Engadget seems to be promoting the Zune and their overall coverage of the Zune is very, very much at odds with many other tech media outlets. Now, lo and behold, Engadget is giving away Zunes?
Face facts: you’ve been nailed.
Peter Rojas,
You’re the one who’s absolutely disgusting and should be ashamed.
I don’t know what everybody’s so excited about. Its inevitable, the only way MS is going to get these Zune things into people’s hands is to give them away – free. We see it coming clear as day. At this rate Zune the Buffoon will be discontinued by CMas… And that’s ok with me.
As for me and my house, my daughter has a nano and when the wider screen iPods come out we’re gettin one.
Grrrilla – you might be right as to the younger generation. I’m 34 and last fall I dated this hot 21-year-old girl from one of my acting classes. She was constantly sending me text messages and going on and on about MySpace and Friendster. I could only take it for about six weeks. I consider myself techy and wired but they take it to a whole new level.
ralph from Berlin:
You sir, have abviously not been using computers and software for very long if you’re actually implying that you’re considering a Zune because one piece of new software has glitches, software from a company with a reputation for fixing its glitches, and usually fixing them quicky and thoroughly.
SteveJack/MDN do you have a rebuttal for Mr. Rojas?
BTW: Expect Microsoft to begin astroturfing the blogosphere pretty soon. I think it goes without saying that paid Microsoft shills will be posting comments to “hip” blogs about just “rad” and “wicked” the Zune is. Why, we might even see some here.
The only thing I see as being out of step here is your blatant attention grab; you obviously recognize that the Zune — while maybe not the device that will kill the iPod — has a huge amount of buzz, and that Engadget has the best coverage of the new launch — like with almost every new gadget. Including Apple’s new gear. Go ahead, google Apple iTV, see whose very positive writeup comes up first.
Your points are baseless, but since you insist on making them, I’ll indulge you by going through them individually.
Guess what, we covered Apple, Nintendo, Microsoft, and CTIA all last week, each and all with the same amount of fervor and love of the game. Apple and Nintendo didn’t get any less attention than Microsoft did, not by a long shot. Sony and Microsoft fanboys — much like the Mac fanboys in this forum — had similar complaints. Just like Nintendo fanboys complain when we cover the PS3 and Xbox.
We were offered the junket to Seattle to party for a couple of days, get face time with the device, hob-nob with the execs — we turned it down. We don’t take junkets, we don’t take free stuff, and we don’t sign NDAs that would prevent us from publishing our stories. For you to imply our coverage is tainted is not only absurd, but it’s actually counter to the facts!
Draconian sharing limitations? Do you mean to imply the iPod allows you to share bought music any more freely? Nope — you can’t share anything with your friends, you can move files from authorized machine to authorized machine.
Yes, he’s the “one and only J Allard” — are there other J Allards in the tech industrywe’re not aware of? We grilled J Allard when others were throwing softball after softball. We called it like we see it when he was trying to wiggle out of questions. We would have kept grilling him, too, if they hadn’t cut us off. You, however, are committing the same egregious act that you’re accusing us of — grubbing for traffic and favor.
“Do they ‘hope upon hope'” for iPod feature upgrades?” Yes! Absolutely! We’ve been calling for WiFi / Bluetooth A2DP iPods for years. We’ve written how many pieces about the highly anticipated video iPod and iPhone? Probably dozens. Do you even read Engadget?
The Zune knockoff post was intended to be entirely comedic — I would think that’s entirely and completely obvious. the “bigger screen, wireless, bigger screen, wireless.” is so obviously pointing out that those are the only two selling points of the device right now — it was a blatantly sarcastic bash on the Zune, which you totally missed.
For you to infer we’re on the take is actually libelous.
To the commenters: If Apple wanted to give us some gear to give away, we’d have done that, too. We’ve given away numerous iPods in the past, and we’ll give them away in the future. Our giveaways are about putting hot devices into peoples’ hands — the end. If you think the Zune isn’t anticipated, go take it up with the nearly ten thousand people who’ve entered the contest.
It’s very clear to me, “SteveJack” (got some problem with publishing under your real, full name?) that you are doing your best to live up to the reputation that Mac users are zealots and cultish. Your Mac version of the Dvorak song and dance is badly played and boring. No one can stop you from criticizing us, but you need to get the fact straight and your arguments in order.
SteveJack, Steve, Jack, whatever your name may be,
It’s against the interest of your own community of Apple enthusiasts to blindly follow the iPod and instinctively reject competitors’ (specifically Microsoft’s) products. Are we excited about the Zune? Of course we are — it’s a new gadget with innovative new features. Our excitement has precisely nothing to do with its Microsoft ties. It has its flaws, we’ve pointed them out, and we’ll continue to do so as reviews trickle out.
Constructive Apple enthusiasts understand that there is nothing to be benefited from a monopoly or from blind loyalty to a brand; there’s ALWAYS something to be learned from the competition. That’s why we always have and always will cover Apple, Microsoft, and Brand X music players equally and fairly, as long as they continue to innovate and push the envelope.
As Peter pointed out, we’re an equal opportunity offender. We regularly upset Microsoft and Apple fanboys alike, simply by providing the best, the brightest, and the most fair coverage of every announcement of this caliber, regardless of the company behind the initiative. We encourage competition because that creates great products, and great products lead to great (and compelling) journalism on our part.
We don’t expect you to provide balanced coverage of non-Apple products; it’s not what your readership wants or expects. But do not ever attempt to drag Engadget down to your level.
Chris Ziegler
Contributing Editor
Engadget and Engadget Mobile
Enwho? Enwhocares? Snothing compared to the bullshit put out by unofficial agents of some political parties.
I take that back – the language is simply too enthusiastic to be believable. Must be a parody.
While I take the Engadget guys’ responses at face value, even they should admit that fawning over a device that many others think is a piece of crap and then giving them away as prizes is at the very least somewhat questionable.
Brian,
For proof that Microsoft pays people to give positive publicity, just look at Rob Enderlie’s online resume.
Since the Zune machine is a copy of the Toshiba gigabeat, we need to look at the initial review engadget had for the Toshiba device. ‘Proclaimed enthusiasts’ with ‘fervor and love of the game’ would have a consistent blog. If we see consistent reporting on the device, we need not complain about the bias.
Dear Engadget guys invading this comment thread:
Why don’t you guys admit that this whole thing looks fishy, even if you didn’t personally did anything wrong?
Don’t you realize how it looks from the outside? Can’t you see the big picture?
You say that you cover the Zune because “it has a lot of buzz”. But if you look at the big picture, you’ll see that Engadget itself is the main source generating this buzz with the “exclusive” info and supposed “leaks” that are directly fed to them by Microsoft.
How come you don’t at least speculate that the first “leaks” about the Zune were planted by Microsoft? You really believe your “sources” were leaking info in spite of Microsoft?
It’s simple, Microsoft found that you like the Zune, so they feed you with more exclusive info and give-aways.
And so what if you think MacDailyNews is biased towards Apple… What did you expect? It’s called MACdailynews.
Engadget is not called “MSgadget or Zunegadget” so people are not warned about your bias.
Microsoft is using Engadget as a promotion tool for the Zune, it’s so obvious.
Maybe each individual writing for Engadget are not tools themselves, but the sum of it still points to manipulation by MS.
I still don’t understand why you guys were so surprised that MS would give you early access to Zunes. For anyone looking at the big picture and exploring all news about the device, it’s hard to deny that MS seems to favor Engadget since the start of this Zune “viral” marketing scheme.
The more I read the mean spirited rants by this site, the less desire I have to purchase anything from Apple. If I were Apple, I’d be trying to distance myself from communities like this as much as possible. All zealots do is push people away.
“Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. You also get a set of earphones with a shorter cable that’s a perfect fit for the remote”
+$49.95 and an extra piece of crap to carry around.
“Whether you agree with SteveJack’s premise or not, he certainly is a masterful writer. Starts it slow, builds it and shapes it and then wham!”
Kidding me right, masterfully immature, masterfully stupid.
Oh no, SteveJack you made the Engadgeters angry!
Be afraid, these guys can get aggressive!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> Look on how they declared a vendetta against you just for a single opinionated article.
Guys (Engadgeters), why don’t you just admit that you think it’s OK that Engadget is used by Microsoft as a promotional tool for the Zune, because you believe Apple doesn’t deserve the attention it gets so it’s OK to compensate like this.
Wow. You’ve really told engadget
You are like the greatest writer ever in teh whole world.
(i wonder if you understand sarcasm)
I’m not going to prove my mac loving credentials, only fanboys who are trying to pretend otherwise do that btu i will say i have and equal number of macs and pc’s.
This has to be one of the most fanboyish articles i have ever read.
From what i can tell, you are slagging off another website for liking a gadget that you have not had a chance to get anywhere near, just because it is made my Microsoft.
intelligent points you attempted to make
Its brown therefore its crap- You don;t like brown, so what, lots of people do. i don’t like white headphones btu apple doesn;t give me a choice out of the box (i have to buy third party, although to be honest, any one who uses the headphones included is really missing out, they’re dreadful). If people don;t like brown, they can buy a different colour. Theres nothing like offering people choice.
You lay into the fact that when you share songs, the other user can only listen to them three times. How many times can you share the music from and ipod with other people. When i wirelessly transfer songs from my ipod to someone else’s ipod the can…. o wait. ipod doesn;t have that feature at all.
the zune can only use the new microsoft zune software, as opposed to the ipod which can use itunes. Eh? So the zune is tied to a proprietry software, whilst the ipod is tied to a different proprietry software. I fail to see your point.
Ipods battery life is 14 hours, zunes is 12 hours. (both figures are according to the manufacturer and therefore are unlikely to be accurate) 2 hours. A whole two hours. Sure i’d prefer 500 hours, but 12 horus isn’t bad. I’ve never reached the end of the battery on my nano and that only gives me abotu 7 hours.
i could carry on, btu i really can;t be bothered. To be honest, the most worrying thing, is that there are so many people commenting who agree with you opinion.
To be honest. The zune may well be a crap mp3 player, but the ipod isn;t perfect and i’m sure neither will stand up to my Iriver hp140. Perfect sound quality, fantastic battery life, no DRM worries, and at teh time it was abotu half the price of teh ipod for double the capacity
You people are morons. Don’t even start talking about DRM. You think that sharing music on Zune’s Wi-Fi is DRM? Try iTunes. You cant share anything. Ever. With anyone. For any period of time. Even with chords and junk.
Zunes make iPods look like musical bars of soap.