Music, culture, and the inside scoop from Cesar Menendez,
a Microsoft employee working on Zune - Microsoft's new music project.
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October 01, 2006

At Fuel Coffee

I don't normally post on weekends, especially because it's been so nice here in Seattle. But today, I'm making an exception. I didn't post on Friday because (and here's your headline) MICROSOFT SHUT DOWN THE POWER IN THE ZUNE BUILDING. It's true; David's got proof:

(have fun w/ that one)

Ok, well sure, we only had the power shut off because of the move. David yesterday also posted some good clarification on Zune's wifi:

The wireless happens to be wifi (802.11 b/g) but Zunes will not (at launch) connect to the internet via your home base station network. Zunes can not download songs over the air from the internet service. Zunes cannot act as telephones or personal teleporters.

I wanted to link to some other folks who've seen Zune in person, too. My buddies over at on10 post a hands-on video. Grant over at TinyMixTapes posts his thoughts about Zune and his trip up to Microsoft, saying:

The fact that you can share at all, though, says a lot about the Zune and about Microsoft. It's a very uncharacteristic move. I'm not an expert when it comes to this sort of thing, but I genuinely appreciate the sharing feature in light of all the "digital rights" hoo-haw floating around (mostly on our TMT site). The ad wizards at M-Soft said, "F*** that noise, we want them to share," and I respect the s*** out of that. Seriously, this is not lame indie sarcasm, I really do think this feature will push things ahead where personal media players are concerned.
[Cesar edited out the explicit blog lyrics; this is a family show]

Like most Seattleites, I'm no stranger to lame indie sarcasm. You come to love it, living here. Anyways, hope you're all having a great Sunday. Saludos a los amigos, tambien. And Charlie, Woody, and all my other readers rockin high school: I seriously hope you have your homework done ;)

 |  Sunday, October 01, 2006 11:34 AM  |  28 Comments

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# October 01, 2006

Charlie

lol, Thanx Cesar... Anyways, talking with The Adored the other day, they honestly knew very little about the Zune and how Microsoft is trying to help get some smaller acts exposure. I have come to the conclusion that this means one of two things. 1.) Microsoft has done such a good job of helping these bands get exposure that it is seamless to the bands and they don't even need to be bothered by knowing much about the Zune 2.)or the more realistic scenario which is that the bands don't really care, and when they got offered a chance to be on the Zune they said “sure...why not”. It's all in my latest post http://zunelicious.blogspot.com/2006/10/reality-check-well-everyone-i-think.html -Charlie
# October 01, 2006

Sean

Will you be able to eventualy download songs from your zune on the zine market place? And will there be a firmware update in the future where you can sync one or two songs from your computer using the wifi so then you dant have to plug it up?
# October 01, 2006

shravan

"or the more realistic scenario which is that the bands don't really care, and when they got offered a chance to be on the Zune they said 'sure...why not'." That's not going to help Microsoft much. The bands should be as excited about having their music on the Zune as Microsoft is. They should tell their listeners etc., "Why don't you check out the Zune. It's cool and it has some of our songs preloaded!" Moreover, so far most of the publicity that Microsoft has received in the mainstream media has been pretty negative. I've asked a few of my friends if they were planning to get one and their response was either, "What's Zune??" or "No. I'm getting an iPod." I wonder if Microsoft has something planned to change this situation between now and Nov. 14th. I hate to say this, but if the first gen Zune is a failure, I don't really think Microsoft has much of a chance later. Just ask Sony.
# October 01, 2006

Eric

You guys moved out of Bear Creek? Where are you now?
# October 01, 2006

C0ke

It's not sharing when the song expires in three plays -- it's advertising.
# October 01, 2006

ZuneBoy

Hey Cesar Menendez I just wanted to know if i can link your site to a blog that i'm starting about the Zune. I'm not any worker of Microsoft but i am just going to be posting news i find out about the zune.
# October 01, 2006

Woody56292

Yeah finishing homwork.....now. So when can we find out more about the Zune Marketplace? will it offer movies? tv shows? "webcasts"? "videocasts"? How will it be similiar to Itunes? how will it be different? and most importantly ( for me ) will it have all my favorite comedians available. ( to me this is the biggest reason for a Zunepass, because I want to always have new stand-up comedy on my mp3 player, but don't want to pay to keep them, because I normally don't listen to them more than 3 times. Also, since Amazon already leaked accessory pics, can you provide us with some high-quality ( non-fuzzy) pics of the zune accessories/kits? I am thinking about getting the home a/v kit, but the travel kit sounds tempting.
# October 01, 2006

Lex

Figured i'd drop a line, say yo. Glad everything is going good, kinda odd that they shut your power off! Hopefully they're just moving you guys around to a bigger and better office.. if not i hope the cockroaches don't get into your stuff! lol, granted i've never seen a single cockroach in WA.. odd enough.. but yea. have a good weekend Cesar, i'll tray and visit the main campus here sometime soon. Say hi and all that jazz
# October 01, 2006

Charlie

Hey Cesar, found some interesting pics involving a Zune and Halo 3...any idea who is sporting the Chief on their Zune? http://zunelicious.blogspot.com/2006/10/halo-zune-crazy-delicious-this-makes.html -Charlie
# October 01, 2006

Adam

eh, i get tomorrow off in light of Yom Kippur (and no practice!). Homework is not nearly as monumental as this thing. I only hope you come up with some option/tag to track it if (when) it gets stolen.
# October 01, 2006

Adam

that's a good point; will we be able to send full-length comedy routines to friends? will there be a limit on track length for the sharing? Because I have a number of compilations stored as one track, and I wouldn't really want to listen to a standup more than twice (let alone three times, unless they're truly amazing [George Carlin, etc.]). Is there a limit?
# October 01, 2006

Woody56292

Speaking of limits.... Is there a limit to how many times you can send a friend a song or video? I imagine there is... I am going to take a wild guess and say you can only send the same person the same media 3 times? Then they have to stop being leeches and buy it themselves if they want it. am I right? or is the limit more or less?
# October 01, 2006

Charlie

Actually...it has been stated that your only allowed to share the media with someone once...I just can't remember where it was that I read that. -Charlie
# October 01, 2006

Woody56292

really only once? I figured it would be at least twice? or 3, since that is their special number.
# October 01, 2006

Ben

Man, I was gonna buy the Zune for its teleporter feature I guess I won't get one now. Darn it! LOL
# October 01, 2006

Charlie

Well...think about it, if they were going to let you send the same media twice, why not just give them six plays/six days and change it back down to one send?
# October 01, 2006

Woody56292

@Charlie: yeah I guess your right... that would make sense.
# October 02, 2006

Rhett

Cesar, Will we be able to check out the Zune Marketplace without owning a Zune to compair it with any currecnt services we may be subscribing to? Will the Zune Marketplace be available to check out before the Zune hits the shelves?
# October 02, 2006

John A

Cesar - Check this article out: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115931476487974972.html It appears Microsoft (through the MSN division) is working a deal to broadcast a bunch of live concerts. Will the Zune be any part of this? Or, better yet, will ZunePass and/or Zune Marketplace users be able to access this exclusive content? In general, I am hopeful that once the Zune is out, the 1.1 'patch' will be focused on leveraging additional MS resources. For example, I watch some video on my PDA. It's a pain -- I use Windows Media Encoder to convert to PDA format, then transfer to an SD card. I was hopeful that integrating Zune + WMP 11 + Win MCE + XBox (as MCE Extender) would create new synergies that Apple and others can't deliver. If I have an MCE with an XBox (as MCE Extender), if I could use the Zune to be a wireless remote control for the system, I could reproduce part of the Sonos experience for a fraction of the cost -- and the pieces are already there. Just a couple thoughts -- In general, I hope that the Zune team will work with the rest of MS to leverage these other technologies; provide exclusive content from MSN, connect to MCE, WMP11, and XBox. Thanks,
# October 02, 2006

kp

Still lamenting the price tag but I could save a nickel off the $249.99 price at Walmart - http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5223245 (Repeat "could", I'm fence sitting on this release.) Of even more interesting note is Mr. Apple's eWorld officionado and multiple iPod owner Bart Farkas is already there for you with "All the Secrets of the Zune, Pocket Sized." http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5240004
# October 02, 2006

kp

Sorry, it's 'aficionado'. Don't try to type that when you're thinking of 'official strategy guides'....
# October 02, 2006

Liam Billington

I would think that the ability to buy over wi-fi or to sync via wi-fi and download your zunes to your zune from the net would of been a killer app. You need to get this sorted pre launch or to release a firmware update. Also a European release date would be nice
# October 02, 2006

Charlie

Cesar...honestly, what's with the Zune ads in New York? They're preatty lame... http://zunelicious.blogspot.com/2006/10/daily-zune-buzz.html -Charlie
# October 03, 2006

JohnJ

Hmmm. I wonder what additional wifi uses we will see in the future. I suppose there could be a deal with a coffee shop chain to transmit promotional "trial songs", or the same could be done at a live rock concert.
# October 03, 2006

Cesar Menendez

Good ideas, JohnJ, good ideas. . .
# October 03, 2006

sam

I was caught up in the Zune hype and thought the addition of wifi was brilliant at first, but the more thought I've given it, the more dispensible it seems. There was an article in Wired's Cult of Mac today that really rang true for me: I'm not really dying to share my music, or to have music shared with me. In fact, sharing music is something I tend to avoid. I use iTunes at work, all of my coworkers share their music, and in spite of them having generally good taste, I hardly ever listen to their libraries. And I can play those songs as many times as I want. When I think of all the people with horrible taste that I know who might only have, say, Jack Johnson songs to share with me, the idea becomes even less appealing. And the thought of "DJing" PalmPilot-infrared style is horribly dorky. I tend to consider the taste of others bad, and I know many other people who do the same. Now, maybe the Wired columnist and I are alone in this. But I'm now thinking the basic premise of this device doesn't really suit me.
# October 03, 2006

Bill

Speaking of features....will Zune have any of the SRS surround audio enhancements? My iRiver has them, and I have seen them in just about everything else these days....
# October 06, 2006

David Field

Some questions: 1) Do you need software on a PC to load onto Zune, or can you just drap and drop from file manager? 2) Do you have to use Zune's database/music organization, or can is their a file system - like say the Cowann iAudio? 3) Is the sound quality better than iPod? 4) Can it record? Thanks!

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