LOL nice one!

haha, awwwww. ill help you plan something to get them back :P

As far as I can tell, content and music saviness has not been a problem whatsoever with this launch.  The art campaign was great and the bands the device partnered with for the pre-loaded content was good.  

The valentines day stuff was the only real quality free content package I have seen on Zune.net so far but there could be more and that is a good first step.  Cesar, your blog is also good when it comes to these points, your mp3 fridays and links to music blogs.

However, even if the Zune stayed ultra-music savvy and had nice little content features from here on out--it wouldn't come close to make up for the utter lack of feature improvements on the device.

Until the technical team gets its act together and starts adding features to bring the Zune closer to the potential the hardware allows, the device is still going to be a boring mp3 player.

My local Fred Meyer moved the Zune out of the iPod space over to the side.  Zune retail encaps are being removed from target and reportedly some Costco's aren't selling them anymore.  

Let's see some movement on these features because the grace period is up.  It is time to unlock what could be great about the Zune.

Echo Tom's thoughts. I know that its only been three months since its been out. But for a device which has a life of maybe a year or two - its a looooong time.

I had been ok with the Zune because I never use the Zune software much. Recently I decided to use it more for video and have started using the software daily for syncing. The software SUCKS.

Do something zune.

Cesar,

I'm the guy that wrote a small thesis on needed improvements back in January.

http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/01/12/ces-trip-recap.aspx

It's absolutely amazing that Microsoft hasn't uttered a peep about coming software improvements.  Other than you and a couple of other bloggers, it's as if the device doesn't exist.  Has it been abandoned already?  

We really need to know that improvements are coming.  What is the purpose of being so tight-lipped?  Give us a bone to chew on, please!

John

Off your seat, Ctrl-Alt-Delete!

Thanks for the agreement chaps.  I'm pretty sure we're speaking for a lot of people here.  I'm going to copy-paste John's thesis because hey--It is still plenty relevant!

Cesar,

Why isn't Microsoft talking about future improvements to the Zune?  I mean, I hear generic things, like "We're looking into Podcast support", etc, but no buzz is being created.  It doesn't have to be earth-shattering.  Let us just play checkers or something over wi-fi, for example!

Let's get some excitement going.  Along those lines, can you give any feedback on whether or not any of the following is coming soon?

o Games - simple games like checkers, battleship, etc., would be incredibly easy to do via wi-fi.  I was on a 10-hour bus ride with someone who had a Zune as well, and it would have been great to play some simple games.  I understand why more complex games wouldn't come out until 2008, but there's no excuse to not allow a few simple games to be played.

o Podcast download/directory support - sure, we can download an MP3 of a Podcast, but it requires third-party software, and the Zune treats it just like another song, which means that if we're shuffling songs, it might play as well.  We need a separate menu option for Podcasts.  We also need for Podcast playback to remember where we left off.  For songs, it doesn't matter, but for Podcasts, we should be able to start a podcast, take a break and listen to some music, and go back to our podcast where we left off.

o Video support - ok, so the Zune only supports WMV.  At least provide auto-conversion from other formats within the Zune software itself.  

o Video marketplace - Microsoft has the video marketplace for the 360.  Extend that to the Zune marketplace.  We need to be able to buy videos.

o Clock - really, why is there no clock?  There's obviously an internal clock, or else the DRM could never expire.  Why not a simple option to display it on the screen?

o Misc - Have the music pause when you undock.  It pauses if you unplug headphones, but removing it from a dock doesn't.

o Hardware - this is for a future version, but even if we can't sync without the proprietary interface, please allow us to charge it up with mini-usb.  That way we can tether to a computer within a Zune cable and get some juice.

o PIM - this isn't really important, but it'd be nice if it could sync with PIM sources in a read-only format.

o Pictures - allow us the option to store the originals, along with a Zune-optimized size, on our devices.  This would make it truly a format for giving other people copies of our pictures that they could go back and put on their computers to print or whatever.

o USB mass storage device - allow us to copy pictures to the Zune straight from our cameras.

o Wi-fi music download - allow us to connect to any wi-fi network and download music.

o Xbox live - presence information via wi-fi.

o More, more, more - I have more ideas, but these are enough off the top of my head.  

Thanks for listening!

Yep the Zune is currently way behind the curve even compared to lower end model MP3 players. Where are the firmware feature updates?

total silence on this is not helping at the very least a basic time frame for a firmware update with a general idea of what will be included would help us out.

Also this firmware better have lossless audio support, every freakin mp3 player on the market EXCEPT the zune support at least one form of lossless audio.

Ive been watching the zune scene for a while and held off on buying a zune myself mainly for the reasons Tom has commented on. The thing which attracted me initially to the zune was the potential that the zune has. But its been a few months and the fact that there hasnt been any notable updates is really a turn off. I really hope that the Zune team manages to get a notable update (even one of the noted changes would be nice to show that there is work being done) off while the zune is still somewhat in the lime light, if it hasnt passed already :(

Zune can't be dead if they're still desperately looking for attention at 3am!!!:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/zune-mobile-terrorizes-nys-lower-east-side-with-timberlake-songs-239658.php

I have been saying for a while that we need news on updates. It turns out that im sorry i bought a zune. I was so excited around christmas time with the potential of the device. It hasn't shown me anything special. There isn't even anyone to share songs with around here. Why are there still no video downloads? I was under the impression that those would be availiable soon after christmas... There is never any new good news coming from the zune team. what if they have abandoned it already? what if they have abandoned us?

The Microsoft way...build it quickly, get it out to market, hope people buy it, and then apply band-aids to the problems.

The Apple way...make sure it works before it goes to market, let the quality and features of the product convince people that the product is better than others, and then incrementally build upon the product.

I hear you, guys. I do. Lots of the stuff that you want, I want. I actually posted on this here: http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/02/27/the-official-word-on-firmware-updates.aspx

Awesome stuff with the Zune Editorial team. I've only had one problem with the ZMP recommendations but it was corrected incredibly quickly (Thanks Cesar!).

On the email, if I were to leave my computer unlocked at my house (fraternity house) the EXACT same thing would happen to me! Sounds like a fun place to work :P

You have no idea how hard it was for me to fit inside that Zune for the picture. I knew I should've taken those yoga classes at the Learning Annex.

Thanks, Cesar.

Seems Zune owners have become a bunch of whiners. You knew the features it had before you bought it...if you wanted games why didn't you buy a PSP? The Zune is stillmuch better than most other MP3 players. Stop whining and give constructive dialogue.

Wow. Cesar pulled one of my comments. It wasn't critical of the Zune. It was an observation that the commentary on this 'blog has changed over its existence. Before the Zune was released, and early on, there was so much excitement about the product. The comments to Cesar's posts reflected that. Cesar's posts haven't changed (High-Five! Check out my new background picture! Hey, it's MP3 Friday!), but the comments have... Now, it's just Zune owners complaining either that they haven't received firmware updates to add features, or complaining about existing issues: skipping, etc.

I'm posting again in the hope that the censorship was merely due to the inclusion of a fairly innocuous expletive (that rhymes with itch), and not a sign that Cesar (or MS) is censoring critical views.

Whining is complaining without suggesting possible alternatives/solutions.  We have not just said negative things.  We have made many suggestions.  I made a post in January that listed 10-20 possible improvements.  I want to see the Zune successful.  And we're simply suggesting that Microsoft formally announce that fixes/improvements are coming, along with a rough timeline.  For example, Halo 3 has a tentative release date of Fall/Winter 2007.  If a game can have rough release dates, and weekly updates about it, why can't the Zune have something similar?  Microsoft has everything to gain by letting customers know that they're actively supporting and improving the Zune.  Right now, the positive Zune discussions between owners and non-owners has morphed into discussions about its limitations.  It would be great to be able to counter with "Yes, but improvements in x and y are coming in a month or two", as opposed to, "Well, I think Microsoft might address that at some point, but I can't be sure, and I have no idea when."  As I said, that type of informal communication hurts the Zune immensely.

So, Cesar, should we give up and stop asking?  I know it's not your fault.  I'm sure you'd tell us everything if you could.  Is anyone who can decide to disseminate this information reading this?  Who is it that can decide to stop the official "No comment" response and start giving us tangible information to go on?  How do we contact them?

Thanks,

John

Cesar Menendez lets us know that the Zune Marketplace Team was in the Seattle PI article "Microsoft,

zuneless - you know your comments are always welcome here! and you're right: it was the 'itch comment that got deleted. Thanks for commenting :)

What a week! The Zune Markeplace editorial team got featured in the Seattle P-I. Readers expressed their

Ok, by now you've seen the Ignition press release, and read the Billboard article . I thought I'd provide