Great idea cesar, good to see microsoft might be listening to it's customers

ray, I don't know about "Microsoft might be listening to its customers" but I can tell you that the Zune team is listening, and this blog has had 220 posts and nearly 6000 comments of just that - *me* listening :)

Wow you responded really fast! Well it's fantastic that you are listening! Btw i meant microsoft in general, not you, and i just meant that for such a large corporation like ms it's great that they do have listeners like yourself!

I sent them a message telling them to take this post from engadget seriously:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/20/five-things-microsoft-needs-to-do-to-fix-the-zune/

I hope they ditch the notion that nothing should be done between a Zune and a router, and that podcasting should not be included.

Podcasting would be very nice to see.  Hopefully sooner than later.

There isn't much hope in sight...we already have begged the Zune team, and they're making a new blog entry just for that? Please.

Would you guys stop calling it podcasting? call it netcasting and we have half a chance! Why give Steve & Co more props? ;)

P.O.D. actually stands for personal on demand, btw :)

Is there any word on a Marketplace update? New features or anything like that? I had read that a different company had been hired to help out with it.

clemonator said:

"Would you guys stop calling it podcasting? call it netcasting and we have half a chance! Why give Steve & Co more props?"

Apple *deserves* recognition for poularizing podcasting and digital media players in general. Before Apple added podcasts to the iTMS, not many common folk had exposure to the concept, or the content.

I'm new to the Zune scene.  I spent last month evaluating an iPod and after returning it I'm in the middle of evaluating a Zune..... so far I'm leaning towards the Zune.  Some of it is bias, I will admit, some is the big screen, and some is trust that eventually this Microsoft product will act like one and really integrate with the other Microsoft products like it needs too (a REALLY important feature for me is to have it sync my tv shows from my Media Center nightly).

So forgive me if this has been done before, but I really think there needs to be a more visible and direct dialogue between the Zune team and the audience.  I know that this blog is a great first step in the right direction.  I also know, as well as Microsoft knows, that if you listen to everyone you make no one happy.

BUT I'd really like a more honest and direct discussion about the missing features that all of the Zune supports blindly hope will eventually be added.  I need to KNOW that Microsoft is going to add dvr-ms conversion into the software to sync my tv shows.  I need to KNOW that Microsoft is going add some form of RSS aggregation so I don't need a 3rd party application to manage my podCasts.  I would like to know that the Zune software will legitimately convert divx and xvid and mpeg2 to wmv (honestly I don't care what format it is once it's on the Zune, so as long as the software converts it that's great, and I expect this since WMP can do it for my cell phone so why can't the Zune skin of WMP do it for my Zune??).  I would like to know that I'll be able to send vids to my friend (I wanna share tv shows with my friend at work).

As extra, and not part of the feature discussion per say, I'd kind of like a more firm understanding of the product family plans.  See Apple almost religiously updates the iPod yearly.  They often bundled software updates with hardware updates such as smaller form factor and increased storage space.  I trust Microsoft won't betray me and will add a lot of these software updates across editions instead of artificially forcing people to upgrade products they are mostly happy with..... But back on point, I need to know if you are going to bump the harddrive size this year or make the device thinner.  I don't want specifics, I want a strategy.  I want to know that you intent to increase the harddrive size this year, or release a different SKU with a bigger HD (The 30gb is actually a big issue for me an a reason i'm still considering getting the iPod).  The point is that this is the first generation, and to some extent you are trying to immitate the success of Apple with their iPod.  For better or for worse they release yearly incremental and sometimes significant updates and I need to know how Microsoft plans to approach updates since it effects how I invest.

I want to love the Zune... I almost think I due.  But at the same time I can't deny it's not perfect yet.  I trust you guys, and I LOVE how open you have attempted to be in recent years (was a big fan of the Vista blogs, other dev blogs).  So what do you think.  Would it be possible to implement a wishlist feature on the site, or some for of forum discussion between r&d and this user community, or atleast some solid acknowledgement that you know what we want and what you want to implement (this is REALLY important).

The silence is a huge problem since I can't sell my friends on the Zune until I can feel safe that I'm not lying telling them that what they want is coming eventually.  The Zune needs these kinds of endorsements between friends since without friends the wireless is currently useless.

::shrug:: I really like where this is going, please tell me you share some of my vision. I want to love your product.

http://www.internet-nexus.com/2007/03/microsoft-delays-zune-firmware-update.htm

I'd also like to see the automatic playlists for 5 star songs, or 4 star songs, or unrated songs like WMP has (and the iPod for that matter).

And how about the ability to save quick lists? Or remove songs from them?  I gotta say this is something the iPod really did better.  No confirmation screen makes adding songs much faster and the ability to save and edit the lists is great since I never create a playlist at home.

As I mentioned above I've only had my Zune about 2.5 weeks so if these features are there please share, I'm still learning where to look up tips and tricks.

Well, not going emotionally overwrought as most drive-by 'Web commenters' tend to do, but for my use, the Zune needs...

Bookmarking. I am an Audio Book type, grabbing TTC lectures and some of the LibriVox content, not being able to bookmark makes things quite a bit more difficult.

Audible support. Sigh. So many hidden gotchas and strategy taxes when dealing with companies like Microsoft. Already supported on Smartphone and Pocket PC platforms, the lack here is glaring. Hammer out something, sometime, somehow.

Wireless, well everyone complains about this, worthless in it's current form. Needs someway to flag podcasted and vidcasted files and other free stuff, as viable. Not sure how they will be able to do that and still maintain some form of copyright legality. But find a way, as I have tons of LibriVox and Vlog-like content I want to share.

I knew the video codec support and the drag-and-drop File Explorer'ing wouldn't be viable (Microsoft strategy taxes again), but really if you want Video, Zune shouldn't even be a consideration, Archos is the all. Non-issue, imho. And price issues are always in flux, heck I picked up a second one for $179 during that OfficeMax weekend.

Two very basic things stand out at me:

I would really like the ability to customize, modify, and save playlists within the player's interface (ie: not connected to the PC).  Creative was able to get this in their jukebox line as far back as 5 years ago.

The whole concept of album art is lost on me, making all that screen real estate wasted.  How about the option to turn off album art and use that empty space to display the current playlist.  

These are basic UI improvements that would really benefit end users.  As a more 'pie in the sky' suggestion, I'd love to be able to record off of the radio feature and onto the hard drive.

A new way for me to request lossless audio support, done and done

Cesar,

You're claiming that the "pod" part of "podcasting" stands for "person on demand"? Really? Everything I could find indicates the the "pod" is a reference to the iPod, where this audio mechanism was popularized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

Where did you find that it stands for "personal on demand?". The only place I've seen that was on a Creative Labs web site where they made a lame attempt to redefine the term simply to avoid referrning to a competitor.

I used to like Microsoft because they used to offer me a "choice" on things. Do I want to "enable" a feature or not. Do I want to go about doing the same thing in a different way? Even the iPod's UI is semi-customizable (something I never used to expect from Apple).

Lately most MS products have been engineered for the dumbest customer leaving no choice to the ones above or below that person.

Why can't I "untick" songs which I never want synced to the player? Why don't I have a custom equalizer?

Why do those songs keep coming back when I've deleted them from the library (but not the hard-disk)? Why can't I re-encode movies without the Zune hardware connected/syncing (Does iTunes wait till the last minute to convert wma files. I know its easier to just copy over the WMP code, but that was used there because there were multiple devices)? Why can't I use it as a portable hard-drive?

"AppleTV will pick up where your iPod left off. Let's say you start watching a movie on your iPod, then pause it 20 minutes in. Go home, plug the iPod into your host machine and then cue up the same film on the AppleTV and it will re-start right from where you paused." When it matters why doesn't the Zune takeover and pamper me? Why can't I not drag and drop a song to be synced on to a fully loaded Zune? (is it that hard to randomly delete songs and make space when you can randomly fill the hardware?).

I can understand why the Zune team might not want to clutter the player UI with more features. Can't you make extras to be enabled through the desktop software? A guy who wants a clock will be happy with the extra item in the player menu. The person who just listens to music will be happy with having all the extras disabled.

I know you were not looking for feedback on this post. But I've almost had the Zune for 4.5 months now and I had returned my iPod thinking that the Zune had more "potential". How many more months is the battery on my Zune going to last? 10 months? Am I supposed to buy a new Zune when you come out with an update? I guess I was stupid to buy the Zune based on stupid marketing speak.

I am never going to buy another piece of MS hardware with a limited shelf life based on promises.

I will wait till the next firmware update before I return mine to Costco. I wish I could make MS pay for this though.

good call, Dan H - wikipedia votes for the term being a portmanteau, but I've heard from other sources

http://www.drexel.edu/IRT/rmcweb/syndication.html that the term could have other meanings.  

I agree w/ Zuneless, though, Apple *deserves* recognition for poularizing podcasting by incorporating it into the feature set of iTunes early on. credit where credit is due :)

I still am Zune-less but follow the news waiting for a bigger HD model. 100GB? 120? If you make it, I will buy. Any kinks should be worked out by then as well, right?

I was trying to be cheeky... Assuming if we all started calling it Netcasting then you would actually put it in the Zune.  

Guess I was the only one who got it.

@ met

I completly agree with you.  In vista they have dumbed the disk defragmenter down to a single button that says "defragment now."  Sound recorder has a single button that says "record."

one of the tags for this post is "locust curb stomp."  wtf?

How about an accessories?  Right now you can get all the cases, armbands, docks, chargers and cables that you can with an iPod-why is there no camera connector?  It would be awesome to be able to have that ability with my Zune and by my untrained eye it is one of the only accessories that is exclusively Mac.  Please coax, prod, force Belkin or whomever make this (oh and make it work well too) PLEASE

well iv had a stuck on mine since the beginning, and im outside the US  so i cant just bring it back to the store. but im sure there is a software thing to fix it. having a little update like that would be great :D

I'm not sure how thoroughly the Zune team reads these feedback comments, but I applaud them for at least making an effort.

What I, and several other Zune users, think needs to be fixed: The Semi-Seamless Zune Experience.

I've discussed this on Zunerama forums, and several people agree. The whole reason why Microsoft started the whole Zune thing is because they believed the key to success in the DAP market is vertical integration and seamless user experience. iTunes+iPod does this well, while Urge+Playsforsure does not. This is also the whole point of having separate Zune software instead of using WMP11 and Urge. I think this is a correct philosophy.

The problem is, the experience is not seamless:

1. Zune software doesn't handle podcasts, users have to handle them manually by downloading individual files or using *Gasp* iTunes.

2. Zune marketplace only sells music, and does not offer video or picture download. Again, we have to do that manually, somewhere else.

3. Getting our favorite videos onto the Zune requires special hacks and software. I had to dig through several forums to figure out how to get video properly converted and formatted for my Zune. Users should not have to do this: either expand the Zune's video codec support to match the Creative Zen's, or include a better video re-encoding software like Cucusoft's or SUPER. Copy them, buy them out, whatever it takes, just don't force me to dig around for or pay for special obscure software (or Firefox plugins for youtube videos). Most people do not have videos encoded in WMV!!! I have a huge collection of videos encoded in AVI, DVIX, XVID, MKV, OGM, FLV, MOV, etc. The Zune is an awesome video player thanks to the beautiful screen, but we are sitting on untapped potential.

i think the comments about video should hammer home that the attempt to focus on zune as a "music project" just doesn't jibe.  music projects, traditionally, produce content.  you guys produce a device on which the content is played.  that's not really a "music project."  more than that, this is clearly a multimedia device and not merely a music device.  if and when podcasts are supported, that will only hammer home that this is not a music-only device in terms of audio.  you already have the categories within video for movies and television, only bolstering what i'm saying.

i'm guessing you guys wanted to focus on music since you don't currently offer video from the marketplace or offer the kind of support people ask for here, but you're trying to have it both ways by talking about the screen size as a benefit of the zune while telling people it's all about music.  

i know you don't do any code, cesar, and i imagine you have little to do with the overall strategy itself, but you do have control over this blog, and you're the one who keeps telling us that it's all about the music.  it isn't, and you know this is the case.  it doesn't matter that listening to music is what people do more than anything else with the zune.  it's still a multimedia device.  as long as you can add photos and movies to the zune, you won't be able to get around that fact, and i think the dancing around that is done to avoid more uncomfortable questions about video is really beginning to ostracize people.

Wow, this is something that I have previously asked for, and it comes true. Of course, I am not the only one.

Now, If i can just get a copy of Vista to evaluate for a school/it project I'd be sufficiently impressed with MS.

@ met

You do realize you can turn off automatic syncing, right? That way, you can drag and drop only the music that you want.

great comments, guys - thanks!

@Jonathan Sundy, you can create your own smart playlist that can consist of whatever parameters you want, 4-star, 5-star, 1-star, rock, alternative.....  Right click on playlists create your own.

Cesar-

Any idea why duplicate songs appear on the Zune during manual sync?  Had a big problem with it lately, seems to be no rhyme or reason why some songs get duped and others don't.  Same CD, some songs duped, others not.  Same artist, some songs duped, others not, etc.

this isn't really to the zune team, but it is something that annoys me.  the "search" feature at the top right of this page doesn't work in firefox.  that's just lame.

Where is the Video content for Marketplace? Will we ever get a response to that or will our only response be "great comments, guys - thanks!" I mean come on, MS had noooo business realeasing the Zune when they did. I purchased mine 2 days after the release thinking video would be added to Marketplace sooner or later and here it is MUCH MUCH later and so much as not even a tiny mention, at least none that I could find of when video will come out. Please just give us an idea: next week, next month, next winter, never? Something.

@Jesus: I don't like using the manual sync option

1. Then the ratings are not synced each time I plug in.

2. I would like the Zune to put random tracks on the device so that I can "discover" some stuff I never heard before.

3. Sometimes I'll decide to put in a huge video file on the device (which means I'll have to search for files to delete). I create space by deleting an entire genre or a bunch of albums. I don't mind the Zune deleting random stuff (maybe on a broad set of rules - delete most heard, delete least rated, etc).

4. If this was a 1 or 2 gb device, I would have been ok with random syncing.

perpetualzune-join the club.  Forgive us because this might not be the appropriate forum for the video in the marketplace question, but what gives?  I ride the train in NYC everyday, and I'm thinking to myself if MSFT offered good video thousands of prospective buyers would see me watching cool video. Instead of have the device buried in my pocket listening to music (it is a great device for this don't get me wrong). Kinda like, please forgive me, the video iPod.  Someone please just explain, when the same company is offering video through XBox Live, why it isn't offered through Zune Marketplace.   This is the device with "the bigger screen", right?  As I've said in other comments, this is more confusing as a shareholder than a Zune user.  How could the company be missing out on the video sales, obviously the contracts are worked out for XBox Live, right?  Someone please take 5 minutes to explain.

@sjgmoney

Thanks for the reply.  I just discovered the autolist feature last night, I was attempting to use it to automatically add video I encoded and added to a specific folder....windows media encoder is so damn slow I gave up.... but i'll give it another shot later.

Either way I still think it should have them by default, just like the iPod.  Remember most of the people that buy the iPod are computer illiterate and as such the more it gives out of the box the better.  It's GREAT to have hidden complexity, it's one of the things I appreciate about Microsoft, but the more that it starts with for your average know-nothing user the better.  So I think they should be there by default, just like the iPod, and just like WMP.

It can't hurt to add them by default, you can easily delete them, and it would be a great way to show off the flexibility of the software and let people know the auto-list feature is there.

Maybe someone should set up a wiki help manual for the Zune.

Don't you love it when critics proclaim the Apple TV as "Simple yet elegant" while the Zune is a "featureless meh" :)

Hey, all. I wanted to chime into this thread w/ some thoughts on video specifically. I had posted about this before, but I'll re-direct you to that post again:

"Now, for the inevitable question, “When is the *next* update coming?” or the corollary, “When do I get (insert ‘podcasting’ or another feature here)?” No specifics yet, but again, the dev team is always working on making Zune better. As we get closer to knowing what’s coming out and when, I’ll make sure and post. Also, know that some folks on the Zune team (including the Zune release manager) are reading this blog, and reading your comments."

originally posted http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/02/28/zune-firmware-update-1-3-coming-mid-march-skipping-fixed.aspx

sjgmoney - email me - I haven't seen that error before.

Yes, dead jim, I agree, as a web designer, I try to make the pages look and work the same between IE and FF. It is pretty lame that it doesn't work in FF.

I think, imho, what would help a lot is if you guys could put together a list of potential features that you are considering adding.

I KNOW it's dangerous, I've seen what happens when a developer posts potential items with no time frame for implementation and the possibility of them not making it (lol Hero classes in WoW) but ANYTHING that would help your fanbase understand what may be coming is better than the silence.

Know one likes investing in something they know nothing about, and to some extent that's what I feel is happening.  It's not per say your fault, but because of the implied competition with the iPod, there are features that people ASSUME will be added, and assumptions are dangerous.  I just want to know that some of them are right, so I can feel comfortable keeping my Zune after the 30 day return period.

btw I <3 you admin for actually posting here.

I *heart* you too Jonathan :). the only thing I can tell you is stay tuned: http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2007/03/06/and-now-a-word-from-the-zune-release-manager.aspx (and check out that article)

:)

I am indeed "tuned"

0) Faster turn around on the bug fixes. There's a difference between new "features" and bug fixes. On the related subject, who is doing a configuration management on the Zune device? Why is the version reading 1.3 and not 1.0.3.{build}? From my understanding, no new features were introduced, just bug fixes. Did MS actually stepped away from their versioning schemas?

1) Remove a song from the quick list. Currently can only clear the entire list

2) Unicode on the device. Surprising since MS promotes it for most of their SDKs.

3) WiFi streaming (at least to the XBox 360)

4) Ability to play music directly from the device through PC

5) Have an ability to rip DVD movies from Zune software.

6) Audiobook + Bookmark

7) Remember the position of in the audio segment even after the "cold" start

8) Absolutely do all of the things that iPod does but better

     - Clock

     - Contacts

     - Games

     - External HD

9) Listen to the feedback. Without giving people what they want Zune will continue to be a laughing stock of iPod zealots.

I suspect, a lot of things that have been mentioned are already in the works. I also suspect that the reason for the delay of the firmware is the fact that majority of the team is working on 2.0.

Thanks you.

@ met

You are extremely right..Bravo.

This is why Windows XP become the best OS in the world. Because it let users change the volume settings from line-in to wav. It's registry is one of the reasons why Windows XP. It let users modify how they want the programs to behave. The volume game feature is nice but it sucks that you have limited volume on Windows Vista. I think they're trying to copy Apple in "easiness" but that's not good. This is what gives Microsoft the edge, because they did everything possible to make XP the most user-centric OS. Speaking of user-centric, I wonder how Windows Vienna will be. LOL it'll probably have floating clouds to choose your app like Apple's OS.

The Zune is amazing, but it is way too limited. It's extremely crippled. It does not let users modify their content the way Creative Zen Vision:M does. By the way, did you know that it is hackers, crackers, and pirates that keep the industry moving? Would you think someone would pay $600 for Photoshop Cs2. Get out of here!

The Zune has toooo much encryption. It's Wi-Fi hasn't let Linux + Rockbox hackers modify the Wi-Fi for more things. If you had taken of the Wi-Fi encryption, the Zune would actually sell more. Right now, we're relying our butts to Microsoft. It's Microsoft that knows the Wi-Fi encryption and it's up to them if they want to make something useful of it.

This was just my thoughts on Microsoft and user centricity.

By the way to Zune team:

Clock

External HDD

MPEG-4, DivX support (try to license w/ DivX)

Buying songs from the Zune itself using Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi syncing would be a killer app. Yes Wi-Fi is slower at syncing than USB but it wouldn't matter since you're syncing your newly downloaded song from Starbucks. How could would that be?

That's it. Nothing extravagant.

Ah yes, how would I forget? WAV lossless is a must . Own menu for "netcasting" or "Z-cast".

@nighthawkz6 - oh boy... here comes the 'dude! we totally need to call it podcast to give credit where credit is due!" crowd. wow I thought I was the only one here thinking netcasting vs. podcasting.  saying podcasting makes me feel dirty (j/k I could care less what you call it, just put it in!)

I think you guys are off track.  The creative Zen may have ranked real well in cnet's reviews..... but no one is buying them.  The geek is not the target audience here, that's what play for sure handles.

The Zune is made to target the idiot general consumer.  They don't need mountains of features, they need stark simplicity.

Now, I'm in the geek catagory (or I wouldn't be posting on a zune blog) so I want more than just the absolute simple, but I also recognize that if they don't keep it simple it will go no where.  What they need to do is push a happy balance between features and simplicity.  Like the auto playlists, your average user (and i'm talking about when you count them in the millions not the thousands) won't use this feature, but it's still there for us people in the know.

Microsoft is learning how to give you features but hide them enough to keep it simple, and that's what they need to do.  If the Zune tried to take on everything everyone was suggesting I really don't think it would take off.  They know that, which is probably part of why they won't come out and say "Get over it, it's not going to play DiVX files on the device".

What they need to do is allow the Zune software to convert DiVX files, like WMP does for my cell phone.  I mean honestly, who cares what format the content is when it's stored on the device as long as you don't have to do the leg work of finding 3rd party software to convert it or store multiple copies of the same content in different formats on your computer.  The iPod doesn't have an easy way to add your video, it doesn't play divx or xvid and they're selling truck fulls of them.

The Zune needs to compete with the iPod, not the creative Zen or any other GREAT product that no one buys.  I think people are missing that fact, it's easy to when you're in the category that appreciates the complex.

So they need to mimic what's great about the iPod and add something to make it stand above it.  It's what they're trying to do.  They're not there, but they're working on it.  I don't want to defend the fact that they aren't telling us what's coming yet, but I also don't want the vocal minority to ruin the devices potential by throwing mountains of small market features at it.  Of course I guess I should trust the Zune team sees what they need to do, but it doesn't hurt to chime in since the venue exists too.

...that was a bit more ranty/rambly than I planned.

@Jonathan Sundy

I can speak for myself of course but I think at least from my point of view the whole gripe fest was because of the missed promise date of the 20th.  People are like "if it takes 4 months to release a fix to the skip issue how long would it take to release new features?" which has a valid point.

Again in my previous posts... I love MS and will keep the Zune... I just wish the firmware update came out *before* I took my overseas trip next week-would have been nice for it not to skip on the plane.

@ Jonathan Sundy.

I agree with you that the features you say that are for geeks BUT:

See, the thing is that when a new product comes out, you don't stay at the same level or below your competition. The point is to get above, not be afraid of innovating. Do you know how many people use sidekicks? They are so feature-filled (IMO blackberrys are better) but people still use them because they give the users the simple but feature filled hardware.

It goes to say that there is some time in your life when you need to learn how to walk, some time in your life when you need to go to school alone without mommy driving you to school. It's time media players change the way people view. IMO the iPhone will suck because it tries too hard to impress the consumer. An average consumer will not pay $600 device for a phone. Who wants an 8 gig device when there are 80-100gb that will be half the price? Who wants a widescreen iPod when there is already a Zen Vision :W that handles more codecs that Apple will ever be?

My point is that, yes, it's made for the idiot category. My point being is that Microsoft needs to make it simple enough to understand what users are doing but at the same time explaining how to convert videos, how to use Wi-Fi syncing, etc.

Microsoft is a little afraid to innovate but I hope that will not be the case

by the way: the only reason why Creative Zen failed was because it wasn't marketed enough. If it was marketed a little more, it could have been a success. Marketing is everything.

A perfect example of the simplicity that Zune gives is how wireless sharing works. You do not need to set up a MAC address or an IP configuration to get your wireless up and running. You just select "find", send song, and other users receive it. The same needs to go for the other features that I am trying to communicate here.

Question if anyone is still reading this:

Does the Zune software support tagging songs as part of a multi disk cd?  Like with Nine Inch Nail's Fragile??  I saw the option in iTunes when I had my iPod but I didn't notice it in Zune when I checked.

Oh, and thanks for putting Bitter:sweet on the Zune, I never would have found them and they're awesome.

Here is something that I would like to see.  I would like to have the Zune software to see the inbox and the flagged files before it's synced.

Also, could you get the work out for me about the ZuneTvWatcher program I am writing for the Zune and Media Center?  I am also about to release an update that will also keep the Zune's playlists and Media Player (which Media center uses) in sync with each other.

Hi,

Here is my feedback (a lot to read) :

http://weblogs.asp.net/lduveau/archive/2007/03/31/zune-my-feedback.aspx

I'm waiting for Zune to be able to display Cyrillic characters in song and artist names. Until this happen Zune simply does not exist for me - while most of my music in English, some is Russian and I want to see normal text instead of ugly squares Zune prints instead of non-English characters.

After doing some research on the web, I plan on buying a Zune early this summer. I like the idea of the wi-fi sharing even though I doubt I will use it much if at all. I like that it has a larger screen, even if it's the same resolution as the iPod. The Zune also seems more durable and fingerprint resistant, and that's cool too. I also like the idea that if I'm ever standing at a bus stop or whatever in the middle of winter, I won't have to remove my gloves to operate some touch-sensitive only scroll wheel.

My biggest concern is the transition from iTunes to Zune. My iPod died awhile ago, but I still use iTunes extensively and I like the way it organizes my music. I use smart lists quite a bit. I need to be able to create playlists based of other playlists, a feature Zune doesn't seem to currently have. For instance, I have a "Music for Living" playlist that is all my music that rated 3 stars or higher that is not in certain other playlists such as commedy, ambient, or my "guilty pleasures" playlist. If I was to take a roadtrip I may want to combine my "Travel" and "Drive" playlists. Or maybe I might want to combine my "Women" and "Rock" playlists someday. I very much hope this functionality will be added before I get one this summer. The lack of this functionality would be a major drawback for me.

Another feature which I would *love* to see down the road would involve using the wi-fi cabability to listen to my launchcast station over at yahoo. Launchcast is awesome because I can customize it to my specific music preferences and it will play the songs it knows I like and new songs it thinks I will like based on my ratings, so I can discover new music easily. It would be great if the Zune could either synch up to this service of if Zune could create a similar service of it's own.

I would like to be able to sort in the library by genre, then artist...or any of a number of multiple sorts. Possible?

HI! I CAME UP WITH THIS IDEA! Im not sure whether anyone else suggested this... but it would be AWESOME if the Zune Software (that installs on the computer) could use the connected Zune Device's Radio hardware to stream radio music onto the computer! I use the Zune dock... so I thought it would be a nifty feature... i believe its quite possible!

Something hit me when I was out running this morning: When I am running with my buddy, it'd be great if we could sync Zunes so that we can listen to the same song. Yes... the "normal" person would say, "Shouldn't you all take this time to actually TALK to each other?" Yes, I agree, but he's my best friend and we talk all the freaking time. And oddly enough, we talk about music every time we see each other....

I don't know why that dawned on me only this morning. Just a thought, though.

:)

Zune software does need to provide the following features:

1. Organizing photos as Albums. Right now we have to have folders for this purpose.

2. Viewing photos on the device from the zune software. Right now it shows only if i have the same in my computer. Otherwise it doesnt show me the thumbnails just blank in the zune software.

Hi C,

I had a thought the other day whilst driving in my car. (You like the way I used "whilst", don't ya?) Many people use their Zunes in their car, then immediately put them in their ears afterwards.... or soon afterwards, anyhow. A feature I thought would be cool is if you could set your volume on your Zune when playing it in your car, but as soon as you unplug it from the FM Transmitter, it reduces the volume to something that is more suitable for your ears - for example, you could preset your desired volume and it automatically adjusted to there when unplugged. That way, people wouldn't be walking around with bleeding ears because they forgot to turn the volume down when they left their car.

Also, the ability to attach a, say, 100-character message to a song when you are sharing it over wifi would be cool. Such as, "Come see this band with us on Friday night" or "This song reminds me of you, sweetheart."  :)

Happy New Year!

ciao,

d

Can we please get the random playlist creator back?  One of the best features of the old software was the ability to "one-click" and instantly have the software create a playlist that would completely fill my Zune.  Then it was just sync and go.

Please get it back up and running again.  Nothing kills my love of this device quicker than having to spend an hour dragging artists into a playlist and then waiting for it to sync

Is there a way to make a playlist with the music I have already on my zune?

I dont have it on my computer anymore I just have it on my zune and want to make a playlist but I cant :(

I've just found out that the Album Shuffle on the Zune 2 80gb doesn't really work (it shuffles all songs on the player, instead of all albums) and sent a note to Zune.net using the feedback link provided in the post.

I really hope that someone somewhere really is listening to the users and that progress is made following their feedback.  It would be great if there could be a forum for constructive dualogue on how to improve the player.

I chose the Zune over the iPod -- if I'd known it didn't have album shuffle for those long car journeys I'd have thought twice about that choice but I do like everything else about the Zune.

--Ciri