Industrial Design reports on something that Zune owners have known for a long time: brown is the new black. Saying, "When Microsoft revealed last fall that its new iPod challenger, the Zune, would come in brown, there was a chorus of snickers on the blogosphere. . . But what if Microsoft was right?" An interesting article.
As well as anybody, I'm no stranger to the 'chorus of snickers' the article mentions. Often makes me think of the quote, "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Neither here nore there, I suppose, but that's what I think and I'm sticking to it. :)
Anyways, back to brown. Remember the interview I posted a while ago w/ Steve, the Zune design director? About brown, Steve said:
There were many who thought we were crazy when we proposed the brown (“suede” to us staffers) colorway. Why brown? Because love it or hate it, people feel something. Artists and musicians take chances everyday, and so will we. What few people haven’t seen yet is that we didn’t stop with just brown, we encased it in an “anti-freeze green” double-shot. There’s nothing like it out there that resembles the warmth and grittiness of certain styles of music. It is both formal and informal. And it appeals to men and women. It’s a color that’s both everyday and high fashion at the same time.
I agree w/ Steve, too - people *do* feel something; it's polarizing. And what about you, dear blog reader: love brown or hate it?