| No, and I'll explain why:
1) The design is pretty ugly. Granted, you get a bigger screen and more "colorful" interface than you do with an iPod. But let's be honest; this advantage is going to last all of 1 or 2 months, before Apple puts a bigger screen on its next iPods. Not enough of a competitive advantage, in my opinion, to warrant a Zune purchase.
2) This is really the most important reason: Microsoft's music service SUCKS. I don't own a Zune, don't plan to, etc., but have seen friends with Zunes and watched them navigate the Microsoft server. It's arcane, so diametrically opposed to user-friendly that it might as well be dubbed "user-antagonistic," and has a very limited selection of songs. Furthermore, Microsoft's DRM is even worse than Apple's: ALL your non-MS-purchased (read: iTunes-bought, downloaded, etc) music will be nonfunctional with the Zune. You must re-purchase EVERYTHING from the Zune store in order to use it on your Zune. This is complete BS.
3) The Zune's trademark feature, "squirting" (Who came up with that name? It's disgusting.) songs from one Zune to the next, is pretty worthless. The songs you zap to your friends (and vice versa) will last 3 plays before disappearing, or 3 days if unplayed before that period expires. Either way, you get a maximum of 3 days or 3 plays on each song you receive in this fashion.
4) The iPod is the industry leader by such a significant margin that it makes owning a competing device risky to a certain degree. You don't know if that Zune will still be supported 1 or 2 years down the line, whereas you can almost guarantee that iPods and iTunes will still be alive and kicking. |