The Zune is coming out tomorrow, and I could really care less about it. Some people think it looks like a cool device. Me? Not so much. Nothing against Microsoft or their ability to do the consumer electronics thing (I wouldn’t mind owning an Xbox), I just don’t think they hit the nail on the head with the Zune.
For starters, they’re hitting up the wrong market. If you want to take on the iPod, you’ve got to move in on territory that it doesn’t already dominate. To me, it would have made more sense for Microsoft to come out with a really slick music-playing cell phone and beat Apple to that market. The cell-phone-as-a-music-player market has a lot of entries, but very few that are really compelling. The “best” so far is probably considered to be LG’s Chocolate. And that’s not so good.
And, stop me if I’m wrong here, but isn’t the best selling iPod model the nano? I believe it used to be, if it isn’t still. The Shuffle is also pretty popular. The young crowd (high school and college age kids), which Microsoft covets, tend to lean more towards the smaller, sexier music players. The bigger iPod might hold more songs and play videos, but there’s just something irresistible about the tiny nano and even tinier shuffle. And the Zune is even larger than the video iPod. Features are important, and the Zune has a few that the iPod (currently) does not, but sleek design sells.
While I’m on the topic of music, I saw Primus over the weekend in Philly. For those in the know, the title of my blog comes from a Les Claypool song. So you could say I’m a bit of a Primus fan. The concert was really good. The band was tight and they played the songs that you would expect them to play. But there was something kind of weird about the show. Yes, it was good, and I enjoyed it a great deal, but it ended rather abruptly and it seemed as if the band was talking with the sound guys an awful lot. Were there technical difficulties? Was something going on off-stage? I don’t know. I just left feeling a bit unfulfilled; as if there was supposed to be more to the show, but it got cut off short. Oh well. It was still a good time.
Rasputina was the opening act. I knew of them before the show, but had never really heard much of their music. I was impressed. Great musicianship, smart lyrics … there wasn’t much not to like. Now, chicks playing distorted cellos might not do it for everyone, but it sure won me over. If you’re adventurous, check ‘em out. If you only listen to the top 40, check ‘em out anyway. It might be the first music that wasn’t a steaming pile of ear feces that you’ve probably heard in a while.
