1) A Zune 2
2) The rebirth of The Show.
However, the first one has a greater possibility of actually happening that the first. As most readers of this blog likely don’t know, the Zune isn’t available in Canada. Why?
Well, my understanding of it goes something like this. Firstly, the Canadian regulatory board that has to approve new products before they can enter the Canadian marketplace is at odds with Microsoft over the Zune’s “Squirting” ability. (It seems that Microsoft has two people in charge of naming. The “Microsoft Windows Photo Gallery”, uninventively guy, and the “squircle” guy, who people just look dumbfounded at.) Apparently, the CRIA thinks that the ability to send a song from player to player, even with the ridiculous DRM that they have on the tracks, violates the rights of the artists, and of themselves. Canada is one of the only countries that charges a tax on every piece of media sold to cover the suspected piracy that may or may not even occur, which adds a lot of money to the legitimate purchasers yearly bills. Also, Microsoft themselves pay a fee to Universal, and maybe even other labels if they pressured for it, to cover what they suspect will be losses due to piracy. With those redundant systems, and the fact that 3plays/3 days isn’t a form of piracy at all, wouldn’t it make since to allow the product to be sold?
But I digress. Certainly, one day, eventually, in the future, the Zune will be available in Canada. And when it does, I will certainly be looking into it. I own a few iPods, all the full size ones. These are great for most things, but I wanted something lighter and smaller for when I didn’t want to look like my pockets were fanny packs. The Nano was looking good, until Apple replaced it with the Fat Nano. This defeated the purpose that I had in mind for the device, and to be frank, the new iPod interface looks a little clunky to me.
After the first generation Zune, I thought that the brand would be dead in six months. The thing was thick, rubbery, brown, and had a pitiful lack of storage for a device of its size. But with this new model, I think they could actually be a competitor to the iPod. The interface looks nice, the control scheme is good (regardless of what the name may suggest), and the device itself is actually somewhat good looking.
Now, I’m not going to be abandoning my dreams of an iPod touch as my main PMP, but Microsoft has, as they did with IE, and Xbox before it, forced their way into another market.
PS. Squircle formula just for good times.
