Listening to Music
I can remember the first time I started listening to MP3s. I was on a
project in Louisville at a small startup and the development team lead
introduced my to Napster. The entire team had the software installed
and it was a brand new world out there. I was not really listening to
a lot of new music at the time and was not purchasing CDs at all. My
brief exposure to Napster introduced me to several new bands and I
started listening to new music as well as purchasing CDs.
Eventually I burned my entire music library on to my computer and copied them onto a CD-R so I could bring one CD to work instead of a bulky CD case. I think I have been listening to music while I write software for the past 7 or 8 years now. I can't imagine working without having music playing.
I had my eye on an MP3 player for a while but for the most part i felt they either didn't have enough storage or were too bulky. Then came the iPod Nano. I got one as a gift and it was one accessory I always carried around with me. Eventually I was filling that nano up buying more music and subscribing to podcasts. As I used my Nano more I realized there were features I wanted. I wanted to watch video and be able to listen to all of my music while I played my Xbox 360.
I bought a Zune for my wife last Spring for her Birthday. It has a very nice screen and from what I could tell it had a lot of potential. The folks that made the Xbox and Xbox Live had moved on to create the Zune. The player was sturdy and my wife had no issues with the device. Still I felt it was too bulky for my taste.
As word was leaked that the next Zunes would be coming out soon I got excited. There was talk of a flash based player that would support video. When images where leaked out I knew I wanted one to replace my iPod. Well this holiday season I got a green 8GB Zune for Christmas.
So far I'm really liking the device. The screen is very bright and I've watched the latest 1up Show on it. I really like the simple user interface and I really like the software and marketplace. It is a very different experience from using iTunes where they built a much better looking program that feels more like a website than a desktop application. I was also able to link my Zune profile to my Xbox 360 profile so I can share MS points for buying music.
Right now the Zune is really more dedicated to playing music, podcasts and video podcasts. There doesn't seem to be the TV or movie content available like there is on iTunes but I fully expect to see all the content available on the Xbox Live marketplace making it's way to the Zune Marketplace. As an MP3 player is does a great job and with the added room I can put more music on the device and still have room for all my podcasts.
Eventually I burned my entire music library on to my computer and copied them onto a CD-R so I could bring one CD to work instead of a bulky CD case. I think I have been listening to music while I write software for the past 7 or 8 years now. I can't imagine working without having music playing.
I had my eye on an MP3 player for a while but for the most part i felt they either didn't have enough storage or were too bulky. Then came the iPod Nano. I got one as a gift and it was one accessory I always carried around with me. Eventually I was filling that nano up buying more music and subscribing to podcasts. As I used my Nano more I realized there were features I wanted. I wanted to watch video and be able to listen to all of my music while I played my Xbox 360.
I bought a Zune for my wife last Spring for her Birthday. It has a very nice screen and from what I could tell it had a lot of potential. The folks that made the Xbox and Xbox Live had moved on to create the Zune. The player was sturdy and my wife had no issues with the device. Still I felt it was too bulky for my taste.
As word was leaked that the next Zunes would be coming out soon I got excited. There was talk of a flash based player that would support video. When images where leaked out I knew I wanted one to replace my iPod. Well this holiday season I got a green 8GB Zune for Christmas.
So far I'm really liking the device. The screen is very bright and I've watched the latest 1up Show on it. I really like the simple user interface and I really like the software and marketplace. It is a very different experience from using iTunes where they built a much better looking program that feels more like a website than a desktop application. I was also able to link my Zune profile to my Xbox 360 profile so I can share MS points for buying music.
Right now the Zune is really more dedicated to playing music, podcasts and video podcasts. There doesn't seem to be the TV or movie content available like there is on iTunes but I fully expect to see all the content available on the Xbox Live marketplace making it's way to the Zune Marketplace. As an MP3 player is does a great job and with the added room I can put more music on the device and still have room for all my podcasts.
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