Cephalopodcast

I will confess, I have not personally used a Zune yet. I’ve only read some of the (well deserved) scorn heaped on Microsoft’s new mp3 player. It’s fun to bash Microsoft because they are such Goliaths. But I think quite a few folks have missed the target in their eagerness to throw stones.

Clearly this is only the first version. Assuming Microsoft is planning this as a marathon and not a sprint, I expect they will catch up to Apple at some point. They may not surpass them, but they are in the race now. My only reservation is how hobbled the Zune seems to be with DRM and other customer-unfriendly handicaps. But if it does end up being as hackable as the first Xbox or the PSP, it could quickly give Microsoft a boost.

One feature that currently distinguishes the Zune from the iPod is its ability to share audio wirelessly between other Zunes. The benefit is you can share music from Zune-to-Zune. The disadvantage is that this love does not last, since it only allows one to listen to the shared files for three times or three days, whichever comes first.

This limitation on sharing is a sore point with many reviewers. But I wonder if this could actually be a useful feature in some situations where “disposable audio” could be an advantage.

I’ve been to conferences with kiosks offering updated agendas for my PDA via Bluetooth. If a conference had audio news updates for attendees, could these be squirted out to Zunes from a kiosk?

What about at museums and zoos? Could they offer free audio tours for download while patrons wait to buy their tickets? This would be useful if the audio changes frequently to keep up with new exhibits and animal displays.

And record stores could offer free song demos. Scan the CD barcode with the in-store sampling station and then the station could squirt a temporary copy to your Zune. The files can be flagged to allow full purchase after they expire.

This is all speculation of course. It assumes that there is a way for venues to dispense files en masse to a Zune-toting public. Clearly there are some carts, a horse, a chicken and an egg to deal with here first.

But my main point is I think people are dismissing the Zune too soon and my hope that Microsoft catches up quickly. That way more people can listen to my Cephalopodcasts!