What about a new phone?
I can't remember if I've posted about how much Zune pisses me off, lately, so here goes. I bought a Zune. The first Zune that came out, too, the Zune 30. I remember thinking about how much cooler it was that the name was simple. Add to that the fact that the media player itself, as a piece of hardware, is beautiful and powerful. It handles pretty much everything that I want it to, and it sounds terrific with a decent pair of headphones. I honestly don't remember my ipod being so much fun to listen to. The interface even kills the ipod interface, in my opinion.
The problem lies where the podcasts come into play. I appreciate that I can set the Zune software to automatically download only a certain number of podcasts at a time, and that when I sync my player it will automatically delete the episodes I've listened to, grab the new ones, and sync them up. It's really pain-free. I used to have to make a playlist in iTunes for all my listened-to podcasts, then delete them. And if I wanted to not download podcasts because of disk space or time constraints, but was then ready for them later, I had to manually go download them. However, at least I could MAKE playlists for my podcasts in iTunes. I could separate my news from my tech, my lectures from my commentary, and listen to them however I wanted. With the Zune, I have to scroll through my entire list of podcasts to find my News podcasts, which I like to listen to first. Maybe it's not a big deal for folks who only subscribe to 3 or 4 podcasts at a time, but with a 90 minute commute to work each way plus time at the gym, I am currently subscribed to over 40 podcasts. What a pain in the ass.
Fast forward to new phone time. I was really excited about the possibility of getting the LG Expo, right up until I heard that the media player was going to be, that's right, Zune. That phone has seriously everything I want in a gadget except this. High end processor, digital cameras pretty good, OLED screen, removable storage. And then, Zune. As much as I want all that other stuff, I really think that I'll use my phone more as a media player than as a phone, never mind as a productivity tool, so that will have to come first. Maybe I'll cross my fingers, but I'm afraid I'll end up with an iPhone.
The problem lies where the podcasts come into play. I appreciate that I can set the Zune software to automatically download only a certain number of podcasts at a time, and that when I sync my player it will automatically delete the episodes I've listened to, grab the new ones, and sync them up. It's really pain-free. I used to have to make a playlist in iTunes for all my listened-to podcasts, then delete them. And if I wanted to not download podcasts because of disk space or time constraints, but was then ready for them later, I had to manually go download them. However, at least I could MAKE playlists for my podcasts in iTunes. I could separate my news from my tech, my lectures from my commentary, and listen to them however I wanted. With the Zune, I have to scroll through my entire list of podcasts to find my News podcasts, which I like to listen to first. Maybe it's not a big deal for folks who only subscribe to 3 or 4 podcasts at a time, but with a 90 minute commute to work each way plus time at the gym, I am currently subscribed to over 40 podcasts. What a pain in the ass.
Fast forward to new phone time. I was really excited about the possibility of getting the LG Expo, right up until I heard that the media player was going to be, that's right, Zune. That phone has seriously everything I want in a gadget except this. High end processor, digital cameras pretty good, OLED screen, removable storage. And then, Zune. As much as I want all that other stuff, I really think that I'll use my phone more as a media player than as a phone, never mind as a productivity tool, so that will have to come first. Maybe I'll cross my fingers, but I'm afraid I'll end up with an iPhone.
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