Microsoft Bashing

Zune: More ugly news

More ugly news of the Zune rolls in:

• M$ shows off its usual sloppiness: Zune doesn't work with Vista
• CNN talks about the Zune, but the reviews are grim. Quips that include "doesn't work" or "buy your music over again" abound -- not a good showing for the Zune I'm afraid. The shining moment of this segment? When the reporter fondles her shiny new iPod Shuffle and starts cooing about how cool it is.
• The Zune installer software has many awful pictures of supposedly cool people enjoying their music. Including the error screen complete with singing/laughing/orgasming girl laying in the grass. I'm sure the happy girl in the grass was chosen for the error screen for much the same reason that blue was chosen for the BSOD. M$' heavy-handed psychology is pathetic!

The CNN segment is proof in the pudding that Apple's products evoke positive emotions and turn innocent people into "Fan-boys" as Akbar has noted in the comments time and time again. Call me whatever you like -- I'm a big fan of well designed products that work well. So many of the objects that surround us are horribly designed that we've become immune to bad design. Most people now consider it routine to reboot their computer a few times a day -- its just what you have to do with your computer. Most mobile phones interfaces are total crap and are so bad that people have resigned themselves to deal with it to get the convenience of a mobile phone.

But rampantly bad design is not limited to tech items -- why do people still install round door handles? Ever tried to open a door with a round handle after lotion-ing your hands? Doesn't work so well. Bad design is so rampant that when a good product comes along it takes a while to adjust to it -- its a foreign concept. So, some people lash out at Apple and their users because the comfort of their bad design bubble is being disturbed.

I'm an Apple fan-boy.

(I say this even though Apple as a company is pretty evil -- go figure)

Technorati Tags: ipod, microsoft, innovation, zune

Posted by Mayhem at November 15, 2006 06:34 PM