WEBVTT - Zune do you love? 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.920 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.720 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.000 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.720 and I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:24.919 Sitting in crush from me as usual is senior writer 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:29.000 Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, So what do you want to 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.440 talk about today? Today? I thought we'd talked about something. 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:33.800 It's one of those topics that we get a lot 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.800 of requests for out of tech Stuff. Yes, it is 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:42.600 not the Tech Conspiracy Theory podcast that's still in the works. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.280 We're getting tons of mail about that, guys. We know 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.840 you're interested. We want to do a bang up job 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.599 on that, so we're still working on that one. This 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.400 is a different topic that we've received several requests for. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:58.200 It's the Microsoft Zoom Ah. Yes. Now, not that long ago. 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:02.320 Microsoft unveiled the Zoom HD, the newest in its line 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:06.120 of Zoom products. But it's one of those things that 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.000 it's one of those products that people have heard about, 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.040 but they don't really know that much about it because 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.360 I mean, it's, let's face it, the Zoo is in 0:01:13.560 --> 0:01:19.800 a market space that is dominated by one particular company, yes, 0:01:20.800 --> 0:01:23.640 one being Apple. Right, I was gonna say creative, but 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:27.760 that's not true. No, not anymore. So we're talking about 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:31.120 MP three players, actually personal media players, really is what 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:33.360 we're talking about. Yeah, that's true. They they're probably gonna 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:35.479 have to start calling them that, I would assume, since 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.600 so many of them do more than one thing these days. Right, Yeah, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.800 it's you know, you're talking about more than just music. 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:43.000 Now you're talking about video and you know you can 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.240 subscribe to television shows and movies that kind of thing. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:52.280 It's not just MP three's however. Uh, the Zoom HD 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:58.120 clearly is in the same general market as the iPod Touch. Yes, 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.240 they're not. They don't stack up the same against each other. 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.280 I mean you can't say that that one. You know, 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.920 comparing them is not exactly apples to apples, but they are, 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.960 thank you. I was gonna go with oranges to oranges, 0:02:13.000 --> 0:02:17.120 but why um, but this way, I mean, they do 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.520 enough of the same things that the comparison is impossible 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.520 to avoid. So let's talk a little bit about the Zoo. Now. 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:27.640 Microsoft unveiled the first zoons back in two thousand six, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.400 right back in November two thousand six. So this this 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.280 was their their attempt to enter the personal media player 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:39.320 uh marketplace, you know, a place that already at that 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.960 point was dominated by Apple and their iPod line. And 0:02:43.000 --> 0:02:45.600 despite that, actually there were a lot of people who 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:49.800 felt that Microsoft's entry into this market was going to 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:52.600 make a big splash because, after all, they had the Xbox, 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:55.440 and the Xbox, you know, is one of the biggest 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.000 players in the video game console industry. They came from 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.800 nowhere to take a side zable chunk of the industry, 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:06.079 and people said, hey, this is uh, this is Microsoft 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.760 totally getting into the home entertainment market. They're gonna be, 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:13.399 you know, producing this zoom. They're gonna be doing the Xbox. 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:16.880 Look out everybody here they come. Yeah. That if they 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:19.120 had been able to throw their weight behind the product 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:23.679 the same way that they were with the the Xbox, Um, 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.080 I think we'd have a different podcast right now. We'd 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.360 be talking. In fact, we might not even be calling 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:33.280 it a podcast. Uh. See, here's the thing. Apple has 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:37.640 dominated this market so much over the last several years. 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:41.320 I think most people just use iPod as the generic 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.280 term for an NB three player. Well, you know, Sony 0:03:44.360 --> 0:03:48.440 had to give up the Walkman thing eventually. I mean, 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:53.520 of course they still make Walkman actually that that's true. 0:03:53.560 --> 0:03:56.400 But you know, it's back in the days where everybody 0:03:56.400 --> 0:03:58.560 had a portable cassette player, everybody called it a Walkman, 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.560 whether it was a Sony brand machine or not. That's true. 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:05.040 And so or in the South, if you're from the 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:08.560 South such you know, like such as myself, you would 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.520 call every kind of soft drink a coke. You would 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.320 go into a diner and you'd order a coke. In 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.720 the waitress say which can sugar, and you'd say, I 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.120 want to sprite. But you start off with the coke 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.839 and then you work your way to specifics. Same sort 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.760 of thing with the iPod. I mean, a lot of 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:27.120 people just you know NP three player iPod that's synonymous. 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:30.040 We call them podcasts for the most part, despite the 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:32.600 fact that you can listen to these on various devices, 0:04:32.640 --> 0:04:37.760 not just iPods. So any manufacturer, no matter how big, 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:42.839 has a huge, uphill battle to fight against Apple to 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.680 to really get into the minds of the general consumer. 0:04:46.600 --> 0:04:49.480 I don't I don't think Microsoft did enough with that 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:54.679 with the Zoom back when it was unveiled three years ago. Well, uh, 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.679 you'd figure if anybody's gonna try to take on someone 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:01.400 who has that sizeable a piece of the market, uh, 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.120 that it would take a lot of money to do that. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.200 And if anybody could do it, do you think Microsoft could? Yeah? 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:11.719 Maybe Microsoft or Google. Yeah. I can't imagine what a 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.560 Google music player would be like. Oh, but I don't 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:16.720 think they're not thinking about it. Well, and you could 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.479 run a MP three player on the Android system. I 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:24.560 mean you could create a handheld media player device running Android. 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.880 Someone has suggested it somewhere, you know, I don't know 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:31.920 who that person is. Well, someone has like tablets and netbooks, 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.720 possibly using the Android operating system. So yeah, it's not 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:36.680 a big stretch of the imagination. So let's get back 0:05:36.680 --> 0:05:39.440 to the Zoom though. So the Zoom is running its 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:43.920 own operating system for the device, um, and it has 0:05:43.960 --> 0:05:49.320 its own environment music environment that you can use very 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:53.720 similar and in concept anyway too iTunes. You have the 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:58.120 Zoom Marketplace, So this is kind of your software where 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.240 not only would you shop music and uh and other 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:06.080 content like TV shows or videos or even games to 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:10.840 some extent tiny extent um, but you would also use 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.280 this to organize your music, create playlists, um and use 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:18.120 other features as well. M Uh, I should also go 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.560 ahead and point this out before we move on, because well, 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.840 we'll eventually be talking about the Zoom HD because that 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.240 is the latest and greatest model on the market, and 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:29.440 it's changing a lot of what the approach Microsoft approach 0:06:29.520 --> 0:06:32.600 had been up to this point. One of the features 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:40.560 of early zooms Zooms before the HD was something called squirting. Really, yes, 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.240 I am not joking. This is this is straight from 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:48.720 the bomber. I thought squirt was a kind of soft drink. 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.240 It is a kind of soft drink. It's a kind 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.360 of coke. Yeah, yeah, you know what kind of coke 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:57.880 do you want? Squirt um? Actually that's really hard to find. 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:02.880 But anyway, so we're talking about about this weird squirting thing. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:07.720 What is squirting? So squirting in the zoo world? I'm 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.080 I'm gearing now that I'm gonna get Chris to walk 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.800 out of this podcast. And it's funny because right before 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:14.640 the podcast he said he was going to mention it, 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.680 and now he I couldn't remember what he was talking about. 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:20.800 And now it's it's slowly dawning on me. Is it yes, 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:24.400 So let's say about it's about sharing music exactly. That's exactly. 0:07:24.520 --> 0:07:28.760 Now zooms are WiFi enabled and you can even make 0:07:28.840 --> 0:07:32.560 a connection with another zoon owner. So let's say that 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:34.720 you're on a bus. Someone else gets on the bus. 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.080 They have a zoom. You have a zoom, and you 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:38.880 have this song that you've been listening to that you 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.000 take is absolutely awesome, and this other person should totally 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.160 hear that song, and they by the look at them, 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.080 you know this person has not heard it. So you 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:48.600 get the idea. You know what you're gonna do. You're 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.120 gonna share your song with this person. You're gonna squirt 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.320 that song right on over to their zoom, alright, and 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:56.640 you can do that. You can send a song from 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.920 your zoom to someone else's zoom wirelessly. That other person 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.840 can can listen to that song up to three times 0:08:05.000 --> 0:08:08.640 or hold onto it for up to three days, so 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.080 it's three plays or three days. After that, the song 0:08:12.920 --> 0:08:17.520 automatically erasist itself from that person's zoom and it rhymes. 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:22.080 It's kind of like play pay or play contracts, so 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.679 similar to that. So that was the concept. The idea 0:08:25.720 --> 0:08:27.920 here was that you would be able to share your 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.400 your songs with other people for a limited number of 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.160 plays or the limited number of days. Here's the problem. 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.000 There are two problems really. One is that people, a 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.720 lot of users thought that this was way too restrictive. 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:43.320 And I have to give Microsoft props. It is not 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:49.280 necessarily Microsoft's fault for those restrictions. These were the terms 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.400 that were dictated by content providers. So we're talking about 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:56.200 music publishers really, so you know you might think like, well, 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:59.960 that's what happens if you know, I'm trying to listen 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:02.960 to this song and it just it, you know, for 0:09:03.000 --> 0:09:05.440 some reason, I have to posit or whatever. And then 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.400 now I've got one song at one time, that one 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.920 fewer time that I can listen to the song, right, So, 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.079 I mean, it's the idea here is that you could 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:17.280 conceivably listen to a song enjoyed enough that you would 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.880 go out and buy it yourself. All right, that's the 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:22.760 concept behind here. But people thought that, well that it's 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:25.160 just there's not you don't get enough, you don't get 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.319 to play it enough. It's just not worth it. Plus 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.040 the other part of this problem is just that because 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:33.120 the Zoom did not take off the way that everyone 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.840 had hoped at Microsoft that it would. It was really 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:41.160 hard to find another Zoom owner, So just using the 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:44.720 squirting feature became a challenge because you had to track 0:09:44.840 --> 0:09:48.079 someone else down who had a Zoom. Well, they weren't 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:52.040 completely impossible to find, you know. And in May two eight, 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:55.520 which was a little I guess, a little bit close 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:57.880 to a year and a half, I guess, within the 0:09:57.920 --> 0:10:01.360 time that Microsoft had released the zoon um it had 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:05.720 sold two million units since its debut, and uh, you know, 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:09.160 it's at one point about three percent of the market. Uh. 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.840 You know, in the two thousand eight holiday season, Um, 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:16.040 according to the information I found, uh, they had sold 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:19.280 about a hundred and eighty five million dollars worth of Zoom. 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.640 Of course, in the fourth quarter of two thousand eight, 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:26.560 Apple's revenue from iPods was three point three seven billion 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:31.560 dollars with a B, not an m. Um. Pretty big change, 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:34.600 pretty big difference. But yes, five million dollars. You know, 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.600 that's not chump change. But when you're looking at the 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:39.960 big picture, it's it's a drop in the bike. And 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.520 like you said, three percent of the market, Yeah, I 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.959 mean that's tiny, tiny, tiny, So yeah, you're talking short 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.360 two million zooms that are out there in the wild. 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.080 There's you know, three times as many of that many 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.280 people just in the city of Atlanta alone. So again, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.600 finding someone else who has one not the easiest thing 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.760 in the world. Somebody's gonna write and say that we 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:04.120 are zoom heaters, and I, you know, personally speaking, I 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.160 am not a zoom heater. Um. But I'm also not 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:09.120 as fond of the Zoom as the guy who had 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:13.480 the logo tattooed on his shoulders. Didn't he eventually get 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:17.239 really upset at them and want to remove that tattoo. Um. 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.200 I don't remember if he did. But there was somebody 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.680 else who was a really vocal Zoom fan who made 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.120 this big public uh deal of switching to an iPod. 0:11:26.240 --> 0:11:29.080 I do remember someone getting a tattoo with a company 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:33.160 logo and then later throwing a hissy fit at that 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:36.240 company and saying that that he would change the logo. 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.480 But I cannot remember as the zoom guy. Right. But 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.560 and you know, you think about it, you put yourself 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:46.560 in the somebody else's shoes, and you say, you know, 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:50.199 this person is probably really fed up with seeing iPods 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.480 everywhere and seeing all the commercials and everybody's got an iPod, 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:56.840 and I don't particularly care for Apple products. They might say, 0:11:57.040 --> 0:11:59.400 you know, forget it, I'm gonna get a Zoo. I'm 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:01.520 gonna make a big deal out of getting a Zoom 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.679 because it's the big competitor. Maybe we can get rid 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:08.280 of the iPod. But well, you know, I don't think 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.320 I like any product enough to get a tattoo. I 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.880 think put another one. I think that the I think. 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.240 I think competition is always a good thing. Um. I 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:22.240 would love to see MP three players rise up to 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:26.080 challenge the iPod. If nothing else, that means getting better iPods. 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.680 I mean, Apple is already motivated to improving its products, 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.200 but if you put competition in there, they're motivated to 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:35.960 do it faster and better than before. Otherwise they're just 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:39.560 doing it on their own schedule. Now, the Zoom, I've 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:41.960 I've played with them before. I do not own a Zoom. 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:46.160 I do own an iPod Classic, and I old own 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.760 in a very old creative zen which feels like a 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.440 lead brick. Um. I loved that zen, I just I 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:56.040 find it finally was too old for me to really 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.000 use anymore, which is why I upgraded to the iPod. 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.840 UM the Zoom's a nice device. Now, I was using 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.760 the old Zoo and I've only played a little bit 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:11.160 with the Zoom HD. Um, so I don't I'm not 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.880 familiar enough with all of the features to speak about 0:13:14.920 --> 0:13:18.280 them from a user perspective, but I will say that 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:21.080 it was it was a good device. I mean, the 0:13:21.160 --> 0:13:24.360 sound quality was good, the features were pretty easy to 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.120 use the Zoom HD. It took a little more time 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:30.200 for me to get used to. The layout was a 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.240 little odd, um you could because you had to swipe 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:36.679 left or right or up or down depending on whichever 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.560 menu you were in. I'm used to vertically scrolling menus 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.240 for my MP three players. I'm not used to having to, 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.800 you know, like, oh wait, no, the information I needed 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:50.679 was to the left, not below what I was looking at. Um. 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.599 But but the quality of the device itself is fantastic. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.480 I think I think they've really got a good device. 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:02.920 I think that they've made so poor decisions based upon 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:08.000 the the market as it stands right now. Like, for instance, 0:14:08.400 --> 0:14:10.360 one of the big ones I would say is the 0:14:10.480 --> 0:14:14.240 lack of an app store, you know, I mean you 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:19.720 kind of have to remember that Apple approaches the iPod 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:24.120 Touch in a different way that than Microsoft approaches the 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:29.400 Zoom HD. Microsoft is building up a personal media player. Okay, 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:31.840 so they're taking they're going from the MP three player 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:34.040 to the next step where it's the personal media player 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.680 where you've got video and uh and you've got some 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:40.520 other capabilities. Apples taking a different approach. They're taking the 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:44.120 iPhone and they're making it dumber by taking the phone out. 0:14:45.000 --> 0:14:47.960 And then you've got the iPod Touch essentially, so you've 0:14:47.960 --> 0:14:50.480 got two different approaches. You're building up the MP three 0:14:50.520 --> 0:14:53.600 player or you're tearing down the smartphone. You're you're you're 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.800 arriving at a place that's similar. But because those approaches 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.920 are slightly different, you end up with products that support 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:05.080 different applications. So with the iPod Touch you've got a 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:09.840 fairly large application library to choose from. Oh yeah, I 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.000 mean there's some that obviously you can't run on the 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.920 Touch because it was designed for the phone, right, you know, 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.680 the uses the phone capabilities that the Touch just doesn't have. 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:23.720 But there are still tons of games and other applications. Right, Yes, 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:26.160 I do have an iPod Touch. Yeah, I'm sure you're 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:29.480 familiar with their app store. Oh yeah, and I um 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:32.640 I've tried lots of different kinds of applications. Of course, 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.240 anything with a have a first generation I thought touch, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:38.840 so anything with a GPS or a camera is pretty 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:43.080 much not useless. But a lot of them that rely 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.720 on that I can't do anything with anything particularly useful 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.200 with it. And there are a lot of other applications 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.440 where that kind of functionality is built in, but it's 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:55.600 only part of the application. Um. And then there of course, 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.880 you know, personal productivity applications and games and things like 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.640 that that that don't so you know, there's there's tons 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.720 and tons of that stuff available, and uh, of course 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:08.480 podcasts and the ability to download that kind of content 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.359 from the video store, but it isn't a high definition 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:14.240 but well, and we'll get to that. But here's here's 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:15.880 the thing that I was trying to get to is 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:19.080 that Microsoft does not support apps the way Apple does. 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:22.640 Different it's a different business model. They have specifically said 0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:25.720 that they do not plan to create an app store 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:29.200 for the Zoom. For one thing, they're creating apps for 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:32.720 Windows Mobile and the Zoom does not run on Windows Mobile. 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.400 It's two different operating systems. They don't want to have 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:40.240 two different stores. Yeah, I mean, I can understand the 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:42.520 need to separate that out because you don't want to 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:45.880 confuse the consumer. You don't want to have two different 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.960 stores to run. But you're competing with yourself. It means 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:52.520 that the Zoom cannot compete with the iPod Touch when 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:56.320 it comes to that that part of the iPod touches capabilities, 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.800 it's just not on that level. It can compete when 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:03.080 it comes to the quality of music. It can definitely 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.840 compete when it comes to the quality of video. Now 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.040 the Zoom. I should also point out Zoom HD. You 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.919 know HD, of course high definition, right, it does not 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.480 display video and high definition right, you have to you 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.800 have to connect it to an HD TV, right, and 0:17:18.840 --> 0:17:21.880 then it's at seven. It's not at a full yeah, 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:25.679 but still seven. I mean, I've seen the the video 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:30.080 from a Zoom HD hooked up to a high definition television. 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.200 I was floored at how gorgeous the video was. So 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:38.520 you could purchase or rent some video content from the 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:42.520 Zoom marketplace, download it to your Zoom, hook your Zoom 0:17:42.600 --> 0:17:46.200 up to your TV, and watch it that way. So 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.360 that's kind of cool. I mean, that's a nifty feature 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:53.680 that you can't really do with the the iPod, it's 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:55.359 not going to be the same quality as if you 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:56.840 were to try that with the iPod. But there are 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.440 other Apple offers, other things besides the ip that would 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:02.720 let you do that kind of stuff, like the Apple TV. 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:06.920 So let's talk a little bit more about the Zoo HD. 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.720 It has an o LAD screen. It's very very bright. 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:13.399 It's very glossy. Actually, some people have said that it's 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.119 a little difficult to see when you take it outside. 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.520 That sunlight can be very it can reflect a lot 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.240 of sunlight, so it's hard to see the screen. It's 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:24.200 three point three inches, yeah, so a little bit smaller 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.240 than the iPod Touch. I believe I think that I 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.800 pod touches three point five I'm not certain off the 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.440 top of my head. Just have WiFi, of course, yes, 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.320 which is good because that's how you get a lot 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:38.520 of content. Also has an FM tuner. Actually it has 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:41.639 an HD radio tuner. That's true. It can get n 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:45.119 HD radio does not stand Ford High Definition. It's market term. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:47.720 It's so yeah, it's marketing term. Just means HD radio, 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.000 but it means that you've get access to a lot 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:52.320 more radio stations than you would if it were just 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:54.399 a normal FM tuner. That's true, and it is. It 0:18:54.520 --> 0:18:57.520 is digital, so it is high quality. It's just not 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.359 high definition. It's one of those things where again, you know, 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.000 people have been asking about that kind of tuner for 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:07.320 an iPod Touch for a while, so the Zoom is 0:19:07.359 --> 0:19:09.840 ahead of the game there. Now, my question is is 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.560 radio still relevant enough for that to be a feature 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.040 that people would would like? Would people be shopping for 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:20.040 that feature? There are some who I think would. I mean, 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.000 there are a lot of people who were interested in 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:27.480 the Serious XM application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Um, 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:31.359 of course you have to be a subscriber uh of 0:19:31.840 --> 0:19:34.439 Serious XM and you know, have the right package in 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:36.840 order to take advantage of that. But there are a 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:39.240 lot of people who were excited that that application was coming, 0:19:39.480 --> 0:19:43.720 I suppose. So I just from a personal standpoint, um, 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.080 I hardly ever listened to the radio now because I 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:52.080 love Internet radio, and I love like personalized radio applications, 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:54.760 things like Pandora or Last Film or whatever. I think. 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.879 I think to a to a certain audience, radio is 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:03.000 something people would look for. It's probably not the number 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:08.400 one thing. A differentiation between the Ipode and the Zoom 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:10.600 from my own perspective, if I were in the market 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.439 for a brand new MP three player, I think the 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.840 applications outweigh the FM tuner for me, but for someone 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:21.399 else that might not be the case. Um. You can 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:24.960 also subscribe to something called the Zoom Pass with the 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:28.640 Zoo m Now, this is anything you can show up 0:20:28.680 --> 0:20:30.119 at the ride and they just let you in the 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.240 sideline and you don't have to wait. At the Zoom Ride. 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.639 It's almost as good as the iPod Ride, you know, 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.159 the the everybody's gonna brand you and iPod fan and 0:20:40.240 --> 0:20:42.320 a zoom hater. I am an iPod fan. I am 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:45.159 not a zoom hater. I just it's just not the 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:47.760 device for me, you know. I mean if I mean 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:50.960 it's a good device, it's just not for me. The 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:53.359 Zoom passed, though, what it allows you to do this 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:56.159 is actually I really like this idea. It's a subscription service. 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.439 It's fifteen dollars a month, and for that fifteen dollars 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:03.560 a month, you can download uh pretty much unlimited songs. 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:05.840 Now unlimited in the sense that you are not limited 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.520 by how many you can download. It is limited in 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:12.440 the sense that not every song in the Zoom marketplace 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:17.480 is available for zoom Pass subscription. Now, if you were 0:21:17.520 --> 0:21:24.240 to stop those songs go away, you don't. You can't 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.040 burn them to CD. You do not get to keep them. 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:29.199 You only get to have them on your Zoom for 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:33.359 as long as you're a subscriber. So that is the downside. 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:34.800 On the on the plus side, if you're a su 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:37.040 and you don't have to be a subscriber to use 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:39.879 the Zoom, this is just one thing you could do 0:21:39.960 --> 0:21:42.359 with the Zoom if you wanted to, Like you could 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:45.240 use as a normal MP three player, video player, whatever. 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:48.560 But if you wanted to and you subscribed, you would 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.480 be able to download any of the approved songs in 0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:54.240 the Zoom marketplace. And these are again, are approved by 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:58.480 the content providers. It's not Microsoft saying this song can 0:21:58.520 --> 0:22:01.000 go on zoom Pass and this one can't. That's the 0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:05.760 record labels telling Microsoft which ones can and cannot. Okay, So, 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:09.119 but you could download me as you like and listen 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:11.640 to them as many times as you like as long 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:15.600 as your subscription stays current. Once that subscription goes away, 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.399 you no longer have those songs. You can always purchase 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:21.719 those songs. Uh. And they have a thing like they 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:26.080 have the Zoom Points. It's Microsoft Points. It's the same 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.720