Chris Pirillo » iriver

Apple iPod vs Microsoft Zune

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 09:30:41 +0000

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http://live.pirillo.com/ – One of the debates in our live chat room every day is “Zune? or iPod?”. I happen to have both devices. Each of them has their share of positives and negatives. I think it boils down to whether or not you want a music subscription service.

The iPod from Apple is an excellent portable device. The only drawback I have with it is that you can’t use a music subscription service. You can view your podcasts, and listen to music, but you cannot download on demand. To me, that’s about the only thing Apple needs to do to raise that bar even higher than they previously had. If you don’t care about the subscription service, and are just looking for a great software and hardware experience, then the iPod is the route to go.

Microsoft Zune is much the same as an iPod, with a few differences. The Zune has a radio built in, whereas the iPod does not. Zune also has a bigger screen, and you can transfer files from one Zune to another. You can subscribe to the Zune Pass music subscription service for about $15.00 per month. Unfortunately, I already have a subscription to Urge. I am very happy with this service, and cannot use it with the Zune nor the iPod.

The iriver clix DOES use my Urge subscription, and has a radio. However, you can pretty much only play music on it. It doesn’t actually do anything else.

My money is on the iPhone, actually. I’ll admit it… had I known then what I know now… I’d have stood in line on Day 1 to buy an iPhone. Yes… you heard me correctly. My phone goes everywhere with me. I use it as a phone. I use the calendar feature. It has an iPod built into it! About the only thing my iPhone cannot do that I wish it would or could is to be able to subscribe to a music service. I want to have download on demand… right on my phone.

What music device do you use? Are you happy with it? What makes it so great? Leave me your feedback and comments, and let me know.

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Apple iPod vs Microsoft Zune

Pluggd Keeps Us Plugged In

Chris Pirillo — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 20:49:46 +0000

Pluggd Keeps Us Plugged In

Expect to see plugs for Pluggd in the near future: they’re sponsoring our Internet connection on the cruise next week! As it stands, I’ll be checking in at least once a day from the Holland America cruiseliner – text and photos, guaranteed. I’ll post daily audio experiences as well – so long as upload speeds aren’t capped at 2400bps! Drew Olanoff made the cruise connection for us – and for that I’m damn thankful, period. Alex Castro (Pluggd CEO) and I are getting together at Caffe Vita this evening – and I’m bringing the iRiver Clix podcast recording device with me. The audio quality may not be outstanding, but at least it’ll get the job done.

Pluggd Keeps Us Plugged In

MP4 Support in WMP11

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 20:02:25 +0000

MP4 Support in WMP11

Don’t count on MP4 playback out of the box in the next version of the Windows Media Player. I filed this “bug” a few months ago, but apparently not supporting MP4 (by default) in WMP11 is a feature: “Spend the money. Pre-install the codec. The PSP relies on it, the iPod relies on it, and Microsoft should have had its hands in one MP4 spec or another. Drop the political bullsh*t and just do it for the sake of your users who don’t know what’s going on.” Their response this morning was simple: “This is currently expected behavior.” Expected behavior? Language barrier. Perhaps Microsoft is hoping that more people install and use iTunes. I’m not sure why? Meanwhile, I’m looking at my iRiver Clix and wondering… why can’t it support the leading video format?

MP4 Support in WMP11