The iPod came to market at the right time, with a focus on the right features, and had a level of integration with the PC and Usability that was unmatched; over the past several years Apple has moved away from delivering as focused of a feature set, and has changed/improved upon the useability of the device.

The Zune has failed to get much notice because Microsoft hasn't produced as useable of a product as the first generation iPods, and their focus has been on adding features people don't care about.

I don't know a lot about the Zune's social networking features but they are what they are, a little bit of a boost if that. They certainly can't hurt.

The zune also has various advantages to the ipod for example;
-It can play FM radio
-It has a community for Zune users, forums and so forth which further unify the buyer
-Zune has a marketplace where you can buy millions of songs, not just rip them from a CD like the ipod. Everybody wants that "really cool" song that would sound great on their portable player, and so the zune has a ready made market.
-Microsoft is also about to use the same network for the zune and Xbox live, meaning that video downloads, and such will probably be available soon. This will also allow microsoft to save some $$$ from the alternative of having two different systems for each product ( 360 and zune), thereby letting M$ to plow more $$$$ back into the product.

Again, i'm surprised that it hasn't sold more, but that's probably because the zune has had to go up against the ipod which ain't small taters.

It's sad cause the Zune is better then the IPod.

Of course generic MP3 players that were out before the IPod were better then Ipods.

Man the profit margins on Ipods are ridiculious. The people who buy actually buy Ipods are getting taken for a serious ride.

hmm. my Ipod is crapping out right now. there's something wrong with the storage and it freezes constantly taking a chunk of the battery's energy along with it. maybe I should chuck my stupid ipod into a river and go for the zune.

I have an Ipod but I want a Zune. Zune > Ipod in my opinion, also since I have an Xbox, I use the Zune software so I can steam tunes from my Pc to my Xbox.

/* off topic

Android is out already? */

/* Off Topic

[Update] Well I'll be damned. Android IS out already.

http://code.google.com/android/download.html

*/ 

Just in case anyone cared, my Toys R Us sells Zunes.

They aren't selling. At all. We have the new models, and it's just nothing.

well, it's hard to care about your store carrying the zune when we can't get there to buy one.

to this date I only know one person with one if they didn't feel so cheap and plasticy I bet more people would be willing to buy. It does have some good features like sharing songs although the song disappears in 3 days or so.....

Big companies piss me off sometimes. MS and Apple. The iPod isn't bad but companies like SanDisk make much better players on the low end market and companies like Creative, Microsoft make much better players players on the high end. But the vast majority of people are so oblivious to these things! I had a Creative Zen for several years and people would look at it and scowl "why don't you have an iPod?" was asked to me for weeks on end. I later heard the same people complain "I wish my iPod had a radio!" or "I need to see if I can buy a microphone attachment so I can record lectures!".

Are these people that shallow? I am happy to see the Zune finally breaking people's perceptions of MP3 players but I am still somewhat irate that they ignore all the other companies. Back when the Zune still sucked I heard a TV newscaster say "the iPod is no longer for everyone, the "Zune" is starting to get some of the market!"

Of course he makes no mention that while the Zune had just claimed 1.2% of the market, Creative and Sandisk had been holding 8% of it for more than a year. I mean, it's like the non Apple-MS players don't even matter to people, it's either Zune or iPod... no way in hell will anyone buy anything else.