The TechNow

Hey there! I just got a Zune HD a few days ago! You may be thinking, “Ew, who wants a Zune?”, but after using this for a few days I’ve grown to love it more than my iPod touch (2G). Anyway, let’s get to business. (This will not be biased, promise.)

Screen

The first thing you notice when you compare the two is the screen. Yes, the Zune HD’s screen IS .2 inches smaller than the iPod’s, but it’s OLED, so it’s brighter, crisper, and more power-efficient. The iPod touch’s is LED, 3.5″, and not too bright

So I gotta give it to the Zune. Sorry, Apple.

Sound

After listening to music for a while, you start to notice the bad quality in the file. Not with the Zune HD, the sound is so much clearer, even with the standard earbuds. BUT, the iPod touch does have an internal speaker, which the Zune does not.

So it’s basically a tie. Need an internal speaker? iPod. Better quality? Zune HD.

Apps

This is a big one. Yes, there are only 10 apps on the Zune HD’s “app store”, but they are all of mostly good quality. If you want more, moderate quality apps, then the iPod is for you. But the games and apps on the Zune HD are phenomenal. Your choice. But, I’d give it to the iPod for this one.

iPod’s app store is better for the most part.

Side note: You CAN add and make your own homebrew apps without doing ANY hacking or jailbreaking. See here and here.

Software

With the Zune Pass, you can get unlimited legal music for only $15 USD/mo. Awesome right? But if you stop paying, your music expires except for the 10 DRM free songs you get a month with it. iTunes offers no such thing. Plus we all know how Apple codes things bad for Windows. So for $15/mo, unlimited music, that’s a win for the Zune HD all the way.

Overall

Simple: Buy a Zune HD. Detailed: Your choice. It really depends on what you want and need in a PMP.

This post was written by britishtaco, and he/she may not represent the opinions of this website or it's owner.

We all know Microsoft copies from Apple, and possibly vice-versa, don’t deny it. Apple copies from Microsoft, Microsoft copies from Apple. Don’t try and oppose it, fanboys. It’s plainly obvious and even said by a Microsoft Gold Partner: “Does Windows 7 borrow from OS X? Of course it does,” said Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Fairfax, Va.-based Microsoft Gold partner. There you go, now on to the content.

How do I justify copying? Many say that it is plagiarism, blatant copyright infringement, anti-competitive, evil, and without justification. However, I beg to differ. The essential thing that people don’t realize is that it’s not copying. It’s enhancing. Apple comes up with the ingenious idea of a dock, where one can launch applications quickly and easily from the bottom bar. Windows 7 enhances that by merging the dock with the start bar. Now Apple has to come up with something even better to counter that.

You see, this cycle repeats itself with hundreds of different technologies. It’s a constant game of catch-up between the two Operating Systems. And who wins? Us. Yes, us. We get constantly lower prices on our operating systems, whilst getting years of progress in the span of months. Look at the price of Snow Leopard. $35 for a totally rewritten Finder, faster and better usability, and an even more awesome wallpaper.

So what I’m saying is that this ‘copying’ isn’t ‘copying’, it’s called progress. Companies have been doing the same thing for years without being under attack from consumers like the computer industry is today. Let it go, it helps us more than anybody else. Don’t try and keep Apple away from Microsoft, and don’t try and keep Microsoft away from Apple. Both are great companies, and both utilize the others’ technologies.

This post was written by j.dhanani, and he/she may not represent the opinions of this website or it's owner.

Vista.

The one operating system that will forever go down in history as the worst OS ever, including WinMe and BOB. *shudders*

Before Vista, everybody in XP and Windows 2000 land was mostly happy. Then Microsoft announced Vista, a new OS that was like nothing else. Revolutionary. Or so they say. It was rushed out, unfinished by at least six months. Many people bought new computers in excitement for the new OS, but found it horrid upon first use.

Now you may be saying, “it’s just the drivers’ fault!” Sure that worsened the problem, but the problems are still there today.

People lost all faith in MS.

Then recently MS announced they’d have a free version of Office, but with hardly anything and guess what,

IT’S AD-SUPPORTED.

Yup, now you can get the annoyance of ads right on Word. Great. I could het OpenOffice.org for free and not ad-supported.

After that, Microsoft just kept getting crazier. I could keep rambling on, but that’s what Google is for.

#bing

This post was written by britishtaco, and he/she may not represent the opinions of this website or it's owner.