Following the controversy around Tuesday's Top 10 Reasons To Hate Zune, here's the promised second installment taking a more positive spin on Microsoft's multimedia device. Because hey, it's not all bad by any means. Zune is big news in the consumer gadgetry market, with Microsoft clearly hoping it'll do to Apple's iPod what they hope Xbox 360 will do to PlayStation 3. If that makes sense. Anyway, here's ten reasons to roll out the bunting for Zune. And in the interests of fairness after Tuesday's Wi-Fi hoo-ha, one of them is entirely false. Enjoy. 1. Everybody loves an underdog. And let's face it, iPod could do with some competition. It's not as if the other manufacturers – including those licensing Microsoft's own platform - have made great inroads into Apple's market share. Healthy competition should spur even more innovation on both sides. 2. Mmm... widescreen. I'd rather watch movies on this baby, even if I have to turn it sideways to do it. Hopefully Microsoft will have some good deals with the movie studios by the time Zune launches. 3. Microsoft is smart. They launch, learn and improve. Remember the days when Xbox was just a big ole whirry box with rubbish games? And now look at Xbox 360. Whatever you think of the first-gen Zune, subsequent iterations will be better. 4. The brown Zune. Maybe all those people who said brown was The New Black had a point. And it does go nicely with my corduroy jacket... 5. It's got Wi-Fi. And yes, that means you can send full-length tracks, not 30-second samples like some fool the other day was claiming. People have been wishing Apple would bring out a Wi-Fi iPod for ages, but Microsoft got there first. Simply having it in Zune gives potential for all manner of cool features. Over-the-air downloads, streaming live TV, 64-person Minesweeper battles. It's all good. 6. Worthiness. For everybody who buys a Zune, Bill Gates effectively gets a few more dollars to spend on good causes. Which is better than giving Steve Jobs more moolah to spend on polo-necks. 7. Goblins. Zune is powered by little green goblins pedalling minature bicycles. Trust me, it is. And that's cool. 8. Good relations. Apple's negotiating tactics have rubbed the music industry up the wrong way, although it's too early to tell if the same is true of the movie studios. Microsoft could steal a march by going in as the good guy with these people. Especially if Bill leverages his multimillionaire contacts and calls up Paul McCartney. "So, about those Beatles albums that haven’t ever been sold digitally..." 9. The buttons look nice. Look, you can't look down on superficiality in this market. 10. The FM radio. Who'd listen to radio when they had their entire music collection to hand? Plenty of us. How else are we supposed to keep up with The Archers? via techdigest





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