Yet another Zune owner disappointed by the elimination of power features in the latest version. The software looks amazing, but is lacking essential power features.
I would like to see:
Perhaps your market research didn't see many people using the auto-playlists because they were well hidden. If you expose them, more people will use them. This is not as big a deal for the 30 and 80 models, but the auto-playlists are essential for the Zune 4 and 8 - you can create a playlist that will automatically sync different songs each time it is plugged in - currently, I would need to manually remove and add songs, which is a pain.
I can't stand the new software. I don't know how it was downgraded so much. User agib feels as I do:
"What I miss:DYNAMIC PLAYLISTSFive-star ratingsThe ability to choose what quality to encode my songs into (why the hell was this stripped from MEDIA PLAYER software?!)An in-depth look at what was happening with sync, rather than the dumbed down view-only way it's done nowNot having my library screwed up just by opening the ruddy program (although thankfully this is undoable by a fix in the forums...still, I shouldn't have to fix what wasn't broken before the update...sheez)Editing my ID3 tags...y'know to fix the stuff the Zune software screwed up"
Please fix this soon, especially 5 star and autoplaylist, because I too have defended zune assuring people that these are availiable.
SGT ANDREW wrote:1.Clock!2.Dvix/Xvid Support in software atleast (if it isn't already)3.Fix The Compulation artist issue.All my compulation cds are now listed only under various artist, not the artist who recorded each song.4.Meta data editing pleasee5.Auto playlist!!!!games soon?
Best Regards, Aaron
I've had a few iPods now, but disliked being chained to iTunes through their DRM practices. A few months ago, I got a great deal on a refurbished Zune, and switched over. It was an expensive, annoying process, but I did it. The functionality of the player was fantastic. It took some getting used to a new interface, but the smart playlists worked great, and most of my ratings came over when I switched. I really enjoyed the Zune.
My listening habits are simple. I just delete any songs I don't like. Those I keep, I rate from 1 to 5, based on how frequently I want to hear them. Then I set up a smart playlist that randomly selects songs to play with their frequency based on the rating. It took six inter-related playlists to make that happen on the iPod, but Zune was able to do it in one fell swoop!
Imagine, then, my complete shock and disappointment at the new software. First, all my painstaking rating of thousands of songs is now completely inaccessible on the Zune. Second, even if I could access it, the smart playlist that made all that work worthwhile is no longer an option. Instead, I'm left with manual playlists, and the incomprehensibly useless 'like' and 'dislike' rating system. I'm not sure how to explain to you the complete worthlessness of a rating system for songs I dislike. The whole point of digital media is that I'm not stuck with songs I dislike; I just leave those on the album. What am I even going to do with a 'disliked' song list? The flag system worked perfectly well for identifying songs I might want to edit or delete. You've taken a set of very useful tools, and eliminated them for... well, I can't really tell what the exchange was on that, which is why I guess you're losing me as a customer.
Even the changes to the player firmware make no sense. Why make the main menu too big to fit on the screen? How does that help? The rest of the hardware UI type is tiny, so you aren't even making it more accessible for users with poor vision, since they presumably wouldn't be able to read the menus further in. It seems like a purely aesthetic choice that made no consideration of functionality... which is a baffling move from a company that does so well with ergonomics in mice, keyboards, and business software.
So I'm glad I got the Zune player at a great price, because it is now just a portable drive. As much as I hate to do it, it's back to the iPod for me. I certainly now regret buying a car adapter and case for the Zune, since they were only useful for a couple of months. Since I can't roll back to the old software, it's now all just money down the drain... which of course ultimately leads to more money for your competitors since I'll have to go back to buying thing from them. No one wins in this arrangement, and I am completely baffled by the decisions made in crafting this new software.
support to be detected as an external HD please! this is a key feature (more important than a clock imo) that shouldn't have been left out in the first place. there have been many times when i have needed to transfer large files between my computer and a friend's, and my ipod was very useful in these situations. i'm out of space on my 30gb 5.5g ipod and i REALLY don't wanna get another one, but this is a major deciding factor for me (and my girlfriend as well)
I think the best feature you could have added was to actually have them shipped the day they're supposed to come out.
I think the tangibility of the Zune 80 was the most important feature that we lost.