Steve Ballmer proves that he will remain the polar un-cool opposite to Steve Jobs in his interview with BusinessWeek about Zune, Microsoft’s “iPod Killer” which was released today:
“I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That’s a software experience.”
That’s definitely a software experience. Though the description sounds similar to software experiences the FBI frowns upon.
I’m going to make a prediction about the Zune. I think it’s gonna flop. And not because Ballmer is a joke when it comes to attempting to create reality-distortion fields of the Steve Jobs kind. Zunes are going to stay on the shelves because everyone knows that software experiences created by Microsoft are created with the same mindset as Word and Excel. In a word, it’s boring.
I guess there will be those who think it’s cool that the Zune will talk with the Xbox 360 via Wi-Fi. That is cool, in theory, but when it comes to real-world experiences, who really cares? Who manages their music library on their XBox? Who plays music through their Xbox?
It’s just another attempt by Microsoft, Creative, etc. to create a device that operates like a PC. PCs are barely manageable even when they’re working properly. Putting that functionality in a small handheld only enlarges the problem of usability.
To think that a device will sell well because it literally has the kitchen sink in it is ignorant. Because people want their music devices to play music. And maybe play some videos. Games are always fun. But I haven’t once wanted to “squirt” pictures to my friends on a handheld device, especially one that can’t take pictures in the first place.
But what do I know, right? I know Zune has some social networking capabilities built into it so maybe it really will be the “Myspace of mp3 players” and be extremely successful even though the product sucks. I’m not holding my breath.
*Update: Engadget agrees.
In case the “squirt” quote wasn’t enough, here’s a clip via YouTube which shows the Dao of Steve in action (try not to get hit by the body sweat):