Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[cubanresourceful]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

You mean "isn't", right?

Cheers, Dave.

Yeah, lol, I made a lot of grammatical errors on the post and the previous one, I apologize. I was in a rush to get my thoughts out.

I am wondering, will there be a tighter integration of the Zune and the Zune Software/Marketplace? And other Microsoft services in a whole?

[CrowdAds]

[Vilai]

Q: When i buy the ZuneHD will it be "bang for the buck" or will i feel i have one the lottery with this one?

[h1a8]

What types of music you like best and what are your favorite headphones for at home listening?

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by TwystedMonkey

Dave can you comment on the Canadian release of the Zune HD? I would be pretty disapointed if we have to wait until the US has had it for 3 months before we see it. I understand if this is something you can't talk about.

Ya, I'd love to be able to comment on this one - but really can't at this stage, sorry.

Originally Posted by Vilai

Q: When i buy the ZuneHD will it be "bang for the buck" or will i feel i have one the lottery with this one?

Well, hard to say whether you personally will feel like you've "won the lottery", but as a regular user of a wide range of products I feel VERY good about what we're releasing this year.

Originally Posted by h1a8

What types of music you like best and what are your favorite headphones for at home listening?

Well, I used to be a professional pianist back in the day:

You Tube

You Tube

...so my taste typically extends mostly to stuff I'd play on the piano. I like classical music, I like Eminem. I like Elton/Billy, I like Evanescence. I like Keith Urban, I like Vanessa Carlton. I like Draw Tippy playing "Rainbow Connection", and I prefer the AMA's version of MJ singing "The Way You Make Me Feel". I don't like metal, I don't like heavy rap, I don't like to be screamed at - unless you're Jon Bon Jovi, Angus or Gene.

I have a studio at home, so I usually listen to content on my JBL 4238 monitors. When I use headphones I use Sony MDR7506's. Flat as can be, quite comfortable, and very decent sounding for the price. I decided to invest $$ in my speakers (paid ~$1700/pr I think at the time) so I didn't need to spend as much in my headphones. Great investment - use the speakers every day, not nearly as much the headphones.

Cheers, Dave.

[Olley]

Ah, a musician in there. That can lead to hearing loss you know.

How long ago was that video made? Do you play anywhere in or around Redmond?

[DaveMac-MS]

That video is probably 2-3 years old now... I was chairing an MTP meeting in Grand Rapids, MI and sat in at "The Bob" one of the nights I was in town.

I don't play anywhere regularly in Seattle. I almost always find a piano bar to play in when I travel - but my time is pretty scarce when I'm home. I travel a fair bit - in fact have a bar in Tokyo (Roppongi area) that I always pop in to and play a little at. They call me "Microsoft-san" there.

Cheers, Dave.

[DaveMac-MS]

FYI folks - I just created a Twitter account (@DaveMacMS) - I invite you to follow me there (and I'll return the favor!).

Cheers, Dave.

[cubanresourceful]

Dave, please, I need some sort of, I dunno, information. I'm really itching on pulling the gun and buying some music videos, but I do not want to be left out in the dust if Microsoft updates all their music videos to HD! So...should I just go ahead and not worry about it, or should I wait and see...? Hmmmm?

[DaveMac-MS]

Sorry cuban. No hints...

Cheers, Dave.

[WalkGood]

Dave,
Don’t want this to come across as a heckler and I’m confidant I know the answer already, but what does it hurts to ask, as this is the “Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)” thread.

Would Microsoft consider sharing information with the rockbox developers, even on the existing zune in order to have rockbox running on zune? IMHO if rockbox was available on zune, I’d be first in line to buy one to donate to them and one for myself.

[cubanresourceful]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Sorry cuban. No hints...

Cheers, Dave.

Gosh Dave, you're no help at all!

[yruluis]

Dave

When Zune marketplace comes out for the xbox 360, I'm assuming, that we will be able to place our content on either platform (pc, 360). Will the content that was previously purchased on video marketplace (360) or zune marketplace be available for download again and will I be able to take it with me.

I want to buy more videos (top gear) but I want to know if the content will be locked into their respective platforms.

[suffer1989]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Dave,
Don’t want this to come across as a heckler and I’m confidant I know the answer already, but what does it hurts to ask, as this is the “Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)” thread.

Would Microsoft consider sharing information with the rockbox developers, even on the existing zune in order to have rockbox running on zune? IMHO if rockbox was available on zune, I’d be first in line to buy one to donate to them and one for myself.

THIS.

2nd, 3rd, ... ∞d. I will finally replace my E200.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Would Microsoft consider sharing information with the rockbox developers, even on the existing zune in order to have rockbox running on zune? IMHO if rockbox was available on zune, I’d be first in line to buy one to donate to them and one for myself.

Rockbox is like an open source alternative MP3 player OS, right? I think you know the answer to your question. What you do with the device is your own business, but investing resources on our side to support an alternative OS is not something I think you'll see from us.

Cheers, Dave.

[Cruleworld]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Rockbox is like an open source alternative MP3 player OS, right? I think you know the answer to your question. What you do with the device is your own business, but investing resources on our side to support an alternative OS is not something I think you'll see from us.

Cheers, Dave.

I think he was more looking for any back doors or anything that would let them get it running. more into on what's inside, stuff like that.

[WalkGood]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

Rockbox is like an open source alternative MP3 player OS, right? …

I’m a bit surprised being a musician and in the business and not hearing of rockbox o_O Click here to learn more.

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

…What you do with the device is your own business, but investing resources on our side to support an alternative OS is not something I think you'll see from us.

I can’t argue with you as to what I do with my own device and I’m sure that Microsoft could care less if I bought a device or not, but what about potential thousands or hundred of thousands of additional sales? Preposterous you say, well I say not, as to the best of my knowledge there never has been an “officially” supported port, other than SanDisk sharing information on the V1 series and typically by the time that rockbox is developed, the manufacturer has already started designing or producing other DAP’s.

I can anticipate your next response, what does the average Joe care about changing or even upgrading firmware? Well, these days you even hear the sales reps at Best Buy talking to the public about firmware and I’m sure you have good stats on how many firmware upgrades were downloaded from MS.

IMHO, opening the zune specs to rockbox developers wouldn’t cost Microsoft a dime, well maybe a few hours of your time and I’m sure that would be easily offset by the additional sales you and your company would enjoy, solidify the zune by joining the ranks of other supported devices and possibly make the zune one of the best selling players of all time…

BTW from rockbox.org:

Microsoft Zune
The Zune is being manufactured by Toshiba and is assumed to be based at least in part on hardware used in the Gigabeat S Series. A port is currently not in development, but the feasibility of one is being discussed in the forum. If a port were to occur, development would likely occur concurrently or after development on the Gigabeat S Series.

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

Preposterous you say, well I say not, as to the best of my knowledge there never has been an “officially” supported port, other than SanDisk sharing information on the V1 series...

Although this doesn't address your main point (and I too would certainly welcome Rockbox on the Zune), Sandisk didn't actually share any useful information with the Rockbox developers. They simply provided them with a couple of players (and no documentation or code)...but it seems to have been good PR to say they were helping with a port...

[randominality]

if microsoft were to openly announce they were in some way playing along with rockbox devs it would mostly amount to good publicity. But it would be great publicity, and would certainly translate into a decent number of extra sales. But that said, considering microsoft is going for a very closed ecosystem with the HD, i doubt they would consider doing so (much to my disappointment).

The pros and cons of the closed ecosystem have already been discussed to death on here and although I am deffinitely in line with those people who would like to see the HD be more open source friendly and user customisable (imo it would also make for a great anti ipod campaign that many people would go for), a few forum visitors arent gonna make a big difference to the development of a large corporation's product aimed at mass market, so i suppose ill just have to be happy with what they produce anyway.

Still, I live in hope, and the fact that Dave even comes on here to answer our questions is a great thing.

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I’m a bit surprised being a musician and in the business and not hearing of rockbox o_O

Hmm, well - it is alternative firmware for MP3 players, right? Not sure of the connection between my being a musician and your assumption I'd heard of it. Nonetheless, thanks for the link - I took a look and am up to speed.

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I’m sure that Microsoft could care less if I bought a device or not

Sorry, my other "pet peeve" (gosh I now realize I have a few of them - does that make me a grump?!?) - I think you meant "Microsoft couldn't care less, right?

Anyhow, on with the conversation...

Originally Posted by WalkGood

but what about potential thousands or hundred of thousands of additional sales?

This gets back to my original point in either this or a similar thread. Supporting a third party wanting to port a new OS to the device is a pretty major work item (forgetting for a moment that - as I've stated previously - we're selling an ecosystem, not just a device). I can say with very high confidence that the additional sales recognized would be more than countered by the additional costs incurred in supporting the port - both at development and through the lifecycle of the hardware.

You have to think all the way through. What happens when 2 years later you sell your device on eBay and the new buyer can't figure out why your Rockbox'd Zune doesn't work with Marketplace. Who are they going to call for help? Microsoft.

What about the movie studios and record labels? How will our support for the OS impact our relationships with them? Will they be less inclined to work with us? What impact will that have on Xbox? Windows? Media Center? These are all hypotheticals, but you have to understand that Microsoft is a large company and decisions made by one group in the company can have significant impact on other groups.

Originally Posted by WalkGood

I can anticipate your next response, what does the average Joe care about changing or even upgrading firmware? Well, these days you even hear the sales reps at Best Buy talking to the public about firmware and I’m sure you have good stats on how many firmware upgrades were downloaded from MS.

Firmware upgrades, yes. Replacing the firmware with an entirely different OS to enable fairly advanced features that appeal to (frankly) a minority? I still believe this would be a very small number of folks who would be interested in this.

Don't forget - the "average Joe" as you call him, has fairly basic needs and the vast majority of MP3 player owners in the US are more than satisfied with the most basic features offered by Zune, iPod, Zen, Samsung devices, etc... Now, that isn't a reason not to innovate and extend the feature set, but it does give cause for consideration that making a mass market product requires a mass market implementation.

As we've said elsewhere, that may mean the device isn't for everyone - but no device is.

Originally Posted by WalkGood

BTW from rockbox.org:

FYI - that is very old data. Zune is not (not since gen1) hardware-related to the Toshiba gigabeat.

Cheers, Dave.

[Olley]

I don't find the Zune experience closed except for not being able to choose something other than the Zune app to put my music on my players. It doesn't care that my music is from CDs or LPs or from Amazon's Music store. There was no requirement to subscribe to the marketplace, and I haven't. I can even ignore the marketplace and Social apps on the players. They still play my Music, Video, Photos, and the radio jjst fine. I'm not a teenager just starting develop a music taste though.

I do dislike that the Zune app doesn't sort my music the way I prefer. I hate that it started out crashing my PC with aero tricks which my video card apparently doesn't like.

So Dave, What do you use to put music on players you've owned that aren't zunes? I've got several, and only the Zunes are seen by the Zune app. Yet WMP sees everything but the Zunes and iPods. There are some apps that see everything including the ipods. I can understand not supporting the Mac OS, but is it intentional to limit the Zune App to Zunes? Think how much more music you might sell if every Sansa, Sony, Samsung, Cowon, Archos, and cheap under $50 player could be seen and synced by it.