Ask Dave (A Microsoft Employee)

[Marvin the Martian]

Originally Posted by Nicole

I don't know why your library didn't update automatically, but it usually does. You can manually tell it to update, but it's easier to just delete your WMP library and let WMP reindex it.
http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html#medialibrary

That's part of the problem....it won't let me delete the library. It's irrelevant now. My Mozaic works just fine with drag and drop, so WMP can just be an unopened icon in the corner of the desktop.

[CrowdAds]

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by Olley

Anyone else dublicating your job, or are you the lonely soul working with accessory manufacturers?

No, we have both a 1st party accessory product team and a 3rd party accessory team. I do business development for both, but most of the work in accessories is in product management, program management, testing, partner support, etc... I wouldn't say that accessories occupies most of my time anymore.

Originally Posted by Olley

And I'm curious why both MS and Apple wait until September before releasing new products.
<snip>
I'd think having the latest tech out when kids were shopping for back-to-school supplies would make more sense, or maybe the wait is so college kids can have their loan money in hand.

It's simply a matter of finding a balance between maximizing the ramp up towards "Black Friday" and Christmas, and giving yourself enough runway in the first half of the year to develop the best product you can. Of course a product cycle is longer than just 6 or even 12 months, but September allows for a healthy run up to Black Friday while maximizing the development time available for the team.

Originally Posted by Marvin the Martian

This isn't Zune-related, but Dave, who is responsible for this abomination known as Windows Media Player 11? I would like to know why I can't simply clear the library on it. It needs to be done, and yet it seems impossible to do.

Hmm, I'm using the Win7 WMP on all my machines so I can't go back and test this for you. I see down the thread that others have chimed in with resources to help. If you still aren't squared away, email me at aussie@zune.net.

Originally Posted by epithetless

I have a question: Beyond explicating the present workings of Microsoft and the DAP industry, are you interested in using our feedback on these forums to help guide Zune product development? Or do you see your presence here as more of a one-way "spokesperson for the organization/we've done our research and it's final" type of deal?

Originally Posted by potomac

I have one major concern about the Zune Pass. What is the thinking behind not letting unused song credits carryover?
Thanks and your commentary on these pages has been enlightening.

I _believe_ that is a requirement of the record labels that we have to honour.

Originally Posted by cubanresourceful

If not, is it possible, in the future, that the Zune will be able to display lyrics? Maybe make lyrics submission a social thing? I would love to be able to see lyrics in the Zune player and on the Zune itself!

Lyrics are hard to do. Really hard - and almost impossible if you're talking about lyric submission and tying to the social. The content owners are extremely protective of all assets associated with content - including (and especially) album art and lyrics. Thats why you see so many lyrics websites being shut down all the time. I agree lyrics would be cool - but I can tell you this is a very non-trivial feature suggestion...

Originally Posted by alexiznumber1

hey dave how many more feautres do you know about? like i dont need to know what they are but just a number would be cool.

A bunch.

Cheers, Dave.

[Olley]

Thanks for your answers, Dave!

Lyrics ought to come with any song bought. JMHO. They are pretty standard as liner notes in CD boxes. It could easily be the best value-added thing to encourage buying music instead of stealing it. I hadn't thought much of it, but discovered at least one song I acquired (from itunes or amazon.com) had lyrics in it, and they show up on the occasional player I stick that song into. My enjoyment doubles when it happens, for some purely emotional reason I suppose. Maybe two prices: 99 cents without lyrics, and $1.29 with them.

[The DarkSide]

So, Dave, what's your opinion of this: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ad.php?t=45171

[epithetless]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

[...]

Cheers, Dave.

Haha...Did you intentionally quote me without providing an answer? If so, that's perhaps the clearest answer about the value of our feedback you could have given...

[The DarkSide]

Originally Posted by epithetless

Haha...Did you intentionally quote me without providing an answer? If so, that's perhaps the clearest answer about the value of our feedback you could have given...

Wow, that sux!!!! I feel you bro.

[Xiamhighx]

Hey Dave, the XNA game studio is awesome and all, but it's kind of a bummer that my Zune Pass music doesn't work with the apps, and how the Zune reboots every time I exit an app. Is there any chance that this will be changed in the future? If you can't comment, that's fine, I can wait to find out

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by epithetless

Haha...Did you intentionally quote me without providing an answer? If so, that's perhaps the clearest answer about the value of our feedback you could have given...

Oh gosh - I'm so sorry, I completely missed that. The dangers of posting at 2am or thereabouts...

Originally Posted by epithetless

I have a question: Beyond explicating the present workings of Microsoft and the DAP industry, are you interested in using our feedback on these forums to help guide Zune product development? Or do you see your presence here as more of a one-way "spokesperson for the organization/we've done our research and it's final" type of deal?

I'm definitely interested in doing that, but folks need to realize that there are varying types of feedback. At this stage of the game, any ability to substantially impact 2009 products is extremely limited. Also, just as I need to understand that not everyone on this forum wants to buy a Zune, not every idea submitted here is going to align with our overall product roadmap or business objectives.

I think the biggest sticking point for many people here is that some of you disagree with Microsoft's strategy in this space. And that's totally fair enough - but while feedback on the products is great, it isn't fair to disagree with core strategy and then complain that Microsoft ignores your feedback when the company doesn't do an about face and fundamentally change the business model we're working against.

However, I'm definitely interested in hearing your feedback and I'm taking far more notes on a wider range of forums than I directly participate in here, so hopefully that's good news. I just hope that people can understand the difference between poor feedback ("ditch MTP and make the Zune MSC!!!") and good feedback ("I really value drag'n'drop in Explorer and would love to see that as a feature added to the client installation in the future").

Cheers, Dave.

[globiboulga]

Originally Posted by DaveMac-MS

I just hope that people can understand the difference between poor feedback ("ditch MTP and make the Zune MSC!!!") and good feedback ("I really value drag'n'drop in Explorer and would love to see that as a feature added to the client installation in the future").
Cheers, Dave.

Mmmh, rather the distinction between that kind of feedback that has some remote chance to be taken into account, rather than the one that does not.

[epithetless]

Thanks for the reply, DaveMac-MC. I do understand where you're coming from, and the distinctions you're making. I just wasn't sure if any of our feedback would be taken into account, or if you're merely here in an explanatory capacity (which isn't bad, just important to be clear on). It makes complete sense at this point that there won't be any drastic changes made to a soon-to-be-released product...but in terms of future firmware/software updates, knowing that our feedback is heard matters. As I said before, whether or not the manufacturer listens without a doubt influences my decision to purchase.

[DaveMac-MS]

Well, I'm not here in an official Microsoft capacity. I'm not paid to be the ABI forums guy and I have no commitment to my manager to spend X hours a week here. But... it's super easy for me to see a bunch of comments in here on a particular topic, fire off email to our product planners to find out why we are/aren't doing a certain feature, and then share it with the group if possible.

So - yes, I can be a conduit for feature requests and scenarios - but oftentimes I can't confirm or deny whether the feedback will be acted upon, and rarely can I explain why. Not that we're trying to be difficult, just protective of our competitive position. In the case of companies like Microsoft and Apple, the implications stretch far beyond PMPs...

Cheers, Dave.

[epithetless]

Makes sense. Here's another question: Considering how positive you've been about the ZuneHD thus far, are there things about it that you don't like? Things you wish had been different? I'm not asking you to name those things (since I know you can't go into product specifics), but are you allowed to admit they exist, or are you duty-bound to "love" everything about the device and the overall Zune ecosystem prior to its release?

[DaveMac-MS]

Originally Posted by epithetless

Considering how positive you've been about the ZuneHD thus far, are there things about it that you don't like? Things you wish had been different? I'm not asking you to name those things (since I know you can't go into product specifics), but are you allowed to admit they exist, or are you duty-bound to "love" everything about the device and the overall Zune ecosystem prior to its release?

Haha - GREAT question. Actually, anyone who knows me at work knows that I'm fairly quite critical where we deserve criticism. In the interests of professionalism AND in light of the fact that we're not yet done with the product, I will keep such commentary internal at this point.

But, I'm a passionate person about the product and I fight passionately for features I believe in. I've had more than one run-in with a dev manager or a product manager because our opinions on feature importance or priority have differed, and I've lost as many fights as I've won. But that's what makes the team a great place to work - and admittedly, my job actually isn't to define features, so sometimes I need to mind my own business.

Cheers, Dave.

[Marvin the Martian]

Dave,
I read today, and heard yesterday on a podcast, that it is possible the iPod Classic may be discontinued this fall. Since the Classic and the Zune 120 are the two heavyweights in that category, I wonder if the Zune 120 will be continued, and would MS consider even making it a higher capacity device than it is now?

There's a fair segment of people out there, I would think, that want the option of carry their entire library around with them on one device....not to mention the "audiophiles" that must carry lossless files around with them too. Any thoughts?

[Ricardo Dawkins]

Zune 120 will not be discontinued.

Current Zune 8 will be part of the revamped lineup alongside the 16GB & 32GB ZuneHD.

[DaveMac-MS]

Actually, here is the only thing I think that has been said publicly by our GM of Global Marketing, Chris Stephenson:

Expect to see the Zune HD become the definitive Zune product going forward," Stephenson said. "You will continue to see the hard drive product in the market. (The Zune HD) will take over from existing flash devices."

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/new...elease_zune_hd

Cheers, Dave.

[alexiznumber1]

we have talked bout thus before but do u think maybe u can tell somebody to put AB repeat on it? Thats really important to me.

[CheeToS]

So apparently there was a demonstration of the Zune HD/Windows integration at the MGX conference yesterday. No pictures, videos, or information seem to have made their way on to the Internet about the demo, yet. Are you allowed to spill the beans on it since it's been outed?

[gingerbloke]

Not sure if this has previously been asked - but will the Zune HD be released in Europe same time as in North America, or will it be a gradual roll out over a period of time?

i.e. will we see it in the UK (officially) before Christmas?

[artzm]

Any chance you can give us a rundown of the menu system? Like

-Music
--Album
--Artist....
-Videos
--
--
-Pictures
-Radio
-Marketplace
-More
--

You don't need to include anything you can't but it would be nice to know what is in each of the menus... I'm assuming they are similar to what we have now with subclasses of each.

Also can you comment on how the playlist system works? Will we be able to create playlists on the device? Anything else about playlists....