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Microsoft has created a truly great media multimedia device in the Zune.   It exceeds the media capabilities and quality of the classic touch versions of the IPod but there’s a problem and Apple and others have already figured it out while Microsoft has not:

The days of the media player are as dead as the Sony Walkman.

The iPod Touch, droid, and iPhone are all platforms that support gaming, GPS, internet, and communications (of all types).   In the meantime, Microsoft is still supporting Windows, Windows Mobile, xBox and Zune as seperate but connected platforms.

What it needs to do to dominate is consolidate these sperate platforms into a unified vision and brand that works seemlessly with Windows, Linux and Mac.

Zune while far superior in ergonomic design, display quality, and software integration with Windows can’t compete with the smart mobile devices available today.  Windows Mobile 6.5 is a huge disappointment and devices like the droid skyrocket and surpass their sales in mere weeks of launch.   Why is this?  Some aspect is hype but  the deep reason is functionality.  Within weeks of launch there are nearly twenty thousand (20,000) applications for droid.   Zune HD – Launched in late summer and still there are less than 12 – That’s TWELVE.

DUH

Want to win?

By next July here’s what Zune has to do and by the end of 2010 you’ll have real marketshare:

• Kill Windows Mobile 7.0 NOW
• Leverage Microsoft brand recognition and create a unified marketing direction for consumer portable devices
• Seemless integrate this device with Windows Media Center on xBox and Windows 7
• Provide a compelling Mac experience
• 3G Phone capability AND skype
• Improve the browser
• Put an application store on Zune
• Support Java and .Net development for applications
• Make it easy to choose
• Keep all the great stuff you have now

Out with Victoria to the Apple Store.  She really wants a Mac Book   Sure they’re cool.   But the form factor, battery, software costs and the lack of universality of it still really bothers me.  The proprietary nature of their hardware really forces a conformist attitude as much as they are considered “Artistic” and avant guard – Think quite the opposite is true.   PCs can be customized in their configuration in an almost infinite number of ways, but with a Mac – what you buy is what you get.

I just returned from a 10 day vacation from modern civilization in northern Maine.   No TV, Radio, Internet or Cellphone.  Simple life simple meals and good friends.   Less than 3 weeks ago I attended Microsoft’s SharePoint Conference where the conference give away was “Laptop Koozy”   At most a $10 item – that for my $2000 conference – This at a conference that was Microsoft’s most well received event of the year – At the time I said to myself “this is the worst conference bag I’ve ever received at ANY conference.”

Today while catching up on the news I read that at PDC which concluded on Friday Microsoft gave every attendee a free laptop with a touchscreen display.   This at conference that touted more vapourware than any since the 2003 conference (which interestingly enough was the last PDC I attended).

I’m not sure how anyone else feels about this, but I am deeply offended that Microsoft has treated the SharePoint conference attendee base this poorly.   I’m not really sure how to react to it yet other than thinking this is a huge slap in the face.

Thoughts anyone?

PS:  I guess if I had gone to PDC I would have a matched set

Want more information on the MS SharePoint Conference 2009?

Twitter Search #SPC09 or follow me @WebGuyNJ

Although its not shipping yet – Sharepoint 2010 is an extremely hot topic this week in Las Vegas – no pun intended.

It made top 5 trends on Twitter this morning as more than 15,000 tweets went out of the Keynote address.   Here are some of the highlights as I saw them.

Search – Now scalable and recoverable without a single point of failure.

Development – Integrated with Visual Studio 2010 allows building deployments and deployment from within the VS UI.  Developer dashboard built into sharepoint.  Sandboxing that allows what can be deployed and when.

Data Services – Bind live SQL data as site content types

Governance – Content types and Meta data traverse sites, site collections, web apps and farms.   Inhernent tages, ratings and Social Networking tie ins

UI – Ribbon bar, Live oin browser WYSIWYG site editing

Upgrade – Simplified and fixed major SNAFUs from the 2007 bsituation where site owners get to choose when they get the new features and UI

Sitting in SharePoint Joels session right now.

Here’s a cool feature I found by accident this morning in Windows 7.   It only applies if you have a multi-monitor configuration and I’m not sure if its a Vista feature or not.  Select any application and Press Shift-WindowsKey-Left Arrow or right arrow and the entire window moves from one monitor to another.  Supper easy to re-organize your overall desktop or of you monitors are different resolutions to see more or less of the application.

Its been a long time since I posted anything anywhere but a lot has changed and some developments have started me thinking that it is time to start expressing opinions about these changes.  Here are some of the things that are making me think this way.

• Windows 7 and the Vista Marketing Fiasco
  • Cool little things about Microsoft Products
• SharePoint and Office and why these are great together and what does this whole social networking thing offer to business anyway
  • Scripting
  • SharePoint implementation and the unexpected acceleration of adoption
  • Governance why is something so important so difficult?
• Google
  • Some of their recent announcements (OS and wave) What’s hype and what’s not
  • Should anyone be concerned about privacy with Google
  • Dependence on Google as  a single source provider?
• Apple Zealots and the iPhone
  • Why does everyone think that there wasn’t a mobile platform before Apple
  • Security and Viruses
  • Why Apple is great for the industry
• Cloud Distributed Computing – Why the word cloud is so appealing is beyond me and why I avoid it.
• Just cool stuff

I’m planning on writing some longer articles over the next few weeks and a few short blurbs as well.   I want to seriously start writing again and rebuild some communication skills that I haven’t exercised as much as I should recently and see what happens.

I think I’m also going to make an investment is some video equipment to do video blogging like Mike Gannotti.  With more than an hour a day in the car, there’s no reason to waste that time.

I’ll probably highlight some of the blogs I read on a regular basis as well.

This is a a tall order and I hope I’m up for it.   Let’s see what happens