Is It Too Zune?


The news business isn't the place for crazy, forward-thinking pronouncements. Blogs, though, are.

So, here goes: The Zune will be the technology industry's version of the Edsel.

It may, of course, be way too early to say that, but we're already in the teeth of the holiday shopping season, and Microsoft's new player has already dropped off the Amazon map. What happened?

After a lot of searching, I finally got my hands on a Zune (which may be part of the problem .. reporters generally get test models of new gadgets quickly. Microsoft promised us one, then never sent it, and we had to scramble to find a test model). It's really not that bad. Good video, lots of music storage, even an easy to use radio station finder.

But .. and this is hard to quantify .. it's just not hip.

To find out what hip is, see the iPod. Again, it's not that easy to tell why, but iPods have hit it huge, especially with the young hip crowd. So much so, some tech-watchers say Apple had better come out with something new, or else the iPod will get stale. I've no doubt Steve Jobs has heard those warnings loud and clear.

But, back to the Zune. Yes, it's kind of clunky, and the color brown is really uninspiring. It's thicker than iPods, and feels less slick. It's funny, the Zune will actually resist scratches better than the iPod .. I'm guessing most shoppers won't notice.

The bottom line is, shoppers have spoken. Like the movie that opens to shallow box office, the Zune is getting bad reviews. The iPod, on the other hand, has been a blockbuster. Wall Street has also voted, boosting Apple stock 750 percent in the last 5 years.

Will the Zune survive? Too soon to tell. But if it's a success, it will be a great comeback.

Stay Zuned.

Capitol Coverage, Pt. 4


Alright, folks, the Democrats are here.

Hundreds and hundreds of people are now crowding into the Hyatt Ballroom here in Downtown DC...lining up at the bar, and watching the results trickle in on the big screen TVs .. cheering when it looks like a Dem is in the lead.

The band is playing, and people are getting to know each other. But the night is still very young, no politicians have stopped by the Ballroom yet, and it's all potential energy right now.

I've gotta go do the 6pm live shot .. hope your election night is going well , and that you had a chance to vote.

Capitol Coverage, Pt 3.

Hello again, this time from the Regency Ballroom at the DC Hyatt .. tonight (and into tomorrow morning), transformed into Democratic party headquarters. Of course, how much of a party depends on how the voting goes for the next, oh, two hours.

It seems like there is more fiber here than that which was created during the dot-com boom, not to mention several streets lined with satellite trucks, ready to beam live shots from crews who are here from all over the world. Next to us on the podium, NHK from Japan.

The big star everyone is waiting for is Nancy Pelosi .. she is also the reason we're here, because if she wins, and the Democrats take 15 seats in the House from the Republicans, the Bay Area will be represented by her as she takes over as the Speaker of the House.

This ballroom will, in about 4 hours or so, be the scene of a huge victory, or a crushing defeat.

Stat tuned.

Capitol Coverage, Pt. 2


Good morning, and it's election day from our nation's capitol.
It's cold outside this morning, but we've already seen some people line up to vote .. definitely dressed a lot heavier than how we do it back in California.

Here, as back home, the issues are similar, the worries over electronic voting machines are being voiced again, and the buzz is strong that today will bring either change in favor of the Democrats, or vindication for the Republicans.

We'll soon be heading over to Democratic HQ to test the equipment .. meanwhile, in the hotel lobby, some young women were talking about last night's Death Cab for Cutie concert at the DAR Constitution Hall here in DC. They say one of the band members had a t-shirt that said "vote" on it.

That's cool.

Capitol Coverage, Pt. 1

It's election eve as I write this, having just landed at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC. I'm a huge fan of DC, but this isn't a sightseeing trip .. for the next few days we're all about covering the election from a National standpoint.

As you've already heard, this is potentially a very big mid-term election. For Democrats, it could be a a chance to shift power, and take over the House. If that happens, Nancy Pelosi, a Bay Area Democrat, would become the first female Speaker of the House. For Republicans, the goal is to keep the House & Senate, making the next two years smoother for President Bush.

Here in DC, it's cloudy, but the weather looks like it'll hold up for traveling around town. Given that it's not a Presidential election, there's still a lot of buzz around town, and we're going to try & tap into it.

Any requests?

Feel free to let me know, right here.

Steve Jobs & Dave Grohl

This might seem like a stretch, but watching the Foo Fighters the other night, while simultaneously see dozens of people listening to their iPods, got me thinking: If you want the biggest forces in both technology and music over the last 15 years or so, these are the two people you're likely to think of: Steve Jobs and Dave Grohl.

Here's why: For technology, you've got the early Apple, and the Macintosh, and 1/2 of the people who brought it to you is, of course, Steve Jobs. Steve Wozniak made a great name for himself, but then faded away to a life of philanthropy, out of the spotlight.

For rock fans, you of course remember "Nevermind," a classic album of our time. There were three members of Nirvana back then, and while Kurt Cobain's absence is tragic, think about how the music world changed, first because of Nirvana, then because of how Grohl basically manhandled the music charts on his own.

Act two for both men is, arguably, even bigger than act one. Jobs re-claims Apple on his own, and unleashed the iPod on the public, creating a cultural icon, while making Apple employees & investors rich in the process.

For Dave Grohl, the Foo Fighters are all over the radio, all over big album sales, and huge on the road. There are days when a radio station could play Nirvana, followed by the Foo Fighters, and maybe a Queens of the Stone Age song thrown in for good measure. All Grohl, all the time.

It's an easy thesis to disagree with...feel free to let mw know how off-base I am. But if you think about it, the "what if" questions are all over these guys: What if Jobs stayed away from Apple? What if Cobain stayed alive? But, most importantly, what are these two men going to come up with next?