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I must preface this by telling you upfront that I have a boatload of tangents to go on. Bear with me and enjoy the ride…

I’ve always been interested in the Apple vs Microsoft saga. It’s interesting to see the usual tables turned when it comes to the portable music player market. Apple has roughly 70% of the market, against about 3% for the Zune. It’s not unlike the browser and OS wars, which Microsoft dominates at 70% and 90% repsectively.

I kind of owned a first generation Zune in late 2006. I say “kind of” because it was given to me, and then taken back. Indian givers! Very long story there. But nonetheless, I had it for a while and was familiar with the first generation model.

Let me start by saying that I’ve always been the kind of guy to not do what everyone else is doing. I even remember as a kid when Star Wars came out in 1977 (did I just age myself there?) and all my friends were going to see it over and over… to the point that I refused to see it. I got sick of hearing about it and decided I wouldn’t allow myself to like it.

I guess I just hate hopping on the bandwagon.

Like the iPod. But read on.

Not that I’ve always been right, but I always pull for the underdogs, especially in a bandwagon atmosphere. The irony is that sometimes the underdog is one of the most powerful companies in the world.

Circa 1994. The hype about the next generation of Windows was already mind-numbing. I thought I would puke if I saw one more article about what would be called Windows 95. Everyone was on the bandwagon. I was already a Windows user, but still – the avalanche of speculation was simply too much. As an avid PC user, I wouldn’t even consider switching to a Mac at that time (or forever, for that matter – mental note for a future blog entry).

Enter IBM.

They had been marketing OS/2 as a Windows alternative. At the time I think they were still more powerful than Microsoft, so surely they could hang in the OS wars. I thought. I picked it up the new version of OS/2 (called “Warp” apparently because it ran programs so fast) and I liked it. It wasn’t quite as good as Windows 95 (which wasn’t out yet), but it was different and fresh and did everything I wanted it to do. And it was better than the current version of Windows. It was easy to get on the OS/2 bandwagon because there was so much room on there. I championed it as best I could, and other OS/2 users were pretty zealous. Not only did I like the operating system, but I thought it would benefit the PC world to have some stiff competition for Windows.

As we all know, Windows 95 came out on August 24, 1995 and most people forgot about OS/2 Warp by the 25th. So what did I know.

14 years later, the tables have turned. This time I’m pulling for Microsoft… the underdog. If anyone is going to break the iPod monopoly, who else but the kings of monopolies to do it? If you’re still not sure, ask Netscape. If you can find them.

Speaking of Netscape and web browsers, I’m still pulling for the underdog there. I use Firefox. So really, between OS/2 and Firefox, I’ve gone against Microsoft twice. Just keeping the bandwagon score straight, mind you.

But then again I’m no fan of Apple, let me just say that up front. I don’t know if it was their proprietary hardware back in the day, or how the typical smug Mac user would spew his anti-PC propaganda. Maybe I just never liked calling my computer a “Mac.” I really don’t like that name. It sounds like the name of a dog or something. “Mac” – blah. Anyway, I used a Mac for several years and yes I did have some issues with it, but I understand why people like them. It wasn’t bad at all, don’t get me wrong. I do see the appeal. So I don’t look down on Apple users or proponents, at least until they start PC bashing. I just don’t want to be an Apple user, nor do I want to go out of my way to contribute to Apple’s success.

So in late 2006, Microsoft released their first generation Zune, most likely to the scoffs of all those smug Mac users from my past. Sure, it was inferior to the iPod, but I do recall showing it to several teenagers who owned iPods, who all said it was “tight.” I liked more about it than I didn’t like.

But yeah – it wasn’t quite ready for prime time. My biggest complaint was that it was just too big and, looking back, it did lack some key features. But that size – it was the mp3 player equivalent of one of those huge late 80’s cell phones.

So Microsoft dug into those deep pockets and put some money into the next release, the second generation Zune. It is a very worthy competitor to the iPod. It has an enhanced interface, large screen, wireless syncing, touch-sensitive pad, FM radio tuner, and all the bells you’d expect from a prime time media player.

If you’re already on the iPod bandwagon, chances are you aren’t going to jump off. If you’re looking for something new, don’t want to be the next yuppy iPod user, or are trying to decide between the two, I can highly recommend the second generation Zune.

There is the Zune Marketplace, which is a worthy competitor to iTunes. You can purchase tracks one at a time, or you can subscribe to a Zune Pass, which allows you unlimited downloads for $15 a month. A caveat is that if you cancel your subscription, you will lose those downloads. But hey you know you’ll download thousands of songs and listen to the hell out of them, so you know it’s worth it. And you won’t have the RIAA knocking at your door. It’s the cost of 1 CD per month for unlimited music. It’s a good deal. And surprisingly, you’ll often find hard to find tracks that are impossible to find on P2P services such as Limewire. And it’s legit. For example, I found a song by a band I saw back in LA in the 80’s called Hellion. In fact their entire album was available.

It remains to be seen if the Zune can actually make enough of a dent in the market to survive. I’m willing to take the risk. I don’t fall for “Don’t buy a Zune because nobody has one” or “They won’t last” because I don’t care. Nothing lasts forever. Remember when DOS was the main operating system? Remember going to a music store and having to choose between LP’s and cassettes? Remember record stores for that matter? Don’t be such a bandwagon jumper that you let someone else sway you.

If you’re an Apple or iPod zealot, don’t come to me crying about how biased I am. I AM biased, because I don’t like Apple, because I hate being on the bandwagon with everyone else, and because I actually LIKE the Zune. I freely admit my bias. There are plenty of iPod and Zune apologist sites, which this is not. I don’t care if Microsoft and Apple both go down in flames. In this particular battle, I choose Microsoft and gave some of the reasons why. It’s my opinion. You’ll live.

The world is full of lemmings, so don’t be one. Look around for once. Don’t just jump on the most crowded bandwagon. There’s still room over here on the Zune bandwagon.

For now.