Today is the Day!!

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The day we've all been working towards is finally here. The Zune v2 hits store shelves today, and it has been a rollicking ride. I am headed to the Launch Party in the Bear Creek campus right now, but I'd like to take a moment to congratulate (and thank) everyone who was a part of this monumental release by the team. All you dogfooders, coders, forward thinkers, designers, et al pat yourself on the back.

What are the cool features of this release?
- Wifi Sync
- Wifi Send
- Zune Originals
- Podcast Support
- Excellent Radio Quality
- ...

Finally, the consumer can choose a product made by a team that actually "Thinks Different". I can hear the photocopiers in Cupertino whirring all the way up here in Redmond!

The Sad Truth - I am tethered to Email and Work

Work Email is omni-accessible - on my Phone, in my Office, over the Web, and at home. The sorry realization is that despite all my efforts to the contrary, work email has percolated into my very being. There is no other explanation for the cravings I experienced to read my email the first few days I made it back home. Come to think of it, this was an inevitable eventuality - I didn't have an Internet connection at home for many years, and while everyone around me was buying into the smart phone frenzy, I resisted and used the simple T-610 for as long as it was feasible. Then, I caved...

Back to the present - my steely resolve has mostly prevented me from giving in to the urge to navigate past http://microsoft.koolaid.here/. It helped that I was in Bangalore for 3 out of the first 4 days I was back. The toughest phase is past me, and if I do check email now, it's on my terms!

This brings me to the oft discussed and hereto unresolved issue of work-life balance. What checks and balances can I put in place so that work does not travel with me everywhere I go? To those that know me well, it would come as no surprise that Sachin's wedding was just a front for my trip to India. I was close to my breaking point last month with the stress of my new job; the true purpose of this trip is to recharge my batteries and get some sleep. I haven't had much success with sleeping yet, but just being away from Redmond and the rat race that is intricately woven into its fabric has been detoxifying.

Zune 2007

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The fruits of all my labor since March 2007can finally be shared with the rest of the world. Here's the new Zune product line:



In particular, here are the features I worked on:
- Retail Mode
- Sharing and Community
> Podcasts can also be shared via WiFi.

The new line launches in November, and if you are in the market for an mp3 player, you finally have a real alternative to the Apple juggernaut.

Is Apple the new Microsoft?

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The tide is turning in the technology industry. Microsoft, the most feared and revered company of the 1990s, no longer inspires the awe it once did. Competitor offerings have trounced Microsoft in select vertical markets. Google is the king of the web services space, and Apple has established itself the top dog in the world of digital media. Hitherto the darling of the press, and considered by many to be a true innovator of consumer products, Apple is suddenly in the hot seat. The dominance of iTunes, the iPod, and the mixed message sent by the pricing of the iPhone have left a bitter taste in the mouth of consumers, analysts and the press alike.

Regardless of how you dice it, the American populace has a thing for the underdog. I sense a brewing, and swelling discontentment with the status quo that could lead to a groundswell of support for Apple's competition. The biggest beneficiary of the move away from Apple would be the Zune; if positioned correctly, the Zune can ride the changing tide, expose a few chinks in Apple's armor, and challenge Apple's hegemony.

Apple not only "bundles" iTunes with multiple products, it forces you to use it. At least with Internet Explorer, you could always just download a competitor and ignore IE.

Not fair, you might say. Any hardware device that syncs data with a PC as part of its core functionality has software to facilitate that syncing. True enough. But operating systems have browsers as part of core functionality, too. Doesn't Mac OS X come with Safari? Doesn't the iPhone?

And "bundling" works. Steve Jobs bragged this week that Apple has distributed 600 million copies of iTunes to date. The overwhelming majority of those copies were iTunes for Windows. And iTunes for Windows' popularity isn't driven by software product quality. ITunes is the slowest, clunkiest, most nonintuitive application on my system. But I need it because I love my iPod.

Apple's reputation of being innovator par excellence is slowly getting tainted too. As PC World's Mike Elgan eloquently states:

Apple the copycat

Ten years ago, Microsoft haters complained that Windows followed the Mac OS to market as a graphical user interface, copying the Mac's features such as folders, trash cans, resizable windows and other elements. That complaint was repeated with each new version of Windows -- Apple was the innovator in the operating system space, and got there first with a host of key features. Microsoft just came along later, duplicated features that Apple pioneered, and reaped the benefit because of its monopoly power.

But who's innovating now? The LG KE850 was winning awards for its full-screen, touch-screen, on-screen keyboard before Jobs even announced the iPhone.

The best thing about the iPhone and iPod Touch -- the warm-and-fuzzy multitouch UI with gestures -- wasn't new, either. Various labs have been demonstrating similar UIs for more than a decade, and even Microsoft demonstrated a fully realized 3G UI in May, well before Apple shipped the iPhone. Microsoft will ship its tabletop UI, called Microsoft Surface, in November, and Apple will likely enter this space with a 3G UI months or years after Microsoft does.

And Wi-Fi in a media player? Ha! Microsoft's funky Zune had that almost a year before Apple did and SanDisk's Sansa Connect with Wi-Fi was released last June. Apple even stole the name for its iPod Touch product, according to HTC, which sells a touch-screen smart phone called the HTC Touch.

Apple is in the eye of a press storm, and as an investor, this could bode well for the short term. You don't have to be psychic to see a plethora of class action lawsuits against the company in the future. Only a study of past events would make you think that an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple is looming over the horizon.

A consumer walks into a local retail outlet to buy a Christmas present for dad. The Apple iPod "section" of the store dwarfs the section where all the also-ran players are displayed. IPod is clearly the trusted standard. The consumer buys a shiny new "Fatty" iPod nano with video.

Dad opens the present and is excited. He follows the directions, installs iTunes and immediately splurges on a few dozen songs at the iTunes store. He loves it, and is an instant convert to portable digital music.

The only downside is that he works out every day at the gym, where cardio machines face TVs that broadcast sound over FM radio. Six months later, when his iPod is stolen, he goes to buy another player -- this time, he hopes, with an FM radio in it. Several competitors offer this feature, but not iPods. He's about to choose a new player with an FM radio when it hits him: None of his files -- now totaling 300 songs and 50 movies -- will play on the new player. He bought and paid for all this content, but it only works with iPods and iTunes.

Apple has an iPod customer for life. Microsoft never had this kind of monopoly power.

Let's see how this plays out...

My 1st Demo

For the first time in my Microsoft career, I picked up a mic and addressed a gathering of about a 100 people. Though the demo lasted only a couple of minutes, but it was plain exhilarating to talk about my work in front an audience that agreed with me, commiserated with me when things seemed to go awry, and clapped when I was done. I was given 12 hour notice that I was to present my feature. I spent six of those hour sleeping, and the rest of the time preparing my demo device and a backup, writing up the text of what I was going to say, and practicing till I had it down pat.

Twenty minutes before the presentations were to start, I recited my spiel to an audience of two who recommended some changes, which totally threw a spanner in my works. Not to worry I told myself; Billg's opening speech, which would last at least 1/2 an hour would buy me enough time to rehearse the abridged spiel. Bill spoke for like 45 minutes, me being the last one whose question he answered, and I finally spoke about my feature at 12:30, an hour and a half after the proceedings had begun. The coolest one minute of my Microsoft life; and by the way, my demo worked flawlessly...

How To - Zune And Podcasts

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So many folks have complained about the lack of Podcast support in the Zune that I decided to provide these instructions to the Blogosphere.

How Do I Manage Podcast Content in Zune?

Podcasts are substantially similar to other downloadable content available on the Internet, except that podcasts are refreshed periodically (a weekly radio show, a song of the day, and so on).

Finding, Downloading, and Storing Podcasts

Podcast content is automatically downloaded to your PC by a podcast application you have installed on your PC. If you are new to podcasting, there are several popular podcast applications on the Web. To find one, simply search the Web for "receive podcasts" and you will find several to choose from.

Podcast applications typically store downloaded podcasts in a default Windows folder (for instance, C:\Podcasts). Many also allow you to change the storage directory to the folder of your choice.

Just like with other audio content, podcast content must be stored in a folder monitored by Zune if you want to automatically import it to the Zune library (see "How Do I Import Content to Zune Software?").

If the content is downloaded to a different folder:

• Direct the podcast content to a monitored folder in the podcast application.
• Direct the Zune software to monitor the default folder selected by the podcast application.

To find out which folder the podcast application downloads content to, or to direct the podcast application to download to a folder monitored by Zune, refer to the documentation or support offered by the podcast application provider. To find content you’ve directed to a folder monitored by Zune, follow the instructions in the previous section, "How Do I Import Content to Zune Software?"

Synchronizing Podcast Content to Zune

Once podcast content is downloaded into a folder monitored by Zune, the synchronization process is automatic if you’ve chosen to sync audio content automatically. To learn more about how to sync audio content to your Zune device, see the previous section, "How Do I Sync Content to Zune Devices?"

Enjoy your Zune!

Zune Job?

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Interested in working on the Zune team? We are looking for individuals passionate about the music business, about creating an appealing device that has the potential to touch the lives of millions in the future. Every successful product started off as a simple idea, a singular vision, and had a humble beginning before it exploded into the mainstream. I know that the Zune is on that path; if you share my belief and have the requisite skills to be a member of the team, send your resume my way. Embedded in the pages emanating from this blog is my email address. Find it, email the resume and you've cleared the 1st hurdle. Where we go from there is ...

The Zune Chronicles - Chapter 1

Every weekend this past month is spent in a very similar fashion. I can't seem to get myself out of bed so I can eke out a few more minutes of sleep. The mental exhaustion overpowers the desire to do anything else; my eyes usually sore from having stared at the computer screen for hours on end. I wish it were physical exhaustion - I sparingly go to the gym during the week; the lack of a car means I rarely workout over the weekend.

When I eventually wean myself out from under the sheets, it takes me a few minutes to get out of my discombobulated state. The rigors of the week gone by are only partially behind me and it's only a matter of time before I am completely rejuvenated. A long shower followed by a warm meal and it's time to go back to office again. This time, it's to tie up some loose ends, catch up on personal email and spin some tunes on the fantastic DJ console in the atrium.

Working on the Zune has been exhilarating, strenuous, demanding and viscerally stimulating, all at the same time. The magical aah I experienced when I saw my feature finally work is hard to describe (here's what the console said - 1 Test SUCCEEDED). I had made a contribution to the release, a change that might seem small and inconsequential to the naked eye but one that heralds my passage into a new role. A role of creator and designer of future features, one that hopefully lends me the opportunity to better A customer's experience. Oh the possibilities...