"Thumbs down" - Who Cares?

There's been so much talk about an analyst's review of the new Microsoft Zune MP3 Player that it's been driving me mad!

Shaw Wu wrote in American Technology Research that the Zune was "underwhelming" and that "another classic case of overpromising and underdelivering". His note to investors further commented "had hinted of an all-new design from the ground up, but from our analysis, it appears that the Zune is essentially a repackaged Toshiba Gigabeat that has seen limited success."

This review comes from a brief inclusion in the FCC documentation that summarises some preliminary information and some grainy images. My own opinion is that these people should reserve judgment and try and prejudice the opinion of others unless they've got any more information than the rest of us.

Microsoft won't be so stupid to release a copy of another PMP. We're talking about a company that has dominated the software world. They'll take a device and radically improve it. They're idea guys, they'll say right, the market what's this - make sure the hardware and software do it.

For me, Wu's comments are as naive as they are premature.

There are some out there that have latched on to Wu's comments and reported in their blogs without actually thinking for themselves. You'll see many posts like "Is Zune doomed from the start?" I think there's a prevelant case of "oh I see there's a news article about the Zune, I better post something", without actually sitting down and reviewing the content of the articles or making their own minds up!