OT: SWAP MY IPOD YOUR ZUNE!

[Chris Kulbaba]

Hey all... I got a little anxious around Christmas and purchased a Gen 5 80GB Ipod.



I really wanted the Zune, but couldnt get it in time. Is anyone willing to do a straight swap for a new Zune, or even used as long as its about a month old and in really good condition?



If you're interested, please email me!

 

[Timmy-The-Ute]

I got a Zune for Christmas, but I plan to keep it. Sorry

 

[Thomas Rogers]

XST, serious question: Why the Zune and not the Creative Zen Vision:M?



I bought the Zen for my 10yo son, and have been ripping DVDs in xvid format, and populating it with other free Divx and Xvid TV programs.



If you are switching primarily for video, please don't discount the importance of Xvid and Divx and the fact that the Zune doesn't support those codecs yet (but the Zen does).



TJR

 

[Chris Kulbaba]

Well, I am Microsoft Fan...



We did a long trip over the holidays and I got the ipod to not have to dig around for Cd's and stuff.



With the ipod I will give a LEGALLY registered copy of Anapod (Lets you upload and download music to/from ipod, not like iTunes that only lets you upload) this cost me $30us.



Its a heck of a deal for someone, as the ipod 80GB is more expensive than a Zune, and more space, and also that Anapod is a GREAT util for an ipod.



Hope someone is interested!

 

[Aaron Yarbough]

Try lising it on Craigslist....

 

[Ryan D]

Take that bad boy back and get a Creative Zen Vision or the M . .excellent products =)

 

[Tom Schindler]

Why not sell it for the cost of a Zune then buy the Zune?



Honestly, I am chewing at the bit for this. I want an iPod in the worst kind of way. I just can't justify the money right now. Just got a new vehicle, just got back from Las Vegas, and could be facing a lay-off in the next few months.





Tom

 

[Jake Levin]

$%^& double post

 

[Jake Levin]

Chris (XST)

How much did you pay for the 80GB Ipod? by me it's going for $350. If you're really dying to have the Zune I would seriously consider purchasing the Zune and swapping it with you. Just on a stupid side note, is the ipod white or black?

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

XST, If you knew the history of Microsoft you would NOT be a fan of them. Anyone around long enough will tell you that DRDOS was a superior product back in the late 80's, but MS took them out with sneaky, back stabbing, underhanded deals that put their inferior product out to the masses. I have a love / hate relationship with MS. I have no respect for Bill Gates and MS. KEEP your iPod.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Rodger, what exactly was that back stabbing, underhanded deal? Please explain. I've followed Microsoft for years, and don't know that story.



TJR

 

[TomT]

XST. I have an old IRock mp3 player I will trade you for your Ipod. It has a whopping 64MB of memory. I'll even throw in an extra battery.

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

I know exactly what Rodger is talking about...



MS throws their muscle around all the time. The partner with smaller companies just so they can look at their technology and they come up with it on their own. I happenned at the company I worked with as well as many others that we were partners with.



TJR...you follow them on what gets printed. Whole different story when your B2B with them.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

SeattleSportTrac says:

TJR...you follow them on what gets printed. Whole different story when your B2B with them.

I was employed full-time with IBM from '86 to '94 working on a joint product with Microsoft called OS/2. Maybe you have heard of it. I interviewed for a job with Microsoft when I left IBM in '95, but didn't want to move to the West coast. From '95 to 2001 I worked as a MSP (Microsoft Solutions Provider). I have spend countless hours each year on bulletin boards and now blogs reading the pros, cons, of Microsoft, and its past and current tactics.



I never said I was a huge fan of Microsoft, and to use today's lingo am mos def not an M$ Fanboy!



However, that little piece of folklore (the DrDos story) has escaped my following of Microsoft.



Since you and Rodger know it, do you care to share it.



Thanks,

TJR

 

[WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs]

When your a partner with them, in their back yard, it's completely different than working with them outside of Redmond let alone on the east coast, such as you did with IBM and MSP.



I worked either on or closely with marketing teams that negotiated contracts with MS on several occasions. You get a completely different perspective from this view.



DrDos Story - keep searching for data you might find it.

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

TJR, MS's claim to fame came when they made what some will say is a smart business deal with IBM, but MS came to IBM - well this excerpt will help explain...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

August 12, 1981, IBM introduces its Personal Computer, which uses Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0, plus Microsoft BASIC, COBOL, PASCAL, and other Microsoft products.

After months of maniacal hours by developers, the IBM personal computer debuts with Microsoft's Disk Operating System (MS-DOS). Other companies set out to clone this new hardware standard, negotiating with Microsoft for the rights to distribute MS-DOS (which IBM, under pressure from Bill Gates and company, has authorized). Because the clones are not strictly compatible, Microsoft creates a different MS-DOS for each machine. Newly incorporated Microsoft also rides the wave of the IBM PC with versions of BASIC, COBOL, and Pascal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What I didn't realize is how far back MS history goes.



I did a search on the history of DR-DOS (Digital Research DOS) and found this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DR-DOS Take a look at the lawsuit toward the bottom of the page.



I must say that the founders of MS are highly intelligent, shrewed business people. Their goal even early on was/is to win at all costs no matter who they step on with a slightly inferior product.

 

[Jake Levin]

Best I've found so far on the "DR-DOS" stuff

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Rodger,



Thanks.



You are right, Microsoft goes way back.



In the early '80s they sold IBM their MS-DOS operating system through a licensing agreement, an agreement largely unheard of before that time in the software industry. and retained exclusive ownership of MS-DOS and the ability to sell it to others (like Compaq). IBM was okay with that agreement, thinking that the "real money was in the hardware". Even more interesting, was that when the deal was made with IBM, Microsoft didn't even have an operating system. They made the deal THEN bought a version of QDOS from the Seattle Computer Products for a total $75K (see Wiki).



Yeah, I consider that shrewd.



I'm going to read Jlevin's DrDos article next.



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Thanks, Jlevin, I just read the article.



I alleges that Microsoft purposefully put code in a pre-release version of Windows 3.1 that would make it fault under any other DOS than MS-DOS.



Shocked, shocked I tell you!



Note that this "authenticity check" was removed from the released version of Windows 3.1.



There are dozens of technical reasons for including such code in a beta release. I'm no Microsoft apologist, I'm just saying there may have been reasons as simple as their alpha test versions only were tested under MS-DOS versions.



Anyway, I remember DrDos. It was sweet.



Ultimately, though, Microsoft one because they because a unifier. Instead of buying one package each for:



- disk operating system

- ram doubling

- disk defragmenting

- GUI (windowing)

etc, etc



They put as much of that as possible into the base operating system. The continued that approach when the era of the browser came along, and are doing it again with Anti-Virus.



Yes, that leaves the app and suite developers dead in the water, and yes, it removes competition which can stiffle innovation, and for that, it's bad.



But, what would the industry look like if the status quo was maintained, and the average PC today had to have at least a half-a-dozen different apps installed by as many vendors before it delivered the basic functionality that Windows does today? What would that software cost?





XST, get the Zune if you like it. I have nothing for, or against MSFT.



TJR

 

[Rodger Tellefson]

Tom, With that said I do know that DRDOS was fully multi-tasking in the late 80's way before MS Windows. I still need to find proof of that. And, true unix systems don't crash or have virus attacks and need anti-virus protection (etc.) software. MAC's are now running on a UNIX OS. My next computer may be a MAC.