The Killers

Mr. Gruber linked to this season's iPod killers. Or, lack thereof.

I don't think the iPod is unstoppable or will be the dominant player forever. I do, however, agree with Gruber that this batch is pretty much a lost cause. I'll give you two big reasons why.

First is clutter. Outside of the Zune, nearly every player pictured on that page has a lot going on. Even the wee Sony, uh, tube player has the Sony logo and the Walkman logo taking up space. But some of these... remind me of the stickers that come on PCs. I mean, does an MP3 player with Bluetooth need a Bluetooth logo right on its fricking face? Do I need a button whose sole function is to repeat a track? Do I need an "X OK" button? (What the hell does that mean, anyway? Cancel and OK?)

Some may argue that these buttons are necessary due to the software UI. In that case, the UI is flawed. Pure and simple.

The Zune is a unique case here: it is almost too decluttered! That's a negative thing, because if you were to look at a Zune you'd have no idea what control does what. Okay, there's a back arrow button and a play/pause button. But how do I get a menu? How do I fast forward? I guess I need to try out that wheel and hope nothing bad happens. (And this may be small but when I rotate the Zune 90 degrees, the buttons don't rotate... so now I've got a down arrow and a sideways play/pause. Petty? I don't think so.) This button/control setup is in stark contrast to the Motley Crew of MP3 Players, with buttons for everything. Both approaches, frankly, stink - but the Zune's stinks for a different reason.

Another problem is these things are horribly named - again, outside of the Zune and the Disney Mix Max (that's actually a great name). But let's get real here. StormBlue A9+ Bluetooth. Sony NW-S706. OSIM iGoGo. Creative Zen V Plus. Maxfield MAX-SIN Touch. Coby PMP4230. Not a single one is compelling. I know Sony has a history of cryptic, oddball names but if you want the tube Walkman instead of the stick Walkman, will you remember the NW-S706 versus the NW-205F? Come on now.

Creative is another close but not quite one here: Creative Zen V Plus is all right, but "V"? Ambiguous. "Plus"? What's in the V that's not in the V Plus? Why am I getting less? Also, Creative Zen Neeon 2. Neeon?

Zune is, in my limited opinion, not compelling. But I give Microsoft some credit here: they obviously looked at the design of the unit and shot for the iPod.

It's unfortunate for people who dislike the iPod - for whatever reason - that the other players out there are frustrating, confusing, and ultimately alienating. They are technology for the sake of technology and that, my friends, almost never wins.