Today, I was perusing the web and wound up, as usual, on Digg. One of the top dugg stories was about American ISPs throttling internet access. You can read the full article here. In it, Brian Stelter of the New York Times lists several examples of services that would be most hurt. Smaller web-based services that consume a lot of bandwidth would shut down shortly after such a service would be introduced. Among these would be popular internet video sites such as Revision3, Viddler, and DailyMotion, which as of this writing are not owned by multibillion dollar companies such as the ever popular YouTube and Revision3 competitor CNET TV (soon to be owned by CBS).But this plan will eventually bring down the behemoths of the web, most notably Google and Microsoft.
Google
Google, with its vast financial savings would be fine at the start, with the ability to suffer losses longer than the smaller companies. But these smaller companies depend on Google's AdSense programs to generate revenue. Google also makes money with AdSense, and it seems feasible that its primary revenue source will quickly dry up. Google's search engine likely won't take a hit, since it is low bandwidth, but as with every company, lost revenue equals cutbacks in both staff and services. High maintenance Google offerings would quickly be shuttered, probably beginning with services such as Google Maps, Google Docs, and Google Reader, as those likely do not create any revenue due to the lack of ads on the services. It is also possible, however, that Google could evolve and put ads on those services, but without their ad revenue, they would not be the same Google that the web community has come to know and love.
Microsoft
Microsoft, however, needs to be concerned the most. They are now in three major playing fields- portable media with the Zune, games with the XBOX consoles, and operating systems with Windows. The Zune is finally catching on, and Microsoft has finally begun a full-scale assault with ads promoting both the Zune and Zune Marketplace. While Marketplace isn't the scale of Apple's competing iTunes (Apple, you best be concerned too), those video and music files are enormous. Using a Mininova torrent for reference, the average Daily Show (about twenty one minutes) is 215 MB. I frequently download the free "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" show, which is twice the length of a Daily Show episode. In addition to Countdown, I also have NBC Nightly News in the podcast section. Downloading only these two shows for an average of 23 days a month comes out to about 17 GB a month. This is only for two shows. The Marketplace is also very prominent on the XBOX 360. The 360 Marketplace is very similar to its Zune counterpart, but the files are much bigger. It has, along with TV shows, feature-length films. Feature length films on Mininova are about 700MB each. The recently posted Battlefield: Bad Company demo alone was 1.2 GB. With bandwidth caps, consumers will not download movies, instead opting to go rent the DVD at Blockbuster, which is really a reversal of technological progress.
Going past the Marketplace, the big purpose for the 360 is online gaming. The Wii's online is sparse, and the PS3s has yet to come to shape, but it is widely considered that the 360 is the best multiplayer console. Of course, to have multiplayer, the 360 depends on the Internet to connect to servers. The amount of bandwidth used varies (hosting or not, game playing, game mode, opponents, etc.), but it can range from 10MB per hour to 260MB per hour. PER HOUR! Using a conservative figure of two hours per day for twenty four days a month, that's another 13 GB. Now, only downloading two podcasts and playing my XBOX, I am near the first level of the proposed cap: 30GB.
Current operating systems are still installed from CDs and are stored exclusively on the users hard drive. It's inevitable that Microsoft's OS will become dependent on the web for nearly everything. But just looking at today, Windows Update ( as well as the update tools on Linux and OSX) uses quite a bit of bandwidth. SP1 to Vista, for example, is 420MB. This does not count the other updates to the OS that are already released. Overall, these are small, but when users are being crunched for bandwidth, they may end up using Linux, which will allow them to purchase more bandwidth. It is critical for Microsoft to fight against bandwidth caps.

Google and Microsoft are two companies that are bitterly fighting against each other. But they both rely on the internet to fund their core businesses. Divided, they hardly stand a chance against AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon. But together, they can stand up to them. They must. Although the web survived the stifling of AOL in the 90s, it will not survive another.

Labels: ATT, cnet, Comcast, Digg, google, Internet, microsoft, New York Times, Time Warner, Verizon

So today, after much waiting, my Zune 2 arrived. I had sold the Zen for a good share ($150) on eBay, and then shopped around for a good deal on the Zune. It took a few days, but once I looked through my wallet and found a Xbox Live Diamond Card as well as a few Target gift cards that I had gotten for my birthday, it seemed obvious that I would be getting it from Target. The sale was 10% off anything at Target.com. That link is at xboxlivediamond.com, but you have to get the card. The card is no longer free, but I got it while it was still free. Anyways, that dropped the $249 Zune to $224. But when you add sales tax (an APPALINGLY high percent) and shipping (way expensive for the speed), it negates the 10%, bringing the total to a nice $249 point, at which I applied the giftcards and voila. It came via UPS in a suprisingly small box. I opened the box, and here's what was inside.

OMG! MY ZUNE!Here's the box. It's nearly the same box as the iPod except with Zune all over it.

Nice cosmetic touch to waste more trees to put the headphones and cable into another box.

That there is the Zune right before unwrapping its protective shield and welcoming it into the world.
A still pristine Zune, before it gets initiated into a world of scratchy keys and headphones in pockets.

That's the entire contents-from left to right directly above:
Bottom of box, Zune holder, Zune, User Guide, Start Guide, Sync Cable, Premium Headphones, replacement tips, and top of box. Not included are the boxes that held the sync cable and headphones.

The Zune 2 in relation to my BlackJack II, the Creative Zen Vision:W and a TI-84+ Silver. It's smaller and thinner than the ZV:W and TI, but is nearly the same thickness as the BJII. The PSP is just about the same as the TI, but I couldn't find it for the pic.

There's the Sizeasy for you web 2.0 types.

All over the box, it warns to go to Zune.net/setup before I plug it in, so i obligingly do. It's a good website. But since I was eagerly anticipating the Zune, the software is already installed and nicely organized with my podcasts already downloaded. The review of the software will come in a later post.
My initial impressions, just a day after getting it, are very positive overall. It seems like just an upgrade from my Zen Vision:M, but a needed one. The interface is gorgeous, but a bit different that the superb Creative UI. Right now the thing that bugs me most is the inability to add music to the currently playing tracks. Does anyone know how to do this without clearing the quick list every time? I also spent all last night watching Keith Olbermann on the device (c/o Countdown on Zune Marketplace for free) and couldn't get a time left counter without interrupting playback. Is there a way to get that? Also, does anyone know of a good free converter for the Zune? I don't know the exact specs for Any Video Converter.
Expect a full review of both the Zune and the software coming soon!

Labels: microsoft, unboxing, zune, zune 2, zune marketplace, zune unboxing