Chapter 1. Meet the Zune

The Zune is Microsoft’s carefully constructed response to Apple’s iPod devices, which dominate the market. In fact, some research shows that Apple controls more than 75 percent of the entire digital media player market, and its iTunes Store is definitely the big daddy when it comes to selling music online, with more than a billion (that’s 1,000,000,000) songs sold and counting.

The Zune comes in with many of the same features as the 30 GB iPod. That is:

  • It has a color screen.

  • It holds 30 GB of data.

  • It has an input device on the front. (The iPod has a scroll wheel, and the Zune has buttons that look like a wheel.)

  • It connects to a PC via a USB port.

  • It can play music and video as well as display pictures.

  • It can connect to an ...

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