What’s wrong with the Zune? To me, there’s nothing wrong with the Zune: it sells fairly well and customer feedbacks are positive.

However, I’ve been reading many articles and blogposts saying the Zune is a crappy product devised by a company that sucks at launching products. Namely, Microsoft.

True, Apple Inc. does a fantastic job at teasing consumers and Steve Jobs is an amazing speaker. True, Google masters viral product growth plans (need referees to join Gmail; there used to be a 3-month waiting line to get a Google Analytics account; etc. – and these 2 products are great). True, Microsoft isn’t so ’sexy’ a brand anymore after all. But who cares apart from New York yuppies? Microsoft’s genius has been in implementing its vision in an extremely consistent and yet ambitious way, building an ecosystem of top-tier companies only, and knowing what it takes to empower unknown innovations into worldwide technology standards.

When it comes to winning, there’s no such company as Microsoft.

Here’s a saying I love by Mahatma Gandi: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.

Take a look at Microsoft’s history: MS Dos, MS Excel (vs. Lotus 1-2-3), Windows NT, the XBox (which has conquered a 40% market share!), and soon, the Zune.

Time will tell if I’m correct or wrong.

Meanwhile, stay zuned.

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Blogging is about sharing. I spend, nope, invest time blogging everyday. Which means I try more or less every single day (& not always achieve, I acknowledge this) to come up with an interesting analysis or something to say that I believe is somewhat original. And when I don’t have the time or will to write, I browse YouTube, MétaCafé or DailyMotion in search for a funny, tech-related video. On the same side as me stand all active readers and semi active readers (readers who left at least one comment; thank you, and I mean thank you). These are frequently people I don’t even know (some are also friends), who with I feel honored to share a common passion, and who don’t hesitate to leave a value-creating comment whenever they feel they have something to correct / add / clarify / challenge / answer / offer / say / pretend / claim / bash. On my side also stand other bloggers. They read my blog, I read their blog. Commenting is rather sporadical, but we know we scan each others in quest for fun or learning. Bloggers watching each other also helps knowing each other better: conversation topics come quicker during real life meetings, and you know who with you’ll get along well in a wink.

Unfortunately (but you’ll help me change this ), there’s also an other side to the fence. People who don’t blog (and I respect that, blogging is an addictive pain in the ass that cannot match all personalities), and don’t feel like sharing although they would’ve hell a lot things to say. These people read blogs but never left a comment, are glad to take but unwilling to give back. I believe things could be a lot better. I know I know some of you. I’m often told “Hey Jeremy, you know what? I’m a big fan of your blog, I read it everyday”. My answer often is: “then why don’t you start a conversation, why don’t you leave comments?” I’m sure you would have a lot to bring, a lot! I’m a rather unknown blogger, not a rock star, & I don’t blog for fame or traffic or money or to be read by people who would think “hey, smart guy!” (yep, you would definitely be overestimating the depth of my thoughts) or say “hey, cool idea, I should come over here more often to take away more from this blog”. I feel honoured to have you onbard, but my motivation to blog and keep blogging is somewhat not correlated with your interests. And there should be a way to align our interests (we do have common interests or you wouldn’t read Tech IT Easy at all).

I see blogging as a learning experience, as everything I undertake in life. I share, you share. We share, together. If I say something dumb, it means I think dumb and I could get better through being challenged and corrected as in the comments after I hacked my first “Hello World” on Ruby on Rails showing I didn’t quite get it. I’m here to be challenged and learn by doing things. I don’t blog to be judged or scanned. I blog to exchange with/ discuss / argue with / meet people who with I can share and from who I can learn.

I see blogging as a sharing tool, not as a shop window. I’m not selling any product or expertise and don’t plan to whatsoever. For those too shy to leave a comment, I’m available to discuss any topic through Skype, MSN Messenger, e-mails and over coffee. Let’s make of this blog a place where you’ll give as much as you take. I’m sure we’re not even using 10% of what blogging may offer in terms of social interactions so I encourage you to participate in this amazing multilateral sharing adventure.

For those sitting on the fence, your call. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision when working on changing rather passive habits into more people-oriented ones. Thank you in advance.

Sorry for publishing such a post, but I really mean what I’ve written here. My gift: here’s one of Paco de Lucia, John McLaughlin and Al di Meola’s best pieces, Mediterranean Sundance.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEZrB_FDw4c]

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