I was an early Zune enthusiast.  Like most Microsoft customers, I thought it was a decent buy and bought the promise of the platform as well.  The platform not only included a player with WiFi capability and a good video display, but the Zune Marketplace allowed flexible purchase of songs or albums, as well as a Zune Pass subscription service.  I realized that Microsoft would soon add commonsense content such as podcasts and videos, and eventually wirelessly connect Zunes to computers for syncing instead of exclusively connecting to other Zunes to virally market music.

I got the Zune Pass so I could check out music in genres I wouldn't normally buy.  It was great to see a lot of contemporary music available.  For example, I got Daughtry's album through subscription.

Now the Zune has been released with upgraded hardware and flash players.  There is some support for writing games for the platform.  Things seem to be improving at Microsoft's usual glacial pace.  If I had Microsoft's ear, there are certainly twenty or thirty missed major opportunities or blown features I'd have to ask them about.  Like, why don't you offer physical media in your store?  Why the puny content reviews?  Why can't we have usable podcast support?  How about easy ties to a major free video Internet service, maybe even one of the many Microsoft video properties?

The frustrating glacial improvements in Zune may soon be a few bright spots in the quagmire that Zune can become.  The Zune Titanic may be headed for a glacier that will certainly ruin our day.  There are things that have already ruined my expectations for the platform.

I had some free time the other day, and thought I would get some "interesting" music from the Zune Marketplace on my pass.  With "over 3 million songs" in the catalog, these things might turn up.  I actually found one of the albums: Kraftwerk's Autobahn.  This obscure album somehow managed to get the only popular track blacklisted from the Zune Pass.  I would have to pay more money to download the relatively popular track from the album while the rest of the album was available on the Pass.  I checked early albums of the Doors, the Stones, other artists.  Apparently, Microsoft has decided that if a track ever had more than a handful of listeners on the radio, or sold some albums, it would be much too valuable for those scruffy Zune Pass subscribers.  Same thing for new releases from slightly-known artists.

At this point I am idly wondering if the Zune Pass still covers "over a million" tracks.  Is it possible that Microsoft should update that effusive marketing hype?  My survey of the Zune marketplace showed about 1% coverage of tracks (and I had to really look for those) which would translate to about 30,000 tracks.  Somehow the real figures just wouldn't sound the same.

More to the point, I am actively wondering if it is time to cut my losses.  Sure, I canceled my Zune Pass.  But there is so much more than that.  I'm not interested in throwing money at the Zune Marketplace for videos that I can't play on Media Center.  I'm not interested in throwing money at the Zune Marketplace for overpriced music in MP3 format.  Not to mention that it is difficult to browse the catalog, which doesn't even offer sound clips.

What happens when some wonk at Microsoft decides to monkey with the "user experience" again?  Anything and everything on my little Zune can be changed, updated, deleted, or hidden.  I'd like to be excited about using the device to enjoy music, videos, and podcasts.  I'd like to think it will just get better over time as enthusiastic Zune people at Microsoft put their best into it.  But the fact is that Zune Pass sucks and the stupid wireless sync doesn't even connect.  With any luck, Microsoft will continue to license WMA to some hungry and capable music/video player manufacturers.  Especially the next player I purchase.

-- Walter Lounsbery, 6-30-2008

I subscribe to a lot of blogs and read quite a few magazines.  Every one has one or more stories on Bill Gates.  It is quite possible that whoever runs the Great PC Conspiracy (you know who you are!) will block the blogs of anyone that doesn't give proper tribute to Bill Gates on the occasion of his semi-retirement from Microsoft.  I feel obligated to throw in my two cents so that Google will register my compliance with the demands of the GPCC.

Bill and I go way back.  Way back.  In fact, we were born less than a month apart.  Things kind of diverged from there.  I got a Master's at college, he took a leave of absence.  I resolved to retire at age 35 (when I was 25), he beat me to that.  I've seen Bill talk at several Microsoft events.  I can honestly say that he is a better speaker than I am, mainly due to the enormous projection screens, rock music introductions, and those little people with product demos that break up the monotony.

Can I get back to writing my regular blog stuff now?

-- Walter Lounsbery, 6-28-3008

Not long after I joined the local Experimental Aircraft Association chapter, Knoxville Chapter 17, the President asked me to fly our Challenger II to the chapter meeting and talk about Light Sport Aircraft and Challengers.  I was scheduled for our meeting on June 7.  Although I really wanted to give the presentation, I have to admit that it was the most gut-wrenching anxious speech I've ever done.  It's tough to identify precisely why it bothered me so much, for weeks ahead of the meeting.  Years ago, I ran a club that eventually grew to a membership of over 500.  We met twice a month, most meetings had attendence of about 200 people.  I conducted almost every meeting for four years.  None of those meetings gave me a hard time like this one.  Certainly I have a lot of respect for the fellow members of the EAA chapter.  I would hate to bore them with my simple experiences.  I worried that the weather would not cooperate, or the engine wouldn't start, and even what to talk about.

As it turned out, the weather and the airplane allowed me to fly the Challenger down to SkyRanch airport for the meeting.  As I entered the pattern, I saw another aircraft ahead of me.  It turned out to be an Evektor SportStar, and the pilot was an EAA enthusiast that was just passing through.  Several chapter members convinced him to stay for the meeting.  The great part about that, from a meeting standpoint, he also agreed to tell us about his SportStar Light Sport Aircraft (and Light Sport was the topic of the day) and to show the chapter his aircraft.  So we got a bonus presentation and a good look at Sport Aircraft from the inexpensive, experimental type of aircraft (Challenger II) to the higher-priced production aircraft (the SportStar).

Although I didn't use PowerPoint in the presentation, I've made the speech outlines available on SkyDrive.  I think the most interesting point I made about the Challenger is that it is basically a traditional J-3 Cub, only built ultralight style.  It is a real airplane with unique characteristics, but performance like a classic aircraft.  Check out the numbers in my slides!  I didn't get much time to talk about LSA, so I didn't get to detail my main point for LSA (Light Sport Aviation).  That point was: LSA is not Light Sport Aircraft or Sport Pilot Certification, it is a whole new ecosystem of aircraft regulation, piloting, maintenance, and aircraft manufacturing.  Even the Experimental Light Sport Aircraft are not nearly the same as traditional amateur built aircraft that EAA members are used to.

The presentaion on the SportStar was very good, and really illuminated how it is a superior two-place aircraft that takes great advantage of the latest in engines, structural construction, and avionics.  I wish I had been able to get the guided tour of the aircraft, but of course I was busy answering questions about my Challenger II.

Strangely, some of my apprehensions about the meeting happened after it was just about over.  Somebody asked me to take the Challenger up for a flyby, so I got in and the engine wouldn't start.  In fact, the battery was low so it only cranked for a total of perhaps two minutes before it wouldn't crank any more.  I had to get a car ride home from Lisa.  Then we went out to the Oliver Springs airport to pick up my truck.  Then I got a battery charger and extension cord and took it to SkyRanch to charge the Challenger II battery.  Then I went home.  A few hours later, we hear the rumbling of thunder and a quick check of the radar reveals a huge hailstorm just West of SkyRanch.  I jumped in the truck, went to SkyRanch, disconnected the charger, jumped in the plane, started the engine, and took off for Oliver Springs Airport.  Oliver Springs Airport was outside the North edge of the storm, so I was able to skirt the rain and land without problem.  Then Lisa came out to SkyRanch to give me a ride home.

The next day, Lisa and I went to Oliver Springs and flew the plane down to SkyRanch.  I dropped her off and she drove my truck back home.  I flew back to Oliver Springs and drove her SUV home, ending the mighty shuffle of cars and aircraft caused by a low aircraft battery.  Thanks to this experience, I can now fly or drive to SkyRanch blindfolded, in clear weather or storms.  Believe it or not, I was so relieved about delivering the presentation that the post-meeting catastrophe just didn't bother me at all.

Although the current economy has messed up the Light Sport Aircraft market along with many other things, it is definitely here to stay.  I am looking forward to hearing more about building aircraft and dealing with Light Sport in future EAA meetings.  If you are looking for a place to start participating in aviation, check out your local EAA chapter.  That is a great place to start.  Who knows, you might be persuaded to talk at your local Chapter meeting in the near future!

-- Walter Lounsbery, 6-13-2008

As I was preparing to write a couple of posts for my blog on Microsoft Spaces, I went to that blog site to see how things were going.  Things are not going very well.  For some reason, my blog page has the uncanny ability to stop Internet Explorer cold.  Won't even scroll the page, and I can't shut down the browser without resorting to the Task Manager.  The odd thing: I only get this behavior on my laptop, which runs Vista Home Premium.  My workstation, running Vista Ultimate, does not have lockup with the browser when viewing my blog page on Spaces.

While checking my blog on my workstation, because that's the only place I could, I ran across a Microsoft Spaces bug.  Somebody had left from comment spam on my blog, so I played around until I found out how to delete the crap.  But then Spaces didn't actually do anything and thus the crap remains.

I think somewhere in the many revisions of Spaces, they forgot to make sure the ordinary things are still working.

-- Walter Lounsbery, 6-9-2008