We call up J Allard today to get him to spill the rest of the Zune enchillada . Like our obsession withSteve Jobs , cousin gaming siteKotakucan’t stop consider about Allard . Brian Ashcraft wanted us to ask him query like , “ If Microsoft was a World of Warcraft guild , what form would you be ? ” We ’re not fanboys , but have to admit , you have to be a pretty languid rad guy to haveeboydo pixel art of you .
But we only had a few moment , and decided to crush some more Zune information out of him , include well as the pick quote we ’ve put in the newspaper headline . ( We ’re no paper jerks , so I ’ll tell you he did n’t mean it in a bad elbow room . ) Man , is that guy skilful at doing the hypnotic atomic number 59 speak . The uncrackable egg ! Here ’s the transcript , minus the fluff :
Giz : Why should iPod users interchange to a Zune ?
J Allard : The wrong consumer to get going with is …
( Jump ! )
the one who say “ You ’ll take my ipod from my cold clammy hands . ”
People love their societal web , though . If they ’re over e-mail , IM , or on the vane , it ’s mix into their spirit . We want to convey that to portable music . Digital music is far front done . Ipod is the Pong of digital music . Let ’s take it to the next story . And link up is what its all about .
The other thing is video . It ’s a much more inclusive part of masses ’s life . specially tail end video [ mention to Wired and Chris Anderson’sLong Tail theories ] . How do we make for that to pockets ? Oh yes : People state we desire a openhanded screen [ than the ipod ] .
Giz : OK , if I ’m using a Zune , am I really going to troll Wifi for other people ’s music ? What is that die to do for battery life ?
J Allard : It ’s a sturdy problem , and we ’re not done with it yet . What we have is different business leader modal value . Oversimplifying , we have a pharos modality that says “ I ’m around . ” The next level that use more power tell “ hey , I want to do something , and plowshare , whether that ’s euphony , photograph . ”
Giz : I see you ’re aSnowcrashfan . You ’re apparently inspired by Sci Fi . Any other concepts from author Neal Stephenson ’s books that you ’d care to see implemented at any point in zune ?
J Allard : Themetaverseis far from being work up . The chance for machine-accessible communities in games , music has a farsighted elbow room to go .
Sure , raw Zune gadget will come . They ’ll be fun , they ’ll be exciting . But like Xbox , we ’re buy the farm to keep adding features to the core idea . We ’re just scrape the airfoil with the WiFi and peer - to - equal connectivity . Put WiFi in , set off with one or two scenarios that users will realize . A few times a year , we ’ll update the microcode , and allow consumers do new and exciting thing .
Giz : You have a track record for Cool at Microsoft . And the Kotaku guys , they much stalk you . So , featherbed us with some fantasies . Suppose you ’re in charge of the fellowship . What would you do differently .
J Allard : I would n’t change much . There are already bright , passionate people at Microsoft who understand digital music , and games , and who are old-hat of seeing complacency … perchance I ’d rent a bodyguard . The Kotaku stalking thing is kind of creepy .
J Allardis a magnanimous shot at Microsoft , with the prescribed title of “ Corporate Vice President and Chief XNA Architect . ” To us , he ’s the bozo that wake up up Microsoft to thing like , um , the net . And the man who convinced Billy G. to go ahead with the Xbox . Here ’s a great profile of him , fromWired .
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