I woke up one day last week and decided to join the social. That's right - the marketing from the billboard I see each and every morning, combined with the desire to see first-hand how we are competing with the iPod, forced me to get a Zune.

Let me say that Zune Marketplace combined with a Zune Pass (i.e., all-you-can-eat music for $14.99 each month) is simply awesome. And I hate to admit it, but I love the concept of a music subscription service so much that if Apple were to come out with a subscription model for iTunes, I would likely subscribe right now. And I would do so despite considering iTunes to be the devil - after owning two iPods for well over two years, I have bought all of two albums from iTunes (both of which were done so I could see the process.)

So for as much as I love the Zune Pass and the subscription model, there are a few key items lacking in my Zune experience that I desperately want: support for podcasting, audiobooks and native integration with car stereos.

Support for Podcasting

It's no surprise at this point. The Zune sucks at podcasting. Sure, it can play back podcasts as they are nothing more than MP3s, but the Zune software has no discovery or download mechanism for podcasts. Once you manage to get a podcast onto Zune, it doesn't actually know that these are podcasts. It thinks they are MP3s just like any other MP3. What I want is for the Zune to treat podcasts as spoken word and perform two very important tasks:

1. Bookmark the audio track. When I navigate away from a podcast Zune needs remember where I was and return me to that exact same spot. Do not force me to fast forward 45 minutes to get back to where I was listening in .NET Rocks.
2. Provide the ability to speed up or slow down. Yes, most of the time I listen to podcasts at normal speed, but there are times where I want to speed things up.

You would think that in joining the social, the Zune would be more open to the new social media. Maybe it's just angry for not being invited to the party earlier.

It's a sad statement when your competitors software is a better client for your premier device, too. For as much as I hate the way iTunes organizes and presents my music library, it does a rockin' good job of organizing, finding and delivering podcasts - which Zune Player will gladly sync to Zune without even asking.

Support for Audiobooks

This one is closely tied to support for podcasting, above, and both requirements apply here as well. Bookmarking with audiobooks is vital. Given that an audiobook can sometimes run in excess of 10 hours, you do not want to find yourself in a situation of performing a binary search of your audio to figure out where you left out.

So what makes support for audiobooks different than support for podcasts? Zune does not support Audible (or is it Audible does not support Zune? In either case, it doesn't work.) No Audible, no audiobooks. Its surprising, given that most of the other WMA-based players out there are indeed compatible with Audible.

I drive. A lot. Any time I'm going to be on the road for more than 30 minutes, I like to fire up an audiobook or a podcast and gain some enrichment. I have an Audible Listener subscription (I told you I was big on subscription content) and burn through my two credits each month (I'm currently listening to Babylon Rising by Tim LaHaye, author of the very popular Left Behind series.)

So Zune doesn't cut it for me in this case.

Support for Car Stereos

My BMW 325i benefits from the whole iPod Your BMW experience. And with the only drawback of that experience being that you cannot fast forward a track, it is an awesome experience. The iPod acts as the car's 6 disc CD changer, allowing me to drive the iPod from the steering wheel and stereo controls.

What is Zune's answer to this? Zune Car Pack with FM Transmitter. An accessory that, in a word, stinks. Dave had actually warned me about this one, but I thought how bad could it really be? The truth is, really bad. It has a feature that automatically picks the "best" FM station on which to broadcast. It selected 106.9 and upon tuning my car's stereo to that station heard nothing more than a ton of static. I tried the lower stations (87-89) with better luck but the audio quality was horrible and littered with interference. It was so bad that I broke out the CDs I ripped of the audio book I'm currently listening to (I would have normally listened to them on my iPod, but my in-dash dock connector is having issues so the iPod isn't working either ... hence this entire trek into Zune territory.) I'm likely challenged in that most of the FM band here in Chicago is in use, but the Zune FM transmitter failed to deliver a workable experience. Needless to say, this accessory is going back to the store when I get back to Chicago tomorrow.

Zune needs one of two things. Either a direct competitor to the iPod Your BMW effort or an adapter that makes Zune compatible with iPod accessories. i.e., a bridge that takes the iPod dock on one end and connects to Zune on the other, and is able to translate commands and audio between Zune and iPod dock connectors. That would be an extremely valuable device.

Where Does Zune Work for Me?

Mostly on the treadmill. I can download a ton of new music and gain exposure to stuff I normally would not try via Zune Marketplace with the Zune Pass.

When I think about my iPod, it really does live in the glove box of my car. It has become, for all intents and purposes, my CD changer. Yes, I take it out and dock it to load new music on it. If I'm into a really good book or podcast, I'll bring it to bed with me. But it lives out 95% of its existence in my glove box serving up podcasts and audiobooks.

Zune is also a cool way to show off videos and pictures of my kids - something that lasts for all of about 10 seconds because no one really wants to watch videos of other people's kids. However, I cannot under estimate the value of video. When we were roaming around on vacation with a Creative Zen Portable Media Center, we were able to keep my kids entertained with content from our Media Center PC. Maybe the next time we travel Zune can accompany us and entertain the kids.

A Word About Zune Software

Why on earth does Zune's software not minimize to the tray? For that matter, I find myself using Zune software to browse Zune Marketplace and sync my Zune, but then I fire up Windows Media Player to listen to all of my music when I'm at my desktop. I shouldn't have to do this. The Zune software should be a plug in into Windows Media Player just like URGE. Oh sure, I understand the desire for us [Microsoft] to brand Zune similar to the way iPod and iTunes are branded ... but do we really need to create as poor an experience as iTunes, too? Bring back my integration, please.

In Summary

Zune has a lot of potential. In fact, should my three items be addressed I will hold a public destruction event for my iPods and invite everyone to come and participate. However, until then my Zune will be a niche gadget. And while I mentioned that should iTunes provide a subscription service that I would use in a heartbeat, I will drop the iPod and iTunes as soon as I can replace them with Zune for my usage scenarios.