Tehehe. So I took my Creative ZEN Vision:M to school today. Yes, that huge piece of chunky bulk. (God damn it! I’m rarely going to bring it to school if it’s that bulky!) A few of my friends were asking me about how many mp3 players/Creative players I had. Which made me realise that I have more of an obsession with Creative’s mp3 products than I had originally thought, and with me always taking a look at online shopping sites for any cheap, awesome Creative mp3 players rather frequently, I have decieded to create a new section in my blog, especially for one-topic rambles, the first of which, is about Creative Technology. Notice that I have a “I” at the end. Which would mean, another ramble about Creative Technology may come around sometime later on.
I love Creative’s products. I have a nice little collection of them:
> Black Creative ZEN Vision:M – 30GB (with “Leather” Case)
> Creative ZEN – 4GB
> Black Creative ZEN Stone – 1GB
> Creative TravelSound for ZEN Stone
> Creative ZEN Universal Power Adaptor
Each of them very nice, and I enjoy using them. The Stone is small, light, convenient, and looks very pretty! The ZEN is a very pocket-friendly, stylish, and almost seemingly indestructible little player that has a lot of scratches and has been knocked around a lot but it still works, and I love it, and may just buy a new one because it’s that’s awesome. The Vision:M although very bulky is still nice and shiny, and has awesome little features! I love that “Zoom to Full” function, and how it plays pretty much everything without conversion! I’m thinking about buying an X-fi just because I like it’s looks… =P
So Creative Technology, if you ever read my blog, here’s what I’m looking for, in one of your products. It may seem a tad-over the top, but if you pull it off, with enough marketing, it’ll be a great seller.
My “dream” Creative player: If possible, a 64GB or 32GB flash-memory-based player with SDXC card expandable memory. Increase the already wide range of codec and container format support. Looking for additional x.264, mp4 and mkv support, along with capabilities of HD 720p video resolution compatibility. Nice large screen, 4.3″ maybe, with 480×272 resolution. A long battery life with AMOLED and 16.7 million colour screen, and if the Zii chip does what it I assume it says it does, such a player with the Zii chip implemented should have an incredible battery life. I don’t like touch screens that much, I prefer tactile, but I’m alright with a touch, or a combination of the two. Keep those nice stylish designs as with the ZEN, and make it feel nice in your pocket. No where near as thick as the Vision:M, but not as thin as the iPod Nano. The current ZEN/ZEN X-fi thickness is nice, and if keeping a player like this as thin as the ZEN means sacrificing the SD Card slot, fine then. A user interface similar to the current ZEN would be very nice and keep the simple UMS “Drag and Drop” system and USB connection. Actual Wi-fi would be nice. Not like the X-fi’s wireless LAN. E-books, games and a speaker are optional extras that would be nice. Keep the FM Radio, Voice Recording and Outlook syncing. Of course, as cheap as possible as well (cheaper than the touch). Oh, and make the “reset” button larger…
If Creative needs to stay in the market, they need to start listening to their customers. Increase their marketing and advertising. Also, if their players didn’t crash as often as some of them do, people may have a little more trust in Creative’s products. Easier access to their accessories would also make them a little more popular, as well as enabling “rockboxing” capabilities. Listen to what your customers and loyal buyers are saying! I love Creative products and I’d like to see them create something super awesome this year! If they don’t, we could probably be saying goodbye to Creative! Creative again, reported another loss for the latest quarter, and if they don’t seriously listen to their customers, or release a new super-awesome product onto the market, they will continue to report losses.
Creative, especially in Australia, is dying. Here, they’ve kind of “moved out”. They used to have an office place thing in Homebush, where I took my ZEN to when I had to have it replaced. That place had closed down, and now, if you want to repair/replace, you have to send it to Infinet Service Solutions in Alexandria. Also, a lack of Creative’s products are available here in Australia. If you do happen to see any, it appears that they are on “Clearance”. One store was saying that they’d rather “write them off” then sell them at a further discounted price. (They were selling a Creative ZEN Vision:M 60GB for $379) According to Sydney Morning Herald, about 70% of the mp3 player market down here is iPod dominated. Which is kinda surprising, I was thinking it’d be more. So if iPod owns 70%, how much do the other 5 companies down here, Creative, Sansa, Samsung, Sony and iRiver own?
So, any hope of a new, super-special-awesome Creative product? At CES 2009, apart from the Zii chip, it didn’t look like it. They had some stylish pieces of earphones such as the Aurvana Ice and the Aurvana Air, but other than that, according to Epizenter, their booth at CES was rather uneventful/uninteresting. However, from a recent press release, Creative does seem to have something planned for this year. Well, so they say they do.
In terms of the technology trends that will drive 2009, these include:
Ease of use: The new age customer looks out for a product, which is a league apart but should be handy and easily navigable. Creative is mastering this mantra by coming up with user-friendly product range.Higher capacities: For MP3 players to handy camcorders, data capacities have always been the cutting edge of technology. Creative has been upgrading its existing range of products and we will be introducing some new marvelous products with higher storage capacity.
Stylish look: Digital entertainment products need to have a stylish look apart from the advance technology embedded in them as they have now become more of a style/status symbol for the youth then a gadget.
So maybe we will see something useful come out of Creative this year? I certainly hope so. Anythingbutipod did manage to find a little something a while back in September of 2008…
Wow, over a 1000 words blog post… 2nd longest blog post to date… I was planning on writing a little bit more, but who’s going to bother to read it?
ROGER! YOU HAVE WAY TOO MANY CREATIVE PRODUCTS! SURE THERE GOOD, BUT THERE NOT GOOD ENOUGH! MAKE THEM CHEAPER AND I MIGHT BUY ONE AND SELL MY SLEEK NEW IPOD!
Okay Bayden, now, the thing is, most Creative products are cheaper than iPods, and often have more features than iPods… So… I don’t quite understand what you’re saying… Anyway, you only have one Creative player and it’s ancient… 😛
LEAVE MY AWESOME 512MB CREATIVE MUVO TXFM ALONE! AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, TO GET A CREATIVE PLAYER WITH A COMPARABLE FEATURES COST MORE THAN A IPOD!
DONT YOU DARE CUT MY ! OUT!
Comparable features = cost more? No. *sighs* Bayden, you have it way wrong, and you have a lot more to learn about mp3 players. They are the same price! Let me give you a little comparison as to what a Creative ZEN has, that an iPod Nano doesn’t.
Capacities: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32. (Nano only 8, 16)
Expandable Memory: Yes, SD and SDHC (Nano has none)
Screen Size: 2.5″ (Nano only 2″)
Display Color: 16.7 Million (Nano only 64,000)
Supported Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC, WAV (Nano doesn’t support WMA)
Supported Video: WMV, XviD, DivX, MPEG-4 (Nano only H.264 in MP4)
Voice Recording: Yes (Pay more for accessory for Nano)
On-the-go Deleting and Bookmarks: Yes (Nano none)
Drag and Drop Transfers: Yes (Nano needs iTunes)
Connection: USB (Nano needs specific cable)
Audio Enhancements: Yes (Nano has none)
Radio: Yes (Pay more for accessory for Nano)
What does the Nano have that the ZEN doesn’t?
Can Play Games
Works on Mac and Windows (ZEN only Windows)
A touch wheel
A tad smaller, not by much.
Lighter: 38g (ZEN is 65g)
That’s about it…
Nano:5
ZEN:12
And for the same price. If you wish to prove me wrong some how here, feel free to try.
OK fine then..im going to correct you.
Capacities: Most people are going to buy 8gb players now…and honestly..who buuys a 2gb one…
Expandable Memory: I have seen noone use that feature but you. So…who needs it?
Screen Size: Excuse moi, nano= smaller width..doesnt really count since the nano is smaller all over…
Display Color: So…whose looking at hi-quality images on a mp3 player?
Supported Audio: Did you really think microsoft would give APPLE there codec? i didnt think so…
Supported Video: Itunes converts any video format seamlesly, without the need for a different program!!
Voice Recording: ah-hem. Who uses that feature?
On-the-go Deleting and Bookmarks: neccessary argument? I think not.
Drag and Drop Transfers: Sure theres a explorer addon that lets you drag and drop so…
Connection: When apple designed there connection it was before the mini usb cable was everywhere…so…
Audio Enhancements: Ha. Nano does. so there.
Radio: yes im annoyed at this lack of feature, but who buys a mp3 player to listen to the radio?
What does the Nano have that the ZEN doesn’t?
Can Play Games
Works on Mac and Windows (ZEN only Windows) HA..eww mac..
A touch wheel- TOUCH WHEEL= AWESOME FULL STOP!
A tad smaller, not by much- By heaps!
Lighter: 38g (ZEN is 65g) ha nanos lighter.
AND YOU CUT MY EXCLAMATIONS OUT!!!!
I rest my case.
Okay, a few things:
Capacities: The main thing I was pointing out was the 32GB capacity. But some people may only need 2GB. Also note the expandable memory.
Expandable Memory: Who else HAS a player that has expandable memory? Although it is handy, as if whenever you need more space, you don’t have to buy an entirely new media player! Just by an SD Card!
Screen Size: So why not make the player just that little bit wider? Thickness wouldn’t matter for an increased screen size. Look at the Touch!
Display colour: Think of it as a portable image displayer, like those available keyring ones-ish.
Supported Audio: My point exactly! WMA is one of the most used Audio codecs!
Supported Video: Some files don’t even need conversion as the supported formats on the ZEN are some of the most common. Plus, if conversion necessary, you can easily convert using provided software.
Voice Recording: Even I don’t use it but it’s good to know it’s there.
On-the-go Deleting and Bookmarks: Same as above, good to know it’s there, AND, people do use those functions!
Audio Enhancements: You got me there. My bad.
Radio: In case you are bored of your music, and so you don’t have to carry around another device.
Anyway, the main point of your entire argument was the fact that you thought Creative’s cost more than iPod’s when they don’t. And that iPods had more features than Creative, which overall proves to be wrong. So, your original arguments that Creative has less features and more expensive than the iPod is completely false.
Anything else I’m missing?
err roger? i never said anything about ipods having more features…but i am saying ipods have the common features..and the photo argument?!?!?! HOW MANY PEOPLE USE IT FREQUENTLY!!!
and its not apples fault there microsofts biggest rivals!
so all im going to say is most of creatives extra features are unneccessary and simply add to the price of what could be a nice low priced product…
Hey, you have photos on your iPod! I mean why not? If you have images you’d like to show off, why not place them on your portable media device? Easier than carrying around a camera if you’re not going to take photos.
Okay, yes, you never said iPod has more features.
Yes, as a company grows, the bigger it’s rivals. So thus, in a sense, it’s not Apple’s fault that they’re Microsoft’s biggest rival.
So, you’d rather a player that just plays music an video for a price that’s slightly cheaper than the iPod? Doesn’t sound very attractive to me…
Also keep in mind, why buy a Nano for the same price as a ZEN when the ZEN has more features? That’s basically the whole idea of creating a rival player as such.
Oh, just a quick little thing, if the mini-USB is now very popular out there, why not change the connection of the iPod to mini-USB then?
Overall, I still believe that the winner for this argument is Creative over iPod.
because the screens too small to look at comfortably! i dont have images to show off i was testing the photo function!
And as for apple changing the connection to mini usb? Why do that now? all the ipod docks are there with the standard apple connection…and honestly, i dont think mini usb would work for a dock…. Has creative changed there connections ever?
And who would honestly, pay for features there not going to use?
AND HOW DO YOU GET BOLD FONT!!
over all i still think that ipods and creatives are both good players, but honestly, in terms of compatibility, accessory availability (you said so your self its hard to get creative stuff) and asthetically pleasing devices ipod wins….ipod has docks made for it…ipod has a cool click wheel!
Hm, I certainly hope this is the last comment…
How else are you going to share your photos digitally? It’s not like you’re going to carry around a photo viewer everywhere you go whenever you want to show off photos, and printing them takes time and money that some people may not be willing to spend. Some people may also have digital art they’d like to show off…
Before Mini-USB was everywhere, All creative players had proprietary connections. They made the switch to USB after the Vision:M (2005). What is true, that you have stated, and that I have stated in this rambling, is the fact that Creative does not market their players enough, and there aren’t as many available accessories due to that. Thus, amongst us loyal Creative fans, most say that Creative is a dying company.
In terms of price, features and ease of use I rule Creative. In terms of accessibility in terms of getting products and ease of help tools in case things go wrong, iPod wins. Aesthetics, is one that is common among both in my opinion.
Overall, both do have their ups and downs, but I would still rule Creative as the winner in this argument.
P.S. If you want the bold function, use the HTML tags and place either “strong” or “b” between them.
RIGHT ROGER. if you wish to stop so be it, lets stop. But therefore it shall be a tie. Both players have there ups and downs..I agree creative has more features but ipods are almost certainly to be around longer, and MORE THINGS WORK WITH IPODS!!!!
therefore i declare the winner to be both, iPod and Creative.
Well, I said hope, so if you had produced more arguments, I probably would have continued. iPod will most likely be around for longer, while Creative, if they do not restructure their ways of marketing and production, we could be looking forward to saying bye-bye to them. “More things work with iPods” is a little overly general, as when it comes to music and video format playing, more things work with Creative but that’s not the whole idea of what you said, so thus, your statement is somewhat granted. Anyway, it was a fun time arguing with you Bayden, and I’m sure you’ll love your iPod Nano and take s little more care with it than my Creative ZEN. =D
roger is right, creatives are better, and realy ipods should pick up their act. who wants to pay an extra $80 to listen to the radio? although the cheap aceelerometer doeas a lot. and games are nice when you are bored. video converting takes AGES on itunes, and sucks, better graphs would be great. so i concur with roger. but do you really need like four?
Brilliant Nick, now were gonna have to start this again….
now im pretty sure most of those arguments are FOR the ipod and umm hello? which version of itunes r u using video convertings great on mine….
and no roger does not need 4…honestly..he should give me his zen so i can smash it 🙂
nar i mean use it at school…..
GAH! NOT AGAIN!!!! *cries*
Okay, let me set a few things straight.
1. I have 3 Creative players.
2. Conversion is a problem for most players, but Creative’s wide codec range means you won’t need to convert a large number of videos
3. NEVER joke about smashing a Creative product!
yes roger i am also crying..but not really..because its just a object…..
1) three?!?!?! i have 2…a ancient one…and a new one since i upgraded… you have three relatively new ones!!!!! By upgrading i am refering from a creative muvo TXFM 512mb to a Apple ipod nano 8GB!!
2) Creatives “wide” range of codecs? what wma? hellooooo m$ is NOT going to let apple use there codec…not really apples fault for being a competitor…
3) i CAN and WILL joke about smashing a creative product…. 😛
ok. back to hating ipods. as soon as i got to 7 gig of stuff the response time slowed heaps! and now i have 11 gig on there! also, my big 80 gig ipod only came with 74.6 gig. SUE FOR FALSE ADVERTISING. i like to listen to the radio; 80 bucks is too much! their headphones suck! broke after 6 months! low resolution, sucks for watching fast vids! bah! go roger! (and shutup about your 3 creatives). and bayden, nanos simply suck.
CREATIVE FTW!!! Bayden, its three on one, give up!
1) I kinda fail here… One Creative… 0 Ipod… 2 iPAQs… FTW 😀
2)It is Bayden. They should quit! 😀
3)Everyone, lets steal Baydens iPods and smash them!
Okay, Nick, Bayden, Thomas, a few corrections:
1. Not false advertising. In fine print on packaging of both Creative and iPod, it’s got 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. In fact, apparently, Creative did not state that when they released the Vision:M, and legal issues arose from it.
2. That whole WMA thing is part of the reason why Creative wins that section!
3. Earphones can easily break… I’ve gone through a pair too many…
4. For an Ancient Creative Player, your MuVo is in nice shiny condition…
5. Bayden only has one iPod…
time to stir things up a little….
hey roger! make creative produce a really cool phone!
Its on. Right. Yes the capacity….EVERY HARD DRIVE YOU GET IS ALWAYS LESS THAN THE CAPACITY STATED!! THEY CANT MAKE EXACTLY 80 GIG HARD DRIVES!!!
All headphones break after a while……not applicable argument…
Yes the radio case..i agree i wish there was a radio..ever heard of home modding? lol
AND WHO ACTUALLY WATCHES FULL RESOLUTION HIGH DEFINITION BLUE RAY MOVIES ON YOUR IPOD!!!
“and wats a fast vid?”
Yes roger please stop I HAVE 3 CREATIVES!!! WOOOOOOOO
and thomas? ummm i dont think this is actually a constructive argu-comment you placed but meh…
point 2 = mega english fail..i dont get the wording…
and 3? i have ONE ipod which is ALWAYS at home..fail.
and you dont even know where your creative is…pathetic….
Nick: Creative produce a phone? Ahahahaha! Good one! I’m sorry, I do not see Creative producing a phone =(
Thomas: Bayden has a point. You need better English/Not use Vista… And you can’t even find your Creative? Shame…
Bayden: Suprisingly, I don’t think I have anything to say anymore… Yes, watching hi-res vids such as blu-ray is pointless on a small screen such as an iPod, that’s why I want a Creative with a perhaps 4.3″ screen.
Ha! Anywho i didnt see nicks phone post so umm NO! creative phone=fail as 1) it would be seen as copying the iphone and noone would buy it (apart from roger) and 2) …..
Anyways im going to eat a cornetto…
*shuts firefox, signs out of msn and gets cornetto*
a fast vidoe is like an action movie. fast paced. my headphone broke after 6 months. pathetic. even iriver ones last longer then that. who cares about phones really, though they are cool. and i hate itunes!
Alright, you win. creatives are the best. MY ARGUMENTS FOR IPODS WERE CRAP. please let me back into the real world of better electronics!!
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thecornypaper edit: Nick actually wrote this btw.
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