Zune Lover: indmusic

Another month, another Zune Lover. This month we have indmusic [Patrick Hefner]. He runs a great site with FREE MP3’s for your Zune. Before we start, I will like to point out his residence — SPARTANburg,SC. That’s all I’m saying.

Aside from all the Zune smothering I’m sure you do on a daily basis, what are some things you do on your free time.
I love discovering and sharing new and interesting bands. I love playing video games and spending time with my growing family. I have a 2 year old son and a 2 month old daughter, and of course my amazingly wonderful and supportive wife :] and I also love to write and record my own music.

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Zune Lover: Justin Anderson

A side from being a Zune Lover, what are your hobbies?
Write. Love. Laugh. Plus I love to catch a good flick, read a good book, and eat good food. Not to mention listen to as much good music as humanly possible.

I do believe I live hooked up to my earphones, they are sort of like oxygen to me. How much is music part of your life?
It’s sort of a big deal. I’ve been a DJ for over 12 years now. I see the powerful effect music has nearly every weekend. Music is constantly playing in my head. I’m seriously a freakin’ human jukebox.

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Zune Lover: Imhotep Taylor

Give us a little run down of things you enjoy to do on your free time.
My hobbies include: Gaming, listening to music, being a forum hound, and screwing around in general.

Sounds good. I, myself do most of those things. Although, I wont claim the screwing around part. How big is music part of your daily life?
A big part, I’m always listening to it and making mixes for fun. Even at my job I constantly listen to it despite the constant threat of getting caught it makes my day go by smoother, and with my Zune with me it makes everything all the sweeter.

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Interview: Zune Thoughts

Sure we go by your site every day, but tell us about the person behind the
blog.
I’m a geek in the geekiest sense of the word: I live, eat, and breathe
technology day in and day out. I have a passion for community as well, so I
really enjoy talking about technology to a community…hence my passion is
also what I do for a living. When I’m not in front of my PC, I’m probably
playing Xbox 360, watching movies with my wife, listening to music, or
reading. I’m also a musician, playing bass and singing.

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Interview: cliczune.com

Sure we go by your site everyday, but tell us about the person behind the blog.
Well, I’m from Montreal and I still live downtown Montreal . I’m a long-time music lover and technology addict also. I’m also the proud father of two young girls.

I studied engineering and I’ve been working with all sorts of technologies for the last 15 years. I’m the founder of www.cliczune.com and the “YulMedia Blog Network”. But prior to that, I was Vice-President, Technologies and Operations at CEDROM-SNi, the leader of online news aggregation in Canada . At Cedrom, I developed the expertise of Web 2.0 applications. Back in 2004, I conducted the development of Newscan (new.newscan.com), a news platform based on many concepts found in web 2.0 apps today. I left the company last year to create the YulMedia Blog Network. One of the primary goals of the company is to development a group of blogs dedicated to consumer electronic products. We also help companies to develop corporate blogs and web strategies.

When did you first hear about the Zune?
July 2006, when Microsoft announced the upcoming release of the Zune.

Why did you become interested in this product?
I was only starting YulMedia back then, and I was looking for products and technologies that can attract a lot of people and that have a lot of potential for future growth.

I was also bored by the iPod. When I first bought mine, I was really impressed by the design of the product. But the evolution of the iPod was stopped because of the lack of real competition. When Microsoft announced they were coming with their own player, I wanted to know more about it.

Why did you want to start a site about Zune?
Having a network dedicated to the consumer electronic market, it was the natural thing to do. But being a music lover helped a lot. The investment of time and money needed to build a website is substantial. To keep working on it day after day, you need the motivation.

I also believe that the Zune will succeed. If you look at the investment made by Microsoft in their entertainment division, you know they are not joking at all with the Zune. They really have the will to support the Zune for many years to come and the platform is going to become more and more core to Microsoft’s entertainment division.

When Microsoft announced the Zune, it was also clear from the start that this product was not going to be a MP3 player like any other player on the market. The challenge is huge, but if one company can compete with the iPod, it’s Microsoft.

I hope you are not the only staff! Are you?
Almost, I do have help for the site design but for the blogging and reviews, I’m presently the only one here at www.cliczune.com.

But this is going to change soon. I’m looking for other people to join the team. I would like to have guess bloggers that would cover different aspects of the portable player market and the music industry in general. People should contact me if they are interested in contributing to Cliczune’s growing content.

What is your Favorite part about serving the community?
I like to bring information to the people. I like when people find the information they were looking for.  I also enjoy seeing readers coming back for more. That gives me the motivation to give them more news, more reviews, more fun with their Zune…

How is the Device working out for you?
Like most Zune owners, I’m also an iPod owner. I had my iPod for three years, but since I have a Zune, I haven’t touched the iPod. That says it all!

The only real problem I had with the Zune, is the skipping bug related to the Zune marketplace content. That was just fixed with the firmware upgrade 1.3. What a relief!

Favorite feature?
Actually, what I prefer on the Zune is not a feature but the way the Zune is designed. I really like the interface. I like being able to navigate horizontally and vertically. This aspect of the player (Toshiba’s heritage) is one of the top reasons why I love the Zune.

I also switched to Zune Pass on day one and I still don’t even have all my own cds sync with the Zune. I tried to use content coming only from the Zune Marketplace. I started a review on that but I can’t find the time to complete it…

What do you think the Zune is missing?
A reduced size! If Microsoft could reduce the thickness of the player, it would be great. Wifi scenarios as well…a lot of them!