Last week, Mr. Jobs was being interviewed by CNBC’s Jim Goldman when he was asked about the threat posed to the iPod by the Vole’s famous mp3 player, the Zune.

His response was to ask ‘Do you even know anyone who owns a Zune?’

Well, I’d like to say that I do, so there! And they love it. They say that it’s brilliant. It works excellently, is stylish, the sound is incredible and the battery life is out of this world.

I’d like to say all of that.

The thing is, I know a lot of people who really like Microsoft’s products. Real Microsoft fans. We tend not to stay in the same room for longer than entirely possible - they just end up getting too defensive.

Well, the thing is… it’s like this…

I don’t really know anybody with a Zune. I’m sure I probably do. Statistically, I must. Or, at least, I know someone who knows someone who has a Zune. Maybe. My LinkedIn network has lots of people on it - almost 2.5 million at the third degree (friends of friends of friends - or something). Some of those on the second degree work for Microsoft for crying out loud. One of them must have a Zune. I’m sure that walking around the Richmond campus listening to your iPod would be a hanging offence. So they must have a Zune.But the thing is, nobody has actually told me about it.

You know the way that your friends who have an iPhone or an iPod Touch or even just a new iPod, you know the way they ‘let you know’? That’s never happened to me with the Zune. Which is a little odd because someone must have one. And someone must like them.

Actually, I want the Zune to be good - well, better than it is now. I want it to be an innovative product. Something that stretches the boundaries of what we expect from a media player. I want some competition from Microsoft. Actually, it can come from anyone but they seem to have the most money to throw at this one.

The Zune being fundamentally unloved and, let’s assume, a bit useless is not good for Apple or for us as end users. Apple could become complacent. The iPod could become flabby. Anything could happen.

By buying something that has been panned and ridiculed, Zune owners are standing up for competition and the improvement of media players for us all. It’s exactly the same process that has led to Mac OSX being so much better than Windows Vista - except that at all stages, Apple got there first and did it better.

So, if you see or hear of anyone with a Zune, don’t mock them. Instead take a photo and keep it safe - as a constant reminder of what could have been.

written by James Barisic \\ tags: Apple, iPod, Microsoft, Steve Jobs, Zune