Even with all its limitations, my iPad hooks into my Windows- and Microsoft-dominated world quite nicely.  I have hundreds of ripped DVDs on my Windows Home Server for viewing on my Xbox 360 through Media Center Extender.  Do I also want to view those videos curled up in bed with my iPad?  To quote Apple’s less-than-meek advertising slogan, “There’s an app for that.”  While I hate, hate, hate Apple’s uncanny ability to command attention, that doesn’t mean they don’t make some pretty nifty products.

Why do I have a picture of my iPad and Zune making hearts to each other?  It just so happens that I want to download an album that isn’t available on the Zune Marketplace.  Checking Amazon MP3, I discovered that the album wasn’t available there either.  What about iTunes?  I tapped open the iTunes app on my iPad, and sure enough there it is.  What’s great about DRM-free music?  I can download a song from iTunes, on my iPad, and sync it over to my Zune.  (I would say this is interoperability at its finest, but I suspect to have a less-than-satisfactory user experience with iTunes on Windows.)

The point, however, is that less and less consumers are having to choose sides.  Mac or PC?  The real issue is AAC or OOG, or why not support both?  The platform is losing significance.  Microsoft Exchange, a protocol for synchronizing email, calendar, and contacts, is available on Windows Phones, Android Phones, and iPhones.  The protocol itself is being served up not just by enterprises in business-type scenaros, but also for consumers.  Gmail, for example, offers Exchange support for free.  When every platform speaks a common set of protocols and file formats, something customers shouldn’t have to bother worrying about anyway, customers can more easily mix-and-match different devices and services.  A year ago got a Windows Mobile phone because it would easily synchronies with my Windows Live Mail.  Now, however, the phone and the email service can easily be interchanged independently, since both pieces can speak Exchange. (side note: yes, yes, IMAP exists blah blah.  That only synchronizes email.)

How long until there’s a Zune app for iOS?  What about a PlayStation Home app for Windows Phone?  Arguably the latter is more likely to happen, but all is possible in the magical world of technology.

Here are some short videos that I made:

Unboxing:

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Out-of-the-box experience:

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First-sync experience:

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Youch!

I had already spent a bunch of money fixing my Zune the first time, so I wasn’t too eager to spend more money.  Since the original accident Microsoft began offering a repair service for broken glass and screens… for $80.  I opted for a cheaper solution in every sense of the word.  Instead of replacing the front glass, I decided to remove the broken pieces and simply put the Zune in a clear plastic case.  I clicked around Amazon.com and found the a cheap clear case for $3.27.  (As of today, the price is $3.10.)  The whole deal as $6.25 with shipping.

The first step in the repair was to remove the broken pieces from in front of the LCD screen.  I began to take apart the Zune, but then I thought I might be able to pick off the pieces with a small pick—I used the flathead screwdriver that came with my Rapid Repair kit.  The process was oddly reminiscent of pealing a hard-boiled egg.  Note that I was only able to peal away the glass because it was the cheap Rapid Repair stuff.  The glass that comes on Zunes is much stronger and stays in one piece even after it cracks.

After I got all of the pieces off I sprayed a bit of Windex on a paper towel and cleaned  up the remaining dust.  (The blemish at the top of the frame is from when I replaced the glass the first time.)

With the case on my Zune is basically as good as new.  My only concern now is that dust will get up under the cover and I’ll have to clean it out.  Time will tell for that.

As for the case itself, the only problem that it seems to have is that it makes the hold switch inaccessible without something like a toothpick or paperclip.  The case does come with the necessary parts to clip the Zune to a belt, so it might not be a big deal if I decide to do that.

I almost decided to ditch this Zune, an 8GB model, for a larger 16GB model, but I hear a new model, the Zune HD, is coming out later this year.  I’ll be paying close attention to that as well!

This time the problem wasn’t the storage.  Last week I broke my 8GB, second generation Microsoft Zune, but this time I could repair the thing myself!

I reI got the tools and replacement glass from rapidrepair.com.  Everything (including shipping) cost $45.97.  I used RapidRepair’s general disassembly guide and a YouTube video as references for the repair process.

The first step was to remove the silver backing insert.  I wedged the safe open tool into the top to accomplish this.
 

This exposed two Tri-wing screws, which I removed with the Tri-wing.  I found that the bigger (red) Tri-wing screwdriver worked on all of the screws in the Zune.

Now I could remove the back casing, so I used the safe open tool to undo all of the snaps around the edges.

With the back off, I saw three more screws to remove.

The communications board is now only connected by the Zune by a cable.  I didn’t remove the board at this point, doing so would have made the process ahead a bit easier.

The communications board is attached by wide, orange ribbon cable.  You can detach one end by flipping the little black latch that goes along the width of the cable at either connection point.

Now I had to remove the battery.  I was a bit concerned that the battery flexed a bit when I tried to pry it off, but the Zune still works after my repair, so I can only assume that this was normal.  The battery is afixed to the rest of the Zune with an adhesive.  I used the safe open tool for the task.
 

(at this point the communications board got in the way too much and I removed it.

Removing the battery exposed a final Tri-screw.  (You can see it in the previous picture.)  I’ve been puting all of the screws in a headphone case to keep track of them.

At this point the rapidrepair tutorial became a bit unclear, so I started to poke around to figure out the next step.

Here I pull up the board with the memory chips.  Notice how this piece connects with the navigation controls below it.  (There is are little “docks” on each component that fit together.  This tripped me up the first time, because those to pieces weren’t making contact.  I could only turn on the Zune by plugging it into my computer, and then the Zune would start up, shut down, and restart.)

After a bunch of finagling I got the screen and it’s frame out.  I’m sure there are very specific clips that I had to simply detach with the safe remove tool, but I didn’t find them all the first time.  The inner frame has some week points, so be ginger.

Now I had everything apart, and access to the back side of the glass.

I pushed around the edges of the glass from the back to break the adhesive.  The glass came of fairly easily.

At this point I used Windex and a paper towel to clean up the area on the Zune that the new glass would stick to.

Do you remember that big spool of foam from the first picture?  That was protecting this itty-bitty piece of glass:

I stuck the new glass on no problem.  (This was the easy part!)

Remember how I said that the inner frame had some weak points?  I know that because I broke part of it.  It doesn’t seem to matter much, though.

Now everything goes back together in reverse order.  I got some dust on the LCD screen, so I sprayed a mist of Windex on a paper towel and gently whipped the surface of the screen.  After watching all of the liquid evaporate from the surface of the screen, I put that piece back into place in the Zune.

Make sure to put the memory board back into place before you put in the first screw.  If you put in the screw first, not only will the memory board not secured, but the tiny difference in position will prevent that board from communicating with the navigation controls.  (I made this mistake…)

After all of that effort (which was mostly fun), my Zune was back to normal.

Edit, May 23, 2009:

The Rapid Repair glass broke a few weeks after I installed it.  More on that here.

It seems to work fine otherwise, but obviously I want to get this thing fixed.  I called Zune customer support (1-877-GET-ZUNE) and got some irritating news.  I already knew that my Zune was out of warranty, but apparently the Zune team doesn’t provide a paid repair service for out-of-warranty devices.  All hope had seemed lost until I asked the guy if there were any third-party repair options.  The customer support representative told me to go to “triple W dot live dot com”.  I thought it was odd that he would refer me to Microsoft’s online services front, until he added “and search for ‘Zune repair centers’”.  I got the message and Goggled it instead.

It seems that I can buy the screen for $20 (plus $6 for tools) from rapidrepair.com.  While I think it is a bit unreasonable for Microsoft to not offer a pair repair service for their out-of-warranty products that are still in production, it will be cheaper and more fun to do the repair myself.  RapidRepair has a general tutorial for dissecting the Zune, and I’ll look around for a more specific tutorial.  Until then!

Here’s the deal:  The MP3 icon doesn’t necessarily mean that ALL of the songs are available in MP3, but rather it means that at least one is.  Take a look:

Here this album is clearly marked as “MP3”:

If I go to buy the entire album, you will see that only the first song in the album is available as an MP3. (note, I deleted my email address from the image.)

I just wrote a post about Microsoft doing good things for their customers, and it’s sad, but fitting that I should write another minutes later about the other side.  I am going to contact Zune customer support for a refund of the DRM’d song that I accidentally downloaded.

I was impressed to discover that recently when I went to click the “download” button next to a song, which downloads the song under the subscription, I got a popup reminding me to use my song credits.  I am very impressed that Microsoft would remind its users to get things from it for free.  Of course, if the user sees this as a nag rather than a reminder, there’s always that convenient option to disable the popup.  Microsoft, hooray!