My next iPod will be a Zune! And why I think the new iPod lineup is a flop!

After the Apple Event, I found myself disappointed with the reality of the new iPod lineup. The iPod Shuffle only got buttons back and a smaller, lighter design. So what?! The new iPod Nano has eliminated the click-wheel, but now is just a small 2-inch LCD touch-screen wristwatch! And it's important to take this into consideration:

• The iPod Nano now cannot play video! :(

• The new Nano can't run iPhone apps!

• And the screen is too small!

The iPod Touch may have gotten a "nice refresh". I disagree completely!

Understand that the iPod Touch:

• Has the weakest camera I have ever seen! Not even a megapixel! And the resolution that the camera takes is incredibly poor. My question is: Why the heck did Steve put a camera in the iTouch in the first place?!

• It has a front-facing camera. But hold on a second! This camera only works with FaceTime (Apple's incredibly unsuccessful video conferencing software!). You can only call other iPhone 4's & 4th gen iPod Touches! If your friends one of the two devices, you can't call them! It's completely useless! Again, why did Jobs bother putting a camera in the device!

• The 8GB iPod Touch is now $30 more expensive! Steve, you have disappointed me greatly! You give us a crappy camera and charge us 30 extra bucks for a camera that may cost 5 bucks to manufacture!

I'm not going over the positives of the iPod Touch. Let me make myself clear...I hate the iPod! All iPod models! Proprietary software, you have to sync to iTunes to get content, and it's just plain flat too expensive for some very bleak functionality!

So, why do you like the Zune so much?

Not to be a Microsoft fanboy, but the Zune is much more compelling! The Zune HD gets you 16GB for less than the price of an 8GB iPod Touch! A Zune HD 32GB for a little more than an 8GB iPod Touch!

The Zune HD:

• Offers Zune Pass, a music service from Microsoft that gives you unlimited songs for $15.99/month! And every month you get to keep 10 songs in download form! That is so much more economical than buying songs by the dozen on the iTunes Store!
• Gives you an HD-Radio receiver!
• Works with HD video!
• Offers Wi-Fi (duh!)
• And something that the iPhones & iPods need...Wireless syncing! Allows you to sync to your PC wirelessly!
• And unlike iTunes, the Zune software for the PC is not "crapware"! It works well without bugs! The stability and performance of the Zune PC software is an order of magnitude better than iTunes!

By the way, the library of music on the Zune store is comparable to iTunes. The Zune store has a nice library of music & videos!

Allow me to summarize this with one simple equation.

Steve Jobs + greed + poor product quality = New iPods are terrible!

Microsoft Zune software + convenience + price of content & hardware = Zune rocks!