Say it loud... I'm Zune and I'm Proud!

I told this Zune story on Twitter and was informed that because of its length, it should be blogged :-)

So I'm riding the bus this morning on the way to work. I'm carrying my Zune and my Zune tote bag is over my shoulder. At the time I was checking out a pre-release CD from Lisa Bianco (fabulous stuff, by the way!) and just sat down to enjoy the next 30 minutes of the ride. Now, prior to this there were these pretentious teens who would get on the bus and stare at me for the first 5 minutes. I thought nothing of it until I realized that they essentially were trying to figure out why I would have a Zune, of all things.

So on this particular bus ride, one of the kids decided to grow some grapefruits and ask me. "Excuse me," he said "May I ask if that's a Zune". Of course, I replied in the positive. Couldn't he tell based upon the fact I was wearing a Microsoft Jacket, carrying a Zune tote bag and using a touch pad instead of the screen that it just might not be an iPod?!

"Why do you ask?" was the response I gave him and he proceeded to whip out his iPod Touch. "Well, I'm asking because I just want to know if your Zuuuuuunnnneee can do this?". He then proceeds to touch the screen and show me some contact list or whatever. Now, ok. Why is he going through this whole charade!?

I decide I was gonna whip out my Blackjack II, hit the 'contacts' button and say "No, but my phone shows contacts just fine. Actually, my music player is for just that.. music. I don't need a PDA at this time". No other words were said. He decided to sit down (smart move).

A friend of his, who had an iPod Classic decided to distance himself from this whole exchange. He kind of knew that if the comparison went where it was supposed to (iPod Classic vs. Zune 120) he wouldn't have much legs to stand on.

Now let me say this. Yes, I'm a Zune MVP and I'm a damn proud owner of a Zune, but I don't hate on anyone simply because of what device they use to listen to music or get their entertainment. I didn't hate on this kid for being proud of his iPod Touch. I hated on this kid because he seemed to think that I should be ashamed or apologize for having a *Dear, God!* Microsoft Zune.

Let me be clear: I'm a damn proud Zune owner. I do not apologize for having a device that satisfies my needs as it should. If you're an iPod owner, you should be proud too but don't ever expect me to feel bad when I stand next to you. I probably won't be able to hear you speaking anyway, because I'll be too busy listening to the plethora of podcasts I synced the night before.

That is all.