Welcome the Zune! Survey finds Zune could grab iPod share

Apple won't be able to sit tight anymore!

According to a Reuters survey conducted over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend, it seems that 35 percent of the 7 percent of shoppers interested in buying one of Microsoft's Zune devices are "replacing an existing digital music player."

Confusing? Let me make it easier for you: Out of 450 people surveyed, 31 checked off "Zune" on a list of players they would consider purchasing, and 11 of those 31 were actually in the market for a digital music player. On the other side of the coin, 360 from the same sample chose iPod as their player of choice — 315 before they were even shown a list — and 65 were shopping for a media player.

So, 11 people across the country might buy Zune. Is that really worthy of this headline:

Survey finds Zune could grab iPod market share

But, let's assume those 11 people currently own iPods, and let's say all 11 of them actually choose to buy a Zune over any of the iPods on the market. I guess that’s something.

I mean, word could spread. Squirting* could catch on.

The truth is, Zune isn’t as bad as we all thought it would be. Aside from the hideous brown color — which is lined in an equally repulsive translucent green — Zune is a decent media player and will likely retain its second-place spot, even after the holiday season is behind us.

For one, it offers a screen that puts the iPod to shame, displaying videos in true widescreen format and automatically switching in landscape or portrait mode, depending on the aspect ratio. Plus, there’s a neat feature in the settings that allows you to customize your background with one of three preset designs (and presumably allows you to add your own).

At 30GB, however, Zune is downright bulky when compared to the iPod. At 0.6 inches think, it feels more like a second or a third generation iPod, but its rubberized exterior is certainly more rugged than its thinner counterpart, so a case won’t be a necessity (unlike the iPod's scratch-prone body).

The controls — while not quite as fluid and simple as the iPod — are easy to operate and understand, even if your impulse is to spin and click. The video and audio playback is smooth, and the Wi-Fi feature is nice to have, whether or not you can find another Zune to squirt with.

Menu options are simple and easy to navigate, and titles are displayed with a little more information than the iPod offers, like movie ratings, album info and number of photos in each folder. It's a nice enhancement over the iPod, obviously made possible by the larger screen.

Also, Zune offers an array of entertainment out of the box, preloading "a variety of songs and music videos from hot, new artists as well as some fun films and images."

Of course, none of this really matters to most shoppers. The iPod is still the coolest device around, and with an array of family members in a variety of colors, Apple isn't going to lose much ground to Microsoft, no matter what the Reuters survey would have you believe.

But Apple won't be able to sit tight anymore, either.

Zune represents the first real competition for the iPod, a similarly priced device that includes enough exclusive features to garner a few second looks. It'll force Apple to ramp development of the next-generation device, rethink its strategy of annual updates, and maybe even spark a few new ideas.

But I wouldn't expect to see a brown iPod anytime soon.