Zune Thoughts: Zune on the Rise?

"It's been a bumpy ride since Microsoft released Zune. On one hand, the player has built a cultish following of owners who can be loud and passionate. On the other, Zune has taken relentless bashing from many iPod supporters, and no shortage of negative reviews from tech blogs. I would guess that most people with no firsthand Zune experience have a negative perception of Zune. But now, five months after its release, is Zune turning a corner?"

Harvey Chute of Zunerama has compiled a list of reasons, that you can read here, of why he thinks the Zune might be coming into its own. I think he makes quite a few good points. While I'm not sure that Microsoft using Halo 3 to push the Zune is proof of anything other than Microsoft is wisely leveraging a very popular property to sell another, I do think that the NPD and Amazon numbers are proof of the Zune's growing appeal.

Good news for the Zune really just doesn't surprise me. Especially when the player simply is as good as it is.