Well, the more I learn about the Zune I’m thinking Microsoft may be making some serious mistakes. Engadget has a pretty blunt article about how the Zune’s wireless isn’t as functional as it should be.

This is unfortunate, because it’s already well established what WiFi does in the minds of most consumers. It’s the technology that allows hardware wireless access to the internet or a local network. So whenever a device is said to support it, it’s assumed you can use it for copying files from a computer to said device or ideally, or use it to browse the web.

So it’s disappointing to learn that supposedly, the Zune WiFi will allow you transfer songs (and photos) from one Zune to another, albiet with some DRM restrictions. Second, you won’t be able to use the Zune to connect to the web, or sync to your computer.

This last item is worth emphasizing because it seems like the biggest no-brainer of all. Syncing to a home computer via WiFI to transfer files would have been the biggest use of the Zune WiFi for most people (since there aren’t likely to be tons of other Zunes out there for people to share music with, right off the bat).

I’m certain if/when Apple comes out with a WiFi iPod, they won’t limit the functionality of WiFi in this manner, and the Zune’s will be seen as a huge missed opportunity by Microsoft.

I’m hoping an Apple WiFi iPod will allow networked music sharing, exactly how music libraries are treated in iTunes: you can listen to music other people’s iPods with sharing on, but not copy the files over. That alone would be an awesome, killer functionality for the iPod while simultaneously addressing piracy fears. Second, copying files from a computer to the iPod is an obvious, needed feature.

Disclosure: I own a tiny amount of Apple stock.

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