A Wider Net

I haven’t listed a premium gadget in a while, and I have been meaning to mention this one. The Zen Stone is the latest MP3 (or Digital Audio Player - DAP) from Creative and the latest salvo in the ongoing war against the iPod(s). This one is positioned squarely against the iPod shuffle but it has several important advantages: It comes in all kinds of colors, feels nicer to the touch, you can choose to shuffle or not, you don’t need iTunes software, and it’s half the price of a shuffle. It probably also sounds better.

I like the $40 list price, and the (optional) accessories like the keychain clip, the TravelSound dock with speakers, and the sound isolating headphones give you most of what you’d want in a teeny player. Rubber gel skins give you additional branding opportunities.

I’m sure companies will find that this device’s price and features and better branding options will make the Zen Stone a better fit for their incentive or marketing campaign. It’s very easy to drop a podcast or two on here before you hand it to your employees or customers, and even if they already own a big player like an iPod, they will appreciate this for it’s ultra portability for when they don’t feel like bringing their more fragile and more valuable player everywhere they go.

You do have to contend with the lack of prestige. Creative doesn’t have the Apple brand appeal and popularity and, as such, doesn’t feel like as much of a gift. But you can work out a less-cheesy version of this positioning: it’s better and it’s cooler - just like we are, and we prefer to carve our own path and not copy what everyone else is doing.