Creating a Creative habit in 30 days
This is the article for the Creative Zen Vision:M podcast. I have to finish two more podcasts and the music blog before uploading the website tomorrow. I wanted to put the article out there so I can say that the article is out there in one form or another. I thought my blog would be a good place to summarize my Creative Zen Vision:M experience. I will putting the article on ToytownGermany tomorrow morning.
What can you do in thirty days? When I am teaching creativity classes, I tell my students that in 21 days you can create a positive habit. Did I create a Creative habit during my 30 day test?
Looking back, I realize that thirty days is enough time for me to get used to the gadget and get into the habit of using it, but not enough time for me to try out all the gadget’s abilities. Why is thirty days not enough time for me to test everything on a gadget? Because I am a woman and there always seems to be something more important to do than figure out how my technology gadgets work or in this case, where to buy and how to hook up a cord.
A cord did not come with the Zen Player and I did not feel like searching Munich for the cord. I might have searched high and low for the cord to watch Heidi Klum’s next top model search on my Creative Zen Vision:M. For some reason, that reality show has drawn me in and now I watch teenagers fighting to be the next super model.
Although the Zen vision:M is not the next super model, it does have potential with a little work. A little work on the part of Creative. Why do I say the player needs a little work? Because it does not qualify as “pretty” and it definitely does not qualify as “Easy”. Those are two things that I want in my technology products. I want them to be attractive, draw attention and I want them to be easy to use so I don’t have to fret over them.
This is not whining. This is reality. My day starts at 600 and ends around midnight each day. During that time, I am working, running errands, writing, taking care of my family and the last thing I have is time to sit down and try to figure out how to work a gadget. This does not mean that I don’t want gadgets. I have plenty of fun gadgets and I like buying them, I just want them to fit the above criteria.
According to my research that I documented in my blog, German women do not buy their technology products. German men buy women technology products. Is this because women don’t want them? No, it is because women have no clue what to buy and have no one targeting them. They are also a bit scared of the technology and in the case of the Zen Vision:M, I could not get one German women to use it.
So would a women buy a Zen Vision:M player in Munich? Probably not. The player is not readily available in the major stores. They do sell the player in Munich and you can order it, but very few women will venture into a technology store to order a player especially if they have never seen it, touched it or played with it.
Should women buy the Zen Vision:M? I liked the player and if my boyfriend or husband bought it for me, I would be thrilled. Would I buy it for myself? Well, that depends on the day. Here is a list of things that I like about the player:
1. Reasonable Price. It is less expensive than the similar Apple model and the product is made well. I dropped the player a few times and although the body of the player did not like it much (a few chips of the outer covering) the player is still playing which is wonderful.
2. I like the whole idea of carrying around my videos and photos and music in one product. I actually showed people photographs on the Zen and videos so I can say that I would use these features. Because I would use all of the Zen’s features, I would opt for the larger capacity model (60 GB or 80 GB if that is available)
3. Creative Customer service is wonderful. They answered my email within a day and they gave me a solution to my problem (The Zen Vision:M is designed to work with Windows environments not Apple ) Not only was Creative customer service prompt, but they also gave me two solutions which worked. I love that. This type of customer service is not common with technology companies and it made me smile. Customer service will win you female consumers and would be a serious selling point for me.
4. The model that I have for my test has a black face, which I liked, and I like the blue lights and the visual display panel. The Zen is not ugly; it is just is not pretty. It sort of reminds me of a Toyota car. You are not embarrassed to own one but you certainly would not brag about it. If you buy one, be sure to invest in a nice cover, then it doesn’t matter what the heck it looks like. There is a writer in Munich who crochets covers if you want to place an order.
5. Except for not fitting into my jean jacket, I like the size of the player. It reminded me of a deck of cards and was easy to carry in my hand. It is not too heavy and It did not annoy me to carry it. I would prefer that it fit into my jean jacket though so I might just need to buy a new jacket or the Zen needs to shrink a few centimeters.
Although I would love the Creative Zen Vision:M as a gift, I don’t know if I would buy it for myself. Why would I take it as a gift and not buy it? Well,
1. I hate dirt. Most Germans hate dirt. There is a sign at the Deutsche Museum asking people not to clean the mirrors. Germans are fanatical about cleaning and here you have an mp3 player that you can’t keep clean. It shows smudges and dirt and you need to wear gloves with it to keep it from looking messy. In my blog, I gave a few suggestions on what to do to avoid this, hopefully they will take the suggestions seriously when they design new models. Until they redesign, you can always buy a cover for it, that will definitely hide the dirt.
2. The Zen Vision:M does not fit into my jean jacket pocket. This is a fairly new discovery. I was out today and I was wearing a dress and wanted to put the zen in my jean jacket pocket and it did not fit. I had to carry it around in my hand. That is not a real hardship since it is only the size of a deck of cards but it still annoyed me. The lucky thing for the Zen Vision:M is that women can just shove it in their purses so size really doesn’t matter. Especially since you will not be running with the Vision:M, that is the job of a smaller mp3 player. The Zen Vision:M is more like a station wagon or Minivan. Carries lots of stuff but not created to go off road.
3. When the player is locked, I cant see the screen. I am not sure if this is an energy saving feature or just a flaw. Europeans like things that save energy but I like to see what is playing on the player. I want to see what is playing even if I can’t change the music, I want that information available without having to unlock the player. I also like visuals and hate the blank screen, let me see something.
4. I have an apple computer. The zen is built for windows which means that I have to use software that is not supported by Creative. Their customer service is wonderful but they will not be able to help me if I have a problem with software. I want them to make the zen accessible to Apple systems and I guess I should not leave out Linux systems. Be universal.
5. The reset button is too small. The Zen crashed only once and unfortunately I was stuck with a frozen Zen at a café in the town center. As I mentioned in my blog journal, the reset hole is so small that only a pin fits which is not helpful when you only have a pen and a nail file. If you are going to make the reset hole so small, build a reset pin into the zen so I can use it to reset the damn reset button.
I liked my month with the Zen Vision:M. I liked showing it to people and getting back useful feedback. I am sad to find out that women really don’t buy their own gadgets. Reality slapping me in the face… but I understand. There just is not much out there for us and how many women’s gadget stores are there?
My suggestion? If you go for economy and would buy a Toyota over a Mini, then you definitely should buy the Zen Vision:M. It is dependable, durable and does the job.
What can you do in thirty days? When I am teaching creativity classes, I tell my students that in 21 days you can create a positive habit. Did I create a Creative habit during my 30 day test?
Looking back, I realize that thirty days is enough time for me to get used to the gadget and get into the habit of using it, but not enough time for me to try out all the gadget’s abilities. Why is thirty days not enough time for me to test everything on a gadget? Because I am a woman and there always seems to be something more important to do than figure out how my technology gadgets work or in this case, where to buy and how to hook up a cord.
A cord did not come with the Zen Player and I did not feel like searching Munich for the cord. I might have searched high and low for the cord to watch Heidi Klum’s next top model search on my Creative Zen Vision:M. For some reason, that reality show has drawn me in and now I watch teenagers fighting to be the next super model.
Although the Zen vision:M is not the next super model, it does have potential with a little work. A little work on the part of Creative. Why do I say the player needs a little work? Because it does not qualify as “pretty” and it definitely does not qualify as “Easy”. Those are two things that I want in my technology products. I want them to be attractive, draw attention and I want them to be easy to use so I don’t have to fret over them.
This is not whining. This is reality. My day starts at 600 and ends around midnight each day. During that time, I am working, running errands, writing, taking care of my family and the last thing I have is time to sit down and try to figure out how to work a gadget. This does not mean that I don’t want gadgets. I have plenty of fun gadgets and I like buying them, I just want them to fit the above criteria.
According to my research that I documented in my blog, German women do not buy their technology products. German men buy women technology products. Is this because women don’t want them? No, it is because women have no clue what to buy and have no one targeting them. They are also a bit scared of the technology and in the case of the Zen Vision:M, I could not get one German women to use it.
So would a women buy a Zen Vision:M player in Munich? Probably not. The player is not readily available in the major stores. They do sell the player in Munich and you can order it, but very few women will venture into a technology store to order a player especially if they have never seen it, touched it or played with it.
Should women buy the Zen Vision:M? I liked the player and if my boyfriend or husband bought it for me, I would be thrilled. Would I buy it for myself? Well, that depends on the day. Here is a list of things that I like about the player:
1. Reasonable Price. It is less expensive than the similar Apple model and the product is made well. I dropped the player a few times and although the body of the player did not like it much (a few chips of the outer covering) the player is still playing which is wonderful.
2. I like the whole idea of carrying around my videos and photos and music in one product. I actually showed people photographs on the Zen and videos so I can say that I would use these features. Because I would use all of the Zen’s features, I would opt for the larger capacity model (60 GB or 80 GB if that is available)
3. Creative Customer service is wonderful. They answered my email within a day and they gave me a solution to my problem (The Zen Vision:M is designed to work with Windows environments not Apple ) Not only was Creative customer service prompt, but they also gave me two solutions which worked. I love that. This type of customer service is not common with technology companies and it made me smile. Customer service will win you female consumers and would be a serious selling point for me.
4. The model that I have for my test has a black face, which I liked, and I like the blue lights and the visual display panel. The Zen is not ugly; it is just is not pretty. It sort of reminds me of a Toyota car. You are not embarrassed to own one but you certainly would not brag about it. If you buy one, be sure to invest in a nice cover, then it doesn’t matter what the heck it looks like. There is a writer in Munich who crochets covers if you want to place an order.
5. Except for not fitting into my jean jacket, I like the size of the player. It reminded me of a deck of cards and was easy to carry in my hand. It is not too heavy and It did not annoy me to carry it. I would prefer that it fit into my jean jacket though so I might just need to buy a new jacket or the Zen needs to shrink a few centimeters.
Although I would love the Creative Zen Vision:M as a gift, I don’t know if I would buy it for myself. Why would I take it as a gift and not buy it? Well,
1. I hate dirt. Most Germans hate dirt. There is a sign at the Deutsche Museum asking people not to clean the mirrors. Germans are fanatical about cleaning and here you have an mp3 player that you can’t keep clean. It shows smudges and dirt and you need to wear gloves with it to keep it from looking messy. In my blog, I gave a few suggestions on what to do to avoid this, hopefully they will take the suggestions seriously when they design new models. Until they redesign, you can always buy a cover for it, that will definitely hide the dirt.
2. The Zen Vision:M does not fit into my jean jacket pocket. This is a fairly new discovery. I was out today and I was wearing a dress and wanted to put the zen in my jean jacket pocket and it did not fit. I had to carry it around in my hand. That is not a real hardship since it is only the size of a deck of cards but it still annoyed me. The lucky thing for the Zen Vision:M is that women can just shove it in their purses so size really doesn’t matter. Especially since you will not be running with the Vision:M, that is the job of a smaller mp3 player. The Zen Vision:M is more like a station wagon or Minivan. Carries lots of stuff but not created to go off road.
3. When the player is locked, I cant see the screen. I am not sure if this is an energy saving feature or just a flaw. Europeans like things that save energy but I like to see what is playing on the player. I want to see what is playing even if I can’t change the music, I want that information available without having to unlock the player. I also like visuals and hate the blank screen, let me see something.
4. I have an apple computer. The zen is built for windows which means that I have to use software that is not supported by Creative. Their customer service is wonderful but they will not be able to help me if I have a problem with software. I want them to make the zen accessible to Apple systems and I guess I should not leave out Linux systems. Be universal.
5. The reset button is too small. The Zen crashed only once and unfortunately I was stuck with a frozen Zen at a café in the town center. As I mentioned in my blog journal, the reset hole is so small that only a pin fits which is not helpful when you only have a pen and a nail file. If you are going to make the reset hole so small, build a reset pin into the zen so I can use it to reset the damn reset button.
I liked my month with the Zen Vision:M. I liked showing it to people and getting back useful feedback. I am sad to find out that women really don’t buy their own gadgets. Reality slapping me in the face… but I understand. There just is not much out there for us and how many women’s gadget stores are there?
My suggestion? If you go for economy and would buy a Toyota over a Mini, then you definitely should buy the Zen Vision:M. It is dependable, durable and does the job.
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