Or do you just enjoy trying to use it as an example of "epic fail" or what?

You said:

Yet watching him give a State of the Apple address was like puzzling over a Zune after spending years with an iPod—all the same basic functions are there, but the experience is somehow naggingly dull and awkward.

In my house, there are 3 iPods, 2 Zunes, and what Engadget called an "iRiver Choat". Nobody seems to have a problem switching between them. The only difference *I* really notice is that it's easier to turn the sound up/down on the Zune than it is on the iPod without having it get eardrum-shatteringly loud or so low I can't hear. Oh, and the sound is better on the Zunes through the same headphones (my audiophile boyfriend has noticed this too).

Despite the slight edge in iPod supply, the choice of players to take to the gym seems to be consistently the Zune in my house.

Makes sense. Zune uses MP3 as the format for its songs. The iPod converts MP3 to a proprietary format that is smaller, but sucks.