Zune schadenfreude

Wherein I can't imagine loading 8,000 songs with only USB and not Firewire

While I'm enjoying the generally bad reviews for the Zune, it's good to remember Slashdot's initial impression of the iPod:

No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame. In the comments:

Raise your hand if you have iTunes ...
Raise your hand if you have a FireWire port ...
Raise your hand if you have both ...
Raise your hand if you have $400 to spend on a cute Apple device ...
There is Apple's market. Pretty slim, eh? I don't see many sales in the future of iPod.

What I'm curious about--and haven't seen much about--is how the Zune software manages the music on the computer. Because using the free iTunes software is what convinced me to buy an iPod. I'd ripped about 500 CDs and used iTunes as a giant jukebox for a year. It worked so effortlessly that being able to carry this around with us turned from a "want" to a "need." So when I did get an iPod, I basically plugged it in and--BAM!--ten minutes later about 6,000 songs were loaded.