Microsoft Kills the Zune

[FalloutJack]

Oi oi oi! Enough with the people calling others sheep! That's BS and you know it. Some people made a choice and you made another. Get over it!

OT: That said...

...can't believe this one hasn't come up yet:

WAH HA HA HA HA HA HAAA!!! Funny as hell! Where can I find more?

Zune was described to me by my brother, originally. And as he is my geeky older brother who does computer-related work and is more on the hub of technology than the whole of my immediate family, I must say that he knows a fair few things. (So do I, but he knows even better.) The Zune, unfortunately, was a freshwater fish thrown out to sea and told to make a living. Not easy. (In fact, zoologically-speaking, impossible. But that's not where I was carrying the analogy.) To match the iPod, it had to be able to compete on its level. It needed to be different, yet wantable. It didn't choose a path that worked.

The Zune had whatever basic problems a new field of business would have in a case like this when first doing it. Interactivity fails, software problems, etc. However, one of its features involving the sharing and playing tracks put on it, had cursed it from the beginning, and that was the thing that limited amount of plays of something you BOUGHT to play on it. The machine is a cheaper price, attempting to undercut the iPod sale, but you could have Mr. iPod which was years into its works and improved with time already right now for a little more cash.

To those who decided to go for Zune anyway, I'm not ragging on ya. The truth is that it was just an uphill battle and Microsoft got tired of it. Sorry.

 

[Kungfu_Teddybear]

This has reminded me of a line in Family Guy

"Hey Bill Gates could you help me programme my Zune.. Oh wait, I have an iPod like the rest of the world"

 

[SaintWaldo]

I'm sorry Susan. I feel for you.

I hope the service on Windows Mobile devices helps, even just a little.

 

[manaman]

I know no-one, including myself, wanted a Zune, but it's still a shame that it failed as hard as it did.

Zune actually had the second largest share of media player market. A paltry 10%, but Apple is getting along just fine with roughly the same size share of the PC market. The player was hardly a total failure. Especially when you consider it had that market share without proper advertising, proper world wide release, and proper software support. In other words Microsoft made a decent product then forgot all about it. It really is Microsoft's fault there is a lack of good games and programs for the Zune, especially the Zune HD. They never opened the platform to third party development. There where people who where playing around, and even one group that managed to port over several of their iPhone games to the HD.

I wounder how much of this decision was motivated by the fact that phones are fast replacing the media player market anyway. About the only advantage a stand alone device has anymore is battery life. The HD I have lasts for days. My phone lasts maybe eight hours with moderate use. The only reason I still use the HD over the phone is because of that battery life.

 

[Pariahwulfen]

Oi oi oi! Enough with the people calling others sheep! That's BS and you know it. Some people made a choice and you made another. Get over it!
*snip*

Out of curiosity, how many of the people who are actually bashing Microsoft's Zune on here have a Xbox 360 and would defend it to no end? Since the people who are unable to figure out that it's the same damn company are in fact "sheep", or simply those who follow everyone else and buy what they're told to buy.

 

[rbstewart7263]

My friend dale got a ipod way back when and tried to put some of the aikido video's that he had torrented on it. Fuckin Itunes wouldnt have it and I spent hours trying to find a way to convert them without losing the english subtitles JUST so that Itunes would recognize those very hard to find videos.

My Zune doesnt give me any shit on the matter I want a video to play using zune software, itl recognize the video. I want a video put on my zune all I have to do is drag and drop it onto the zune.

 

[inflamessoilwork]

Nooooooooo!

I love my Zune, still have the original brick. This thing is a tank. Dropped in multiple times on concrete, still works as if it was right out of the box. Went through 4 ipods in 2 years before I found my Zune.

I am disappoint.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Phew, for a second there I was afraid they were killing the software.

Can someone please explain to me why no one bought a Zune or hardly anyone? Like that guy said, it did everything an iPod does but no one (hardly anyone) bought a Zune, after seeing what the zune looks like, i might go out and buy a pink one

I don't know why everyone bags on the zune; it was everything the iPod was + radio, for a few bucks cheaper. I've never been angry at my zune or the software, yet my mom constantly rages at iTunes. Oh well, sheep will be sheep.

but it wasn't nearly as refined as the iPod.

lolwut

You didn't hear? Anyone who calls someone else a "sheep" pejoratively is immediately disregarded in every matter, ever.

Seriously, stop it.

Then what are people you buy Apple products solely because they're Apple products?

Apple fans. Sheep are incapable of buying things, being sheep.

 

[icyneesan]

Meh, Zune was never as cool as Sony's Walkman

 

[Shy_Guy]

Apple fans. Sheep are incapable of buying things, being sheep.

Sheep: One falls off a cliff and dies, the rest follow just because the one did. Analogy well enough appropriate for all the idiotic Apple love.

 

[mjc0961]

I buy phones when I need to call someone. I use mp3 players to listen to music. Phones are not in competition with mp3 players.

Agreed. Phones aren't in competition with MP3 players. Smart phones are, but not regular phones. And all I want is a nice cheap regular phone that can call people and an MP3 player, not one smart phone with poor battery life and a huge monthly bill I have to pay just because it has a metric fuck-ton of features I will never use.

Then what are people you buy Apple products solely because they're Apple products?

Call them iSheep and slap a picture of an apple with one bite taken from it on them (Note: it has to be shiny) and they'll love being called sheep.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I'm sorry Microsoft what was that you say not enough "money" in your pocket?.

 

[Gammaj4]

Thing is, and this is pure speculation on my part, I doubt we're going to see much in the way of MP3 Player sales of any kind. Everyone's phones already play music, and many now have traditional 3.5mm jacks. I really see no purpose in even carrying my MP3 player anymore.
So yeah, that's my two cents.

 

[Juion]

I like my Zune that I got for $3.

 

[Caprice0083]

This blows, I brought my Zune HD launch day because of the two iPods that quit on me and resources hogging software we know as iTunes was really starting to piss me off. This thing has survive war with me and honestly has better sound quality than the iPods. Microsoft marketed this thing wrong and barely did anything with it in terms of games and apps. The Zune didn't fail, Microstupid did.

 

[godfist88]

it was bound to happen, the Zune just can't compare.

 

[Therumancer]

I bet this guy [http://gizmodo.com/#!318794/zune-tattoo-guy-legally-changing-his-name-to-microsoft-zune-is-clearly-insane] is feeling really, really smart now:

To be entirely honest the point of people pulling stunts like that usually isn't because they are insane or stupid, but because they are trying to get attention from the company. There are a few cases out there of celebrities who got recognized and catapulted to fame and fortune (or just sticking around long enough to make some decent money) due to wierd stunts.

I think the idea was that the guy got a couple of simple tattoos and took pictures for the internet, it's cheap enough, can be hidden, and can be removed. Since he started to get some notoriety and be recogized, the name changing stunt was to draw more attention. The intent was probably for Microsoft to notice him and figure "hey this guy is well known, and becoming connected to our product" and then pay him to act as a mascot and do commercials or whatever.

There are worse plans, and when he came up with it back in 2007 and probably seemed like it had more of a chance of success, and he figured he'd get a few laughs if nothing else. I'd imagine he'll just get his name changed back and the tattoos removed, or inked over. None of the tattoos he has that I can see seem especially elaborate, and could be easily removed by intergrating them into other designs and filling them in where nessicary, if lasers or whatever are simply too expensive.

Truthfully, very little surprises me with tatoos or name changes anymore, there have just been too many people exploiting them for shocks, and Tatts in paticular are hardly as permanant as they once were. Decades ago if you got really drunk/wasted, scored with a girl, and decided to have the night memorialized by having a tatoo of an antique diving helmet with the caption "Muff Diver" placed on your forehead, it was likely to be there for the rest of your life unless you were stupidly rich. Nowadays it's not cheap to get rid of, but hardly catastrophic.

 

[Skizle]

great now i have to put up with Apple. Although I've kinda lost faith in Microsoft. They just dont know how to compete in the business world at all. I really dont see why I have to pay $10 to watch netflix on my 360 ( ever since i built my PC it has since started collecting dust)

 

[littlewisp]

Apple fans. Sheep are incapable of buying things, being sheep.

Sheep: One falls off a cliff and dies, the rest follow just because the one did. Analogy well enough appropriate for all the idiotic Apple love.

I think you're confusing sheep with the lemming shtick. I thought the whole sheep thing got popular because sheep do (or, are coerced/tricked into doing) what their shepherd tells them to do. If you're saying they're following each other, you might as well throw in any other herd animals.

I submit: cows.

OT: I never really heard much about the Zune until now. Go go advertising!

 

[Rivers Wells]

Ok, the last line in this article got me pretty good.