Zune to get Super Bowl XLI commercial?
By Ryan Block 
posted July 12th 2006 8:14PM
posted July 12th 2006 8:14PM
Either Microsoft has never had a Super Bowl commercial, or they've wasted some serious cash on mega-expensive advertising that no one -- at least not at Engadget HQ, anyway -- can seem to recall being aired in recent memory. Looks like that could soon change though; amidst all this hype about the Zune / Argo / Xboy / Microsoft portable media player / whatever the hell it's called, we've received word that Microsoft may be taking this effort all the way to the end zone. According to Digital Music News, the Zune could be starring in a Super Bowl XLI commercial in 2007, which would, of course display the company's commitment to the project initiative -- as well as giving it the kiss of death. Remember what happened to the last prominently placed portable media player to get some Super Bowl commercial action? Yeah, barely, right?
I want one.
WMP 10 is very frustrating so i baught a converter to swithch wmv to mp4 and wma to mp3
DIE APPLE DIE
How does no specs + ugly facade = I want one cause its better than an iPod?
At least wait till MS releases some info officially, cause right now this this is no more than vaporware and you fools are falling for some more sleazy viral marketing.
how is it going to tie into the Xbox? Will there be some sort of adaptor so you can play your fave tunes while gaming via TV speakers? Any ideas?
second note: I want them to name it the "Xpod". That would piss off everyone and I'd get some good laughs.
"I care more than your opinion which is somewhat worthless... Now go do something more constructive and polish the scratches out of your nano..."
Good for you.
Now go sit in line to buy your Vista
Of course WMP 10 is ugly and frustrating. That's why Microsoft put out WMP 11. If they can come up with a player that has as many features and is as easy to use as WMP 11, look out iPod!!!
I dont watch much footbal, but I'd like to se the ad.
i am an iPod fan, but the Zune still looks interesting. It does have a bigger screen and wireless access to download songs, which i was hoping iPod was going to have a long time ago. Apple is also patenting many things, such as the larger touch-screen ipod,
http://idisk.mac.com/rexhammock/Public/ipodscreen.jpg
and they are also working on wireless.
I'd like to see the competition, but chances are MS is going to make a small dent, but Apple will be able to fix it by updating their stuff.
As for WMP11 and iTunes, i like iTunes a lot more. I tried out WMP11 for a little while, as i liked the design, and hoped it would do the album art thing like it said, which it ended up screwing up.
In the end Zune might get a small crowd of super MS fans, but the majority will stick with iPod.
Redmond will release Zune in time for Christmas and sell nearly 50, not counting the ones Microsoft will send to Steve Jobs as a lousy joke. MS CEO Steve Ballmer will be arrested for biting a mother on her face in a department store while her son and daughter inspect the offerings at the iPod display. Ballmer will claim the report of the attack was a "gross exaggeration, spread by Microsoft's infinite enemies; I just brushed by her, looking for the Zune display" before settling out of court. Defects will plague the players (all 42 that will finally be sold) and Microsoft will end up in a law suit with all its media vendors who will charge that Microsoft was refusing to pay royalties after placing a 1/800th of a second of silence at the end of the songs they were selling through Zune and claiming they were all "new, original and innovative works copyrighted Microsoft. Duh." After 8 months of litigation, the suit will be settled out of court after CEO Ballmer bites through one of the tires on the Sony attorney's Lexus in the court parking lot and is shot with a tranquilizer round by the Washington State Department of Animal Control. Zune will be pulled off the shelves in June 2007 after MS issues a press release describing "its brilliant *pilot* of a massive, galaxy-stretching, mind-expanding portable media program yet to come" as a "total and unquestioned success." Analysts will point out, however, that after the law suits, media companies were so shocked to find nastier lawyers working for MS than they ever employed, MS was unable to contract any content for the Zune service at all. MS will be forced to start its own recording label and will only be able to sign William Shatner scatting and singing obscene lyrics to television theme songs and, in a desperate play, offer downloadable monster movies of CEO Ballmer stalking and eating his neighbors' pets. Analysts, newspaper columnists, national security consultants and religious leaders will accurately predict the devastating Vistapocalypse that will attend the release of Vista on Thanksgiving Day, 2007. Microsoft, sure of its success, will make an unprecedented media move buying all of the available commercial air time on the SuperBowl broadcast to demonstrate Vista's "advanced features" during commercial breaks starring William Shatner and CEO Ballmer as 'Spock' aboard the new "Starship Vista." Breaking with tradition, the spots will air live and will have to be improvised largely by Shatner when Ballmer's bright red Federation officer's jersey becomes hopelessly tangled around his head. "The new Aero screen saver is guaranteed to neutralize erectile dysfunction, hair loss and flatuence, right Science Officer Ballmer?" Shatner will announce, beaming from his familiar captain's chair, while muffled shrieks emanate from the crimson-shrouded head of the shirtless Ballmer, thrashing senselessly, struggling to pull the jersey down over his head. By the third quarter, newscasters will announce during breaks in the action that Vista had been cracked by Eastern European and Central Asian terrorist groups, had already taken over all the Vista desktops in the western world and were using them to drain corporate bank accounts and send wire transfers to Al Qaeda. Ballmer, interviewed by sportcasters on the scene, will be by then hopelessly entangled in the red jersey with his hands caught in the sleeves and his arms suspended over his shoulders. Unable to answer their questions with anything more than a strangled scream, Ballmer runs from the TV cameras and head-butts the Astrodome until he is unconscious. The next day, President Bush will declare, "Now I know what the 'blue screens of death' thing-things were all about. These people are fellow travelleres to Al Qaeda and their collaborators in the Democratic Party," and orders the Justice Department to bring racketeering and terrorism charges against the company. MS attemtps to deflect the charges by changing its address to a vacant lot in Spokane and ordering its employees to hide their eyes behind their hands while at work on the Redmond campus. CEO Ballmer flees justice and is caught in a dragnet some months later by British Columbia animal control officers, answering a call about an insane pet-eating bear running amock Fort Nelson in northern British Columbia. There, CEO Ballmer will be shot dead after fatally chewing through the neck of one officer and nearly severing his head from his shoulders. MS finally will collapse as thousands of employees leave, disgusted by the ethics of company convicted of abusive business practices and accused of shoddy engineering, racketeering, terrorism and finally, in the last straw, cannibalism. The company loses most of its board and finally a court appoints a board of receivers to maintain the company until the Windows operating system can be sold to investors. Microsoft XBOX survives as Shatner buys the division, keeping the tradename 'Microsoft' as the receivers could find no one else to buy the name of a company associated with crime, terrorism, insanity and cannibalism. Shatner will market a successful range of pornographic outer-space adventure games under the brand for the XBOX.
Ok, Well I've read about half of the comments on this site and I'd say it's a 50/50 split between people who hate apple and ipods and people who are diehard for apple and ipods. Diehard, that's an interesting term don't you think? I myself and a loyal diehard apple fan, i switched years ago with the first indigo imac g3 and i've never looked back. from what i've been reading the people who have problems with the ipod have problems with apple in general, why is that? do you not like ease of use? do you not like things to just work? do you not like inovative designs? now if you've answered no to those questions then yes you are a diehard MS fan, and a diehard idiot! I don't know if any of you have read anything about the Zune, but it sounds pretty complicated, maybe not to use but in the restrictions, sure sharing is great, and correct me if i'm wrong but you can send me a song, i can listen to it three times within 3 days then it just doesn't work? what's the point? odds are that i'll hear that song on the radio more than 3 times in 3 days... I'm not going to go over ever little problem i have with the zune but rather focus on the ipod here, even you are a diehard MS fan AKA diehard idiot - whynot get and ipod, because you've been waiting for the zune? just like you've been waiting for longhorn or vista or whatever the hell they are going to call they're next OS... The way i see, diehard MS fans are just pigheaded and short sighted, they been using PC's so long that they wouldn't dream of changing, what's the saying, can't teach an old dog new tricks? they are so busing hating on apple, ipods, mac OS because they still think all the old probems exist when they don't, they've been arguing the same tired points for years and years... WAKE UP! It's over, there is no difference anymore, the ONLY reason anyone should ever buy a PC as far as I'm concerned is if they are a hard core gamer other than that no competition! And also take a good long hard looks as Mac OS X and Vista... Gee I wonder where MS engineers got their ideas from. Bottom line is this, MS ownes the market yes, the question you need to ask yourself is why? Here's why, they were the first company to take a real crack at it so they didn't really have any competition, here's a big one... GOVERNMENT! US/CAN/UK all use MS Office and PCs because the people in power are like you OLD DOG! And when you use a PC/MS at work all day what do you want to use at home... you guessed it PC/MS - Well I don't know if you've taken a good hard look at today's University and College campus' but look, look closer, MacBooks, MacBook Pro's, iBooks, PowerBooks and in K9 alot more emacs and imacs - so they the future lies in todays youth, in that case MS days are numbered...
Adios.
you asked the question.
Let one anti-Mac fan answer.
Most of us hate the mac (or apple followers) because
1. Most of their comments and technologies are gimmicks with little utility.
2. MacFans insist on doing it the Mac way when there are far easier ways to accomplish something.
3. iPod was NEVER the first mp3 player and actually took away functionality, like the Radio and record buttons.
4. iPod led the way for pay per play of MP3s. Basically Steve Jobs is the Music industries hero. Now idiot mac/ipod users wont be sharing any songs. They've had their heads up their asses so far, they didnt realize that people were sharing like crazy on other networks and that ALL those cases against individuals, never resulted in any fines or jail time.
Because of iPod and Apple, people stoped thinking and just do what's told.
For instance, the spin wheel is SLOWER then a simple depressed up or down button.
The iPHONE ( don't know how long it will have that name) takes longer to "flip through to your favorite song rather then pressing 2 letters of it or the bands name. But Mactards will continue to "spin" and "flip" like idiots thinking its faster when it is NOT!
Basically to some up the argument
I-POD=I-IDIOT
Mac is definitely more user friendly IMHO, but PC's are cheaper. That is why the government uses them. Macs are in colleges because they get a deal. Smart on Mac's part. I am a Art Director at an ad agency that uses PC's...yes...I'd rather use a Mac, but that is the way it goes. I know there are allot of die hards out there on either side, but if you look at Mac/MS as tools for creativity and realize that the fun/creativity comes from inside, you can appreciate what the competition brings us...a better product!
iPod (as well as other Apple products) has gimmicks but not utility.
Not to mention I want a commercial that attacks those stupid Apple adds that are soemtimes flat out lies and deception.
Everyone had to go out and buy ALL NEW SOFTWARE as well as new machines when their OSX came out. -- why not make THAT comparison?!
God I really hope MS puts Windows Mobile on the zune... please please!!!