Zune oddities (part II): Zune in orange, Zune Masters program, Zune with 80GB

We tend to think of something particularly academic when we hear the phrase "accepted into our masters' program," but apparently Microsoft is working the influencer angle again with the Zuners. 200 kids between the ages of 18-22 (but no older -- no one over 22 is cool, obviously) have been blessed with a bunch of Zune apparel (ten shirts, a hat, a messenger bag), some posters, obligations to hit the scene and attend (or suggest) hip Zuney events, and, of course, carry along their limited edition Zune. Speaking of limited edition Zunes, did you hear there are now orange Zunes are floating around retail? Apparently one went up on eBay starting at $750 -- no one bid though, what a shame and surprise. Guess that goes to show you that if you make too many limited edition products, people just stop caring. Danger, we're looking over your way. Oh, and finally, there's more Zune drive hackery going on, now boosting the 1.8-inch platter spinning monster up to 80GB without any case mods. Zune oddities, get 'em while they're, uh, weird. More pics after the break.

Read - Orange Zune on eBay [Via Zune-Online]
Read - Zune Masters program [Via Zunerama]
Read - 80GB Zune

[Richard @ Dec 23rd 2006 2:53AM]

Ryan, it's a Friday night, and you're up making posts? I thought I was the only one with no life.

Pretty neat idea, making 100 orange ones and randomly distributing them.

I especially liked the card that came inside the box:
"If you really want the device color you thought you were buying, just send us an email at [e-mail]... and we'll arrange to swap it out for you."

Cute.

[Jeff.a.Hogue @ Dec 23rd 2006 2:56AM]

I like the fact that they put limited editions out there. I don't like the fact that they didn't label them (or at least label them in a way people see), but oh well.

[randalljoe @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:14AM]

I just got my brown Zune and I cant believe I even used to like Ipod. I'm never going back. The screen is beutiful and does not scratch (no lie) Watching a couple of episodes of robot chicken makes my day at work a hella better.

[bradwjensen @ Dec 23rd 2006 3:43AM]

lmao, you people didn't know that Microsoft gave out orange and pink Zunes to some of it's workers right after the Zune was released.. thats probably why theres some orange and pink ones on Ebay.. Now whats odd is that you are just posting about this now, and the fact that ipodmods has had their hard drive upgrade for a quite awhile; like months now. I swear they also had a 120GB hard drive for it stating that they fit in the player by removing the metal thing in the Zune.. But they don't seem to have that there anymore.. hm.

[mike @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:12AM]

"I just got my brown Zune and I cant believe I even used to like Ipod. I'm never going back. The screen is beutiful and does not scratch (no lie) Watching a couple of episodes of robot chicken makes my day at work a hella better."

First rule of Zune: No talking about Podcasts
Second rule of Zune: No talking about Podcasts
...
Oh, and brag about Wifi, but never turn it on.

[Revrant2394 @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:22AM]

First rule of iPod: Always compare/mention it no matter the situation
Second rule of iPod: Attempt to imitate Job's pretentious swagger

[z @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:19AM]

It seems the ms viral crew is still alive and well... ;)

[Arnie @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:40AM]

I really love the beautiful screen on the Zune but I wished the system wasnt so closed as Ipod. That being said if I got a Zune for 180-200$ I would buy it over Gigabeat S(which I prefer for at least some freedom of DRMed music)
Can anybody who owns a Zune tell me wether there is any way to get DivX or XVid files on the Zune?

[david ogunnoiki @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:58AM]

Ha Microsoft, can't say anything bad now buddy works there now

[Joe @ Dec 23rd 2006 6:36AM]

I got accepted as a Zune Master, it actually took a lot of phone interviews, and applications, lol. But, my zune starter kit is in the mail and I am supposed to be compensated financially for any promoting I do, so we'll see. Funny thing is, I don't even own a PC, im a Mac guy all the way. OH well, free, is free, even if it is a Zune.

[The Grand Master @ Dec 23rd 2006 7:24AM]

YUK!!

That orange Zune looks disgusting! Brown was bad, but the black looked pretty cool, but these pink and orange ones look pretty horrible if you ask me.

Anyone agree, or is it a British thing?

[zverg @ Dec 23rd 2006 9:13AM]

agreed. the orange looks awful.

[Dennis @ Dec 23rd 2006 7:52AM]

loving that camera reflection there.... does that come as standard?

[Colin @ Dec 23rd 2006 8:42AM]

Sad to hear about the master's program....

I don't need MORE insufferable pricks (that is you iPod fanboy) having orgasms over their DAP of choice.

[tekdroid @ Dec 23rd 2006 8:43AM]

I hear it comes with instructions:
"how to promote a turd in 12 easy steps"

...included in every box.

[spil @ Dec 23rd 2006 10:43AM]

Man, the people that read engadget really hate the Zune. The only negatively ranked person is one who has a Zune and likes it. He could have used some better word choice (e.g.: "hella"), but he was much more mature than some of the other commenters who were bashing the Zune, who were highly ranked (e.g.: "'how to promote a turd in 12 easy steps'"). I can make a poop joke too, tekdroid: Zune is like poop because one of the available colors is brown. ha ha ha.

What's with the two worms/phalluses shaking hands and vomiting on the Zune logo? Is this supposed to represent the wifi's "cool" "squirting" feature?

[tekdroid @ Dec 23rd 2006 6:44PM]

actually, my particular turd comment I made had nothing to do with the colour. I like brown (and don't mind orange). It has a lot to do with:

1) draconian Digital Rights Restrictions (share songs, but only for 3 days or 3 plays)
2) installation problems (many have had these, and you'd think fixing it before release would be a better thing to do than hype an unready product)
3) overhyping a product that uses proprietary software to get music on the device (just like Apple and Sony do, etc). Better competitors allow drag-n-drop to get playable music ON and OFF the device just like a USB stick treating data files, with no added software.
4) overhyping a product that plays no royalty-free formats, when there's heaps of companies like Cowon doing things better yet getting virtually no press
5) overhyping a product that can't even store regular data files like every other DAP out there (a shock to me...)

As far as I can tell, the Zune gets lots of hype simply because it's Microsoft. Others give it hype coz it has 'potential'. What other companies get this sort of treatment? If their product sucks, it's left for dead.

I stand by my 'promote a turd' comment. I thought I was being quite kind, in fact.

[Pirateinmymind @ Dec 23rd 2006 11:33AM]

At $750 you think that eBay seller could have at least offered free shipping. Not only do you have to pay over double retail for the player, but adding that shipping is like a slap in the face.

[whitneymcn @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:15PM]

Now, six weeks *after* the launch, Microsoft is trying to build a street-level network of people to promote the Zune? *Now?*

I can only assume that it wasn't the best and brightest from MS marketing that ended up working the Zune launch. Curious.

My proposal for fixing one of the other Zune marketing failures (the social's failure to launch) is here: http://www.thezunebox.com

[Sy @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:37PM]

I always figured Engadget is one of their favorite targets for Microsoft's astroturfing campaign. Please don't give me that crap about Engadget's monitoring ip addresses ...you think Microsoft employees are that stupid to post comments using a recognizable address? There are a lot of ways to get around "monitoring" from blog sites etc.

[sergeij freud @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:38PM]

what is a zune?

[Brian @ Dec 23rd 2006 12:40PM]

ah, so Microsoft prefers the drunk and stupid age group.

[Jeff Foster @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:37PM]

MS seems desperate at this point, and it's a little sad.

[lorenpedro @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:52PM]

Microsoft has now resorted to paying people to promote their products
I tell you what, I would still use my ipod nano to work out and snowboard rather than hauling around a clunky wifi device that can't share music with anyone anyhow. And I guarantee you won't see me at any "socials", esp like the ones you see on those tacky Zune commercials with the hippie types that look like they're waiting for a space ship to come get them and take them to a Bob Marley concert.

[acidreflux @ Dec 23rd 2006 1:54PM]

"Masters program" and "welcome to the social"??

What morons come up with this marketing crap?

I think their pathetic marketing attempts would be better geared towards my grandmother.

welcome to the social...what idiots sat around and said "welcome to the social, yeah, thats it, thats our slogan!"

[Ron @ Dec 23rd 2006 4:09PM]

it seems like zune just tries way too hard to be 'hip'. i mean the success of ipod -when it was first released- and the relative success of the iriver didn't bank on being the coolest player out there, they tried to be the best and most effective.

the whole 'we get on our computers, plug in our zunes, check out our myspaces while it updates, then go out and trade music while looking pretentious' gimmick doesn't really sell well outside of maybe 12-13 year olds trying to act older than they are.

[pabjvar @ Dec 23rd 2006 5:12PM]

At least Microsoft is trying... but Apple still is the winner in this category...

[Sniperman @ Dec 23rd 2006 6:07PM]

that actually is my zunemasters.com zune
i love the program, they are forcing us to push product or anything like that, we are volunteers that want to spread the word on zune, we love the program

[Sniperman @ Dec 23rd 2006 6:09PM]

stupid typo lol, i mean the AREN'T forcing us.

the activities are fun, they include going to stuff like music events or parties, the zune itself does all the work.

[Juriko @ Dec 23rd 2006 8:04PM]

Actually you don't "have" to be under 22 for the program. You just need to be college and involved with local stuff in some way.

Zune masters isn't viral marketing. It is just an events street team like what a radio station etc would have. We just have to show up at a few events, and are encouraged to find events for MS to sponsor Zune stuff at. We have no online presence, and we have shit with our ambassador logo pasted all over so our affiliation is obvious, and we have to get consent for photos etc. at most events.

It isn't really any different from what other companies do for local event advertising other than it started as a focused network as opposed to a one per pop event team.

Also we don't get "payed". Payed events just mean events were we get money to go to them, it is to cover expenses. And it isn't "the zune masters program" it's "Zune Masters" as in we know about the hardware.

I won't try to be a shill for the product, because I know it won't matter. The fact is the Zune is a great device, but the software still needs a lot of debugging(I had no problems, but obviously it IS an issue. The interface is amazingly streamlined; it looks good and it works well. Its biggest flaw is the lack of a compelling reason to get one to replace your Ipod. It will stay like that until they expand the WiFi. It is just a great media device, and not heads above its primary competition.

[spil @ Dec 23rd 2006 9:41PM]

Now, doesn't make you feel better when you explain WHY (they need italics on this) you called something a "turd"?

Hopefully the answer is yes, because you don't sound like a 10-year old when you actually explain why you dislike the Zune instead of just randomly calling it a "turd". Probably best to steer away from calling things "turds".

[Ron @ Dec 24th 2006 3:23AM]

Juriko-

You seem well-trained by Microsoft. Even when you guys talk about the device's flaws, you still manage to sound like an advertisement for Zune. The whole praise-critique-praise method is working really well for you.

As far as 'amazingly streamlined' software is concerned, maybe you should check out their inspiration for it. If I recall correctly, I think they call it 'iTunes' or something like that.

[Juriko @ Dec 24th 2006 7:57PM]

A. I am not trained by Microsoft, and your tone is insulting.

B. I was talking about the interface of the player itself, not the software. I know what Itunes is, my job uses nothing but macs.

I'll give up now since I recognize that this is a lose, lose discussion.

[VisioCloud @ Jun 8th 2007 7:52PM]

I think we are all forgetting a big thing here, who funded the 'iPod' program, who gave apple the loan... anyone? It was microsoft, and as for Zune player (which is really just Windows Media Player with another name) being a knock off of iTunes, no, have you even looked at the two programs? iTunes was obviously not designed with the intent of people being able to use it with ease. iTunes looks and feels as if it was thrown together by some drunk programmers after a lame party one night, whereas Zune Player never ceases to amaze me with the intuitive features that the program thinks of before I do.

[Bak3donh1gh @ Dec 24th 2006 5:24AM]

Planning on modding my zune to 60 or 80 after christmas, damn can't wait.

[Zunester @ Dec 24th 2006 5:39AM]

"I would buy it over Gigabeat S(which I prefer for at least some freedom of DRMed music)"

Some freedom? Dude,the Zune is just as free of DRM as any other player...it's called rip your own cd's/download from p2p,etc. Yeah,the Zune market uses DRM....just as every other online store does. If you buy a Gigabeat and use it with Yahoo Music or whatever,you are subject to just as much DRM as you are using a Zune.


"Can anybody who owns a Zune tell me wether there is any way to get DivX or XVid files on the Zune?"

Yes...convert them.

[Philly Cheese @ Dec 24th 2006 5:45PM]

I wonder if Microsoft provides dictionary's or better yet in-house training on how to write a "sick" review.

[Tamoko @ Jan 28th 2007 2:32PM]

The orange one is like a traffic cone...strangely appealling, too bad it's a Zune