Limited Edition Joy Division Zune makes us dance, dance, dance to the radio

Listen to the silence, let it ring on. Microsoft is said to be releasing a limited edition, Joy Division Zune featuring an adaptation of Peter Saville's pulsating cover art from the band's Unknown Pleasures debut. The launch is meant to parallel the June 10th release of the Joy Division DVD and could, in one fell swoop, lift the Zune above its L-7 image. Then we could go on as though nothing was wrong and hide from these days we remained all alone.

P.S. That's our mockup of what we hope the Joy Division Zune will look like.

[Via Wired, Thanks Rob H.]

[AutoTom @ Apr 18th 2008 3:44AM]

Negative!

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 3:47AM]

Kinda following the Apple model of special edition iPods. I don't know how well it will go over but I'm sure that a few Joy Division fans will love it. Who knows, it might be a collectors item in the future. Joy Division is an important "classic" modern rock band.

[Austin @ Apr 18th 2008 4:24AM]

Actually Microsoft makes a hell of a lot more special-edition zunes. See for yourself:
http://www.engadget.com/search/?q=zune+special+edition&searchsubmit=
although Apple did make that one crappy U2 ipod.
I'll definitely give Microsoft points here for musical taste.

[Ray @ Apr 18th 2008 6:00AM]

give microsoft points for taste??

those bands suck more than u2!

[Geir E @ Apr 18th 2008 7:01AM]

Feel free to decide for yourself. What sounds best.

Adult swim is a tv show, halo 3 is a game, pink is breast cancer and then we are left with from what i see:

Wisin & Yandel (Even features clip of a zune)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9oFveyv94E

Joy division:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=w5nL_urTiXk

(and since I only can enter 3 urls, I will not mention the ever so typical rap song by the rapper featured on the goods version. Bun B i think it was)

For the ipod,

U2
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JFWPeVfWB9o

I have to say, I do not own an ipod nor a zune. But U2 really is what appeals to me. They are the ones who really deserve such a tribute.

[T.J. @ Apr 18th 2008 1:44PM]

@Austin

Actually, Apple started with the special editions in December of 2002. Three special edition iPods were released, tied to Tony Hawk, Madonna, and Beck. http://www.macworld.com/article/8032/2002/12/ipod.html

Then came the U2 iPod, which really wasn't that bad (it was just an iPod with a snazzy paint job and a discount on some U2 music...).

Either way, Apple pretty much set the precedent for special edition MP3 players, because I honestly haven't seen other, earlier products of the same type.

[nxtiak @ Apr 18th 2008 3:48AM]

That laser etching is pretty nice.
They should just put it up as an option like the other designs permanently.

[phanbouy @ Apr 18th 2008 3:49AM]

wow.. i didn't know "Engadget rules" was in the original album art

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 3:53AM]

HA!! I didn't even see that! Who's the silly twunt who pulled that photoshop bastardization... come on, fess up! :D

It is pretty though... I'm an iPod guy myself but damn those Zunes look nice. If I wasn't already committed to "The Dark Side" I might consider Zune. Lookin' sharp. :)

[Chicksta @ Apr 18th 2008 9:30AM]

Yep, I have it on vinyl, and it's there... o_0
They did say that this was 'their interpretation' of what it will look like, so I'm curious to see what it ends up looking like.
Well, at least they picked a really great band...

[andy @ Apr 18th 2008 3:56AM]

zune guy gets orgasms x 10 whenever he sees a pik of a zune...especially limite edit. ones.... who needs pr0n when u have a zune...

[Josh L @ Apr 18th 2008 11:37AM]

Who needs grammar or spelling when you have the internets?

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 4:01AM]

Who can blame him? It's a sexy looking device.

[hanalex @ Apr 18th 2008 4:05AM]

i'm a huge joy division fan but this doesn't seem all that great.
i wouldn't consider them being "classic" modern rock, more the pioneers of alternative rock.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 4:21AM]

You could probably look at it both ways. They're "classic" because they're old, 30 years old. They're "alternative" because they weren't mainstream. They certainly aren't "classic rock" and "alternative" was bastardized once it became mainstream. How can "alternative rock" be "alternative" when it's mainstream? Pioneers of modern/alternative go way back, such as Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, David Bowie (who is probably both "classic rock" and "modern rock/alternative") maybe MC5? The lines are quite blurred so it's hard to define, but they were certainly never mainstream.

[A.C.E.R. @ Apr 18th 2008 5:49AM]

Both of you don't know what the fuck you're talking about and you better lay off tainting the fine band with your filthy words. Go listen to REM or something.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 5:55AM]

You're pretentious, and rude. Why don't you crawl under a rock.

[Roni Solomon @ Apr 18th 2008 9:25AM]

If you really want to dissect this, Joy Division falls into the category of post-punk, as they were founded on the heels of the punk movement. Joy Division is often considered to be one of the earliest pioneers of the post-punk movement, as they were directly influence by punk, but took a decidedly more experimental route. Post-punk laid the groundwork for alternative, industrial, gothic and indie; all of which fall underneath the great umbrella of rock.

I'm not trying to be an elitist, I'm just saying that's how many critics and listeners classify Joy Division.

[Zoesch @ Apr 18th 2008 10:38AM]

Correct, Joy Division with Wire, Killing Joke, Siouxie, The Cure and Gang of Four were some of the initial post-punk bands, their influence still felt to this day (The likes of Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, Radiohead and others).

I'm a huge Joy Division/New Order fan, and the engraving looks really nice but I don't feel Closer to the Zune, I prefer the Unknown Pleasures of the iPod Touch... just has a bit more Substance. But if you like the Zune, that's one heck of a good engraving.

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 11:08AM]

zoesch:

Although I consider rabid iPod fanbois to be Dead Souls, your don't seem to be one... a Novelty on this forum These Days.

And although I have True Faith that the Zune will keep plodding along; the iPod is definitely a Temptation. Then again, the creative zen is nice too. I guess I just have a Bizarre Love Triangle going on.

(I do believe i have corrected your chronology, but remember: Boys Don't Cry)

[Zoesch @ Apr 18th 2008 1:08PM]

Hehehehe, I wasn't going in chronological order but you certainly did.

Could this be the beginning of a Brotherhood between Zune and iPod users? Maybe it's the beginning of a Change in the Land Of MIlk And Honey that these Sub-Cultures of the internet could indeed become Lovecats?

[bradp @ Apr 18th 2008 1:30PM]

That made my day... especially Lovecats.

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 3:23PM]

Zoesch:

Egads! Are you implying ...nay, perhaps making a subliminal Autosuggestion that we no longer have to Shiver and Shake at each other?!??

I love it! Let's start this weekend at 10:15 Saturday Night. Then, from that point on, no longer will boys have to be told that Boys Don't Cry and little girls that 'big girls don't cry', and no longer will we be Jumping Someone Else's Train; but rather we can run, iPod and Zune devotees, both into A Forest together... no longer merely acting out in an overly dramatic Play for Today; rather, a new, Primary way of interacting with each other ...and, lest we forget, we will also include *all* Other Voices in the MP3 player market.

Zoesch Sometimes, you amaze me. Like The Hanging Garden of Babylonia, you are a wonder of the world. If you were female, I'd say, "Let's Go to Bed"!

Nevertheless, The Walk together is what is most important. iPod lovers and Zune lovers together... like Lovecats. Just think of it! Where once I was a simple Caterpillar, now, somehow, sometime (perhaps In Between Days), I have sprung forth into a butterfly.

I feel a warmth Close to Me. I never knew there could be A Night Like This.

[Zoesch @ Apr 18th 2008 5:38PM]

Hahahaha, you win!

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 6:14PM]

Are you saying this is the End, then? Very well. It is better this way, for we both know that iPod and Zune users holding hands instead of writhing in The Snakepit is akin to a perfect kiss, and The Perfect Kiss is the kiss of death.

HALP!!!! MAKE ME STOP!!!! SOMEONE NAIL ME TO THE FLOOR AND PUSH MY GUTS ALL INSIDE OUT!!!!! HAAAAAAALP!


{sigh... and I don't even own a Zune or iPod... What the hell am I doin' here? I don't belong here... }

[Dave A @ Apr 18th 2008 4:20AM]

My favourite album cover, ever. One of my favourite bands. On a Zune. Bleh!

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 4:44AM]

Hater!! :p

[jason_wuhan @ Apr 18th 2008 4:52AM]

我要更改我的头像

[ssuk @ Apr 18th 2008 5:31AM]

Just to be mean, I'm going to write your reply in English:

You click your name on any comment you make, in the profile section, on the right hand side you have a link which says "Are you jason_wuhan? Login here", click there, enter your password, and you can edit your profile.

[sentient.exe @ Apr 18th 2008 4:54AM]

Joy Division is my favorite band and the Zune 80 is my player of choice...but, I really don't know how I feel about this one.

[eggothewaffle @ Apr 18th 2008 4:56AM]

Invert the topography and a couple slight adjustments/additions later, you are like a stones throw away from the highly coveted Goatse Zune.

[Evan Briggs @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:34PM]

So wrong... yet so awesome!

[Nilay Patel @ Apr 18th 2008 4:57AM]

I work here.


I want this so badly.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 18th 2008 5:31AM]

Make them buy you one for, um, research purposes... yeah, that's it. :D

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 6:21AM]

Microsoft is nothing but conquistadors who took their share,
But they keep calling me...
Keep on calling me,
They keep calling me,
They keep calling me.

[Mark @ Apr 18th 2008 11:27AM]

Nilay, I've written some pretty negative comments on your posts before. I take them all back now. You're alright in my book.

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 7:10PM]

Mark:


I'm right there with you! Nilay, I'm sorry about all the disparaging remarks, negative implications and inferences I made about you. Even though you are an attorney, you have shown, without even a sliver of a shadow of a doubt, that you have to be one of the coolest attorney's around.

If your oppresive overlords there at Engadget will not buy you one, I say we all chip in and buy you one.

OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I get one first, then I'll chip in for Nilay.

[iruka @ Apr 18th 2008 4:58AM]

That's a very cool design. I haven't seen the actual album cover though...

[booticon @ Apr 18th 2008 6:19AM]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BX24E4H8L._SS500_.jpg

[Zorque @ Apr 18th 2008 5:28AM]

I guess when ambitions are low, creativity will come and take them by the hand.

That was a stretch, I'm gonna stop now.

[hypereric @ Apr 18th 2008 8:06AM]

Nah.. keep going, just re-work it some There is h3ll of a good analogy between most of the lyrics to "Love Will Tears Us Apart" and MS and Zune versus Apple and iPod. I'd work on it, but I already threw in "Dead Souls".

[Taylor @ Apr 18th 2008 6:04AM]

Let's dance to Joy Division
and raise our glass to the ceiling
this could all go so wrong
but we're so happy!

-The Wombats

[Itsuru @ Apr 18th 2008 6:48AM]

How dare you sir!

[Frastoglegnia @ Apr 18th 2008 6:14AM]

I thought I might get a thank-you for sending in this tip. In a word, gee.

[Thomas Ricker @ Apr 18th 2008 6:44AM]

Oh man, terribly sorry bro. I've updated the post with your credit.

Thomas

[Frastoglegnia @ Apr 18th 2008 6:21AM]

Earlier tonight, I was joking with a friend about sending this news to Jack Thompson and other yokels who blamed the Atlus game Persona 3 for promoting teen suicide. It would be fun to watch self-appointed experts try to claim a JD Zune endangered the spiritual welfare of "our children" -- especially since 99% of "our children" haven't listened to Joy Division and never will!

[aluk @ Apr 18th 2008 6:34AM]

Total and utter sacriledge for such a ground-breaking and briliant band to be associated with such utter crap as this company.

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 18th 2008 10:17AM]

Really?

Why wouldn't they want to be associated with one of the richest companies in the world and get advertising from a special edition Zune, being that is better than any competing iPod...

Honestly, whats the problem? Oh. Fanboy. Sorry.

[Zoesch @ Apr 18th 2008 10:40AM]

Zeus how can you accuse anyone of being a fanboy?

[Zeus.:God @ Apr 18th 2008 11:15AM]

Easy.

I look for smug remarks in posts with a strong bias with no real justification. I've seen this guy around before (despite his single post, he must have used a new email address), and most of them were in Apple/Microsoft posts.

He's a fanboy. I'm not. There we go. Move along.