Given just how shaky the
economy as a whole has been of late, Microsoft's
sour news in relation to the Zune isn't quite as shocking as it might be otherwise. That said, plenty of outlets publicly voiced their concern for the future of the line, but now Microsoft has hit back with assurance that everything's still moving ahead according to plan. In a recent interview, Adam Sohn, the Zune's director of marketing, said rather defensively that "every time anything comes up, there is a set of people who pull a Chicken Little and say, 'The Sky is Falling.
Zune is dead.' " He continued by stating rather outrightly that Microsoft was "still on track to deliver the next generation of Zune innovation in software and hardware," noting that the planning was "fast and furious" and that "progress" would be delivered this calendar year. Welp, that settles that, huh?
[Thanks, Roger]
posted Jan 28th 2009 12:27AM
Woah, hang on there, did Microsoft just allude to Engadget: "there is a set of people who pull a Chicken Little and say, 'The Sky is Falling. Zune is dead.' "
Dang...
They are watching from the clouds... probably reading the comments as we speak...
I always wanted to get a Zune but it's not available in my country (Mexico), I might have to ask a fellow immigrant to bring me one back from Circuit City... I have tons of WMV porn I want to carry in my pants everywhere.
ZUNEPHONE!!!!!11!!!! if they just increased the screen size, resolution, touchscreen, threw in some massive internal storage (32 gb +), the phone part, and kept everything from current zune models it would be off the hook. the bought danger for a reason.
why don't you just add microwave to your list there...
I really hope MS is firing the 5000 from the windows & office divisions.
They really should make a touchscreen Zune.....
With hard drive!!
No, no, no, the Zune does not compete with the iPod Touch. So why oh why would they ever need to make a touch screen Zune? That's just stupid. No one looks at the Zune and thinks about the iPod Touch. No says, hey, this one has Wifi with internet, 16,000 apps and games, a bigger screen, Multi-touch, and the other has a radio.
Heck no, people look at the Zune and say, hey, this is totally better than the iPod Classic, you know, that seven year old device that Microsoft took five years catching up to. I will get the Zune for music and if I need a PDA, I'll buy a PDA, but no way am I going to compare this to a iPod Touch, because that would be unfair. The Zune rocks! The name is so Cooooool!!! Yeah!!!!
You see, that's what is going through people's minds, so the Zune is going to continue to sell like hot cakes. The iPod is dying, I say, dying!
/Zune Fanboy
Paul:
YOU ROCK. I agree with you 100%. No iPod for me either!
Paul, christ, just shut it already.
I bought the Zune for its amazing sound quality and intuitive UI, not for the fact that it's better than an iPod Classic (which people still buy, by the way, because the Classic has far more storage space than the Touch. Why Apple decided to skip out on dropping an HDD in the Touch is beyond me).
Awesome sound quality and 80GB space for my movies and music for the win.
omg Paul! im so jealous that you payed over $100 more to get half the storage capacity. but i guess you get to play with that fake lighter thingy and pretend to draw on a foggy window so that more than makes up for the difference. i wish i was cool and trendy like you!
@Paul A.Chapel:
I want to thank you. See, whenever I point out to my Mac friends why people find Mac zealots intensely obnoxious, they always come back with 'I've never seen anyone like that - you must be imagining it...'
But now, when that happens - I just link them to one of your wildly inappropriate and confrontational posts - and voila, they have to admit that it's not my imagination - there are people like that.
Bravo for setting the bar for fanboism even lower and making my life easier. :)
Bravo.
No, thank you, Jeff. As a XP user for eight years, I do what I can for my fellow man. It's good to know I'm appreciated for using an OS that becomes pre-installed on most PCs, whether I like it or not! It's that kind of choice that make us better than those obnoxious Apple Fanboys.
Paul, what the hell?
Stop being an insane tool.
Paul, Clack, iEye ... typical Apple fans.
i'm automatically low ranking paul and high ranking everyone who insults him. paul is like the new iEye only ten times worse.
Paul = megadouche
I believe Paul has broken his own golden rule and mentioned the iPod first in a Zune thread. Also, I'm really finding this new alter-ego Paul fascinating.
Can I do something really quick guys?
@Paul
Are you still going on about how the iPod Touch competes with the Zune? Let me repost something that a wrote last week for you...
Here's how it breaks down what is competing with what:
Apple v. Microsoft
iPod Classic 80/120 Zune80/120
iPod Nano 8/16 Zune4/8/16
iPod Touch NOTHING YOU FUCKING IDIOT!
NO OTHER MP3 PLAYER FROM MICROSOFT HAS A COMPLETELY TOUCH SCREEN BASED USER INTERFACE!
Now that people suggest that Microsoft may be coming out with something next generation, you criticize the fact that the Zune has more features that the iPod Classic. Then you go on to say that the iPod Touch has awesome things like Pandora, which require you to be inside a wifi network..... or if you're on an iPhone and you payed hundreds of dollars more for the service plan or the iPhone unsubsidized.....
Not to mention that now that all of iTunes music is DRM free, people can buy music from iTunes and then put it on their Zune! You can no longer say that Apple has the locked in package, and that is why they're successful.
"iPod Touch NOTHING YOU FUCKING IDIOT!
NO OTHER MP3 PLAYER FROM MICROSOFT HAS A COMPLETELY TOUCH SCREEN BASED USER INTERFACE!"
Very true. When someone says that the Zune competes with the iPod touch I ask them why then does Apple still sell the classic instead of retiring it in favor of the Touch? They don't because even Apple distinguishes them as different categories of players. The Zune was obviously made as a competitor to the classic and we may see the new Zune as a possible competitor to the Touch.
I don't know... I really like the 2.0 interface. The trackpad feels very natural, and your screen stays smudge-free.
@Paul
For the last time, yes the products, they DO compete, they are NOT MEANT TO COMPETE! The Zune competes with the Touch, just like the Zune competes with buying a car or grocery shopping, its all a matter of money and enjoyment and needs!
And yes, ffs, I LISTEN TO THE RADIO!
Here's a little gift for everyone, my Paul-blocking GreaseMonkey script.
Yay!
http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/36579
(GreaseMonkey is a Firefox plugin that lets you install scripts to customize your web experience)
That's because "Next-Gen Zune" means WinMo 6.5.
**Here Here**
[sarcasm] Microsoft would never do such a thing, that would be far too logical, and far too sinister a way to get their media player software on a huge installed user base of WM smartphones and devices. [/sarcasm]
This is very very likely the direction that they're going, since the Zune software is WM/Windows CE based (and admittedly does a lot with that software set while remaining pretty stable), and in light of the rumors of late. No, you'd never see a story on Engadget about *those* rumors, now would you?
While I guess that wouldn't hurt me any, I'd rather they didn't waste the time. I like the functionality of my current Mogul. I think I might end up liking the Palm Pre a heck of a lot more. I want my mobile to be a beast at making calls, email/text and net/file browsing. (A decent camera would be nice for a change, too.)
Trying to build in media functionality won't necessarily hurt those things, but I genuinely like my media being on another device. There are lotsa knit-picking reasons, but a big one is simply battery. With tunes jamming all day and messages/phone calls flying, it's nice getting a strong mile out of two separate devices.
So anyhow. That's what I like. Different strokes 'n all that. My croaking Rio wants to be replaced by a lil Zune 16GB, but poppa's outta cash and saving for hope of a Pre.
I have a Zune 80 and it's a great mp3 player.
as do i. it does everything i need it to. music sounds good. videos look good. the interface is very intuitive and easy to use. i use the Zune Pass and i am loving it. explain to me why people dont like this thing!
Indeed, hell even if you have a 30GB its still a great player since Microsoft has made is so that the updates/new features are backwards compatible across all generations. Something that can't be said of the competition, you don't need a wall diagram to figure out what generation of what device supports what feature after upgrading to firmware version X.
I am digging the ZunePass. Best part about the Zune.
My GF loves her Zune Pass. Whenever she's like "I feel like hearing [X]", she just goes and downloads the whole album / discography.
What do you think they are going to say? "Yeah, things here suck so bad that we may just pull the plug, but we're not sure just yet".
touchscreen zune w/ wifi and decent web browser would be nice
+1 if xbox live connectivity :)
Free Xbox live messenger app already been out on iPhone for about a year now,.
@shugg That doesn't count. What we're actually looking for is the ability to download games from the XBLA and purchase XB Video Marketplace content though XBOX to deliver / use on our Zunes. Chatting is a pretty minor feature.
Well that clears that up, the next Zune will be around sometime in the next 11 months. Thanks Microsoft ;).
I own a 120gb, and have owned a Zune since the 30GB. The line is excellent compared to other PMP's and it would be a shame to see it go so soon. I think it's here to stay for quite a while though, and hopefully tops the top PMP in ters of popularity. It's already done so in every other way.
Well I hope it's still on track. I just invested in a new 120GB Zune---an upgrade from my zune 30 I've had for 2.5 years (and still works perfectly I might add) needless to say I'm pretty impressed since My ipod 30gb vid effed up after a year (leading me to the zune) and the countless times I've dropped it on pavement.
Honestly, does this mean I should NOT get that oh-so-tempting Zune 120 I was looking at?
It is pretty new... but what does MS have up their sleeve? Is it worth waiting?
Erm... we're talking about consumer electronics here. I'd say go for it. The tech cycle is a slow roller, so whatever you get is sure to keep you 100% satisfied through the next seven releases of comparable gadgets which probably won't even be released any time in the next couple years. Pull the trigger, man.
/sarcasm
Seriously though, just go pick up something that'll make ya happy if you've got the dough.
Im right there with you to, im looking at a 120 probably within a month or so, and now after hearing this, i want the latest and greatest. lol. yea ill be happy with the 120 till the new one comes out which you know it will be this fall like they usually do. you get to a point where you hate buying tech cuz theres gonna be something better or nicer in a matter of months, then you get jealous when the other guy has the new one. lol. i dont know
My Zune 30 was just stolen (:'[) and I thought I'd grab a refurb 80 for cheap. But, this has kind of put me over the edge. I think I'll wait it out, save up some more money, and see what they've got to offer. I just hope they release it 1st or 2nd quarter.
Zune is a good play had the 30 and now have the 80 and both run fine with good picture not like those cheapo ipods that break if you sneeze on them or get all scuffed up!
I don't get it. Zune is an ok mp3, but ultimately success is measured in sales . Zune has more features etc,.than iPod. How can apple iPod still dominate n own zune when it comes to global sales. What is it that apple is doing so right, what is it that zune is doing so wrong,,? Will zune ever kill the iPod??
Although I lean towards Microsoft, I must admit that Apple has one of the most amazing marketing machines we've ever seen. Look at the Vista commercials, people who had never used it go on forums around the world bashing Microsoft and praising Apple. Yes, Vista has it's flaws, but it definitely goes true for other things. Apple isn't perfect, heck look at the MobileMe release. From my personal observations the Zune (if we don't count the iPod Touch) definitely has more features then the iPods and is more rugged. I would even say it's more intuitive, but Apple has created such a stronghold through it's growth in recent years and marketing that Microsoft comes off as the ugly out-of-touch corporation which sometimes is true, but others not (i.e. Zune). Marketing makes or breaks a product, and Apple has destroyed Microsoft in that area.
(I apologize for the length, I hope my point was worth the read)
How can a US-only product EVER sell more than a product which is selling for years worldwide?
Who wants a Zune when everybody else has an iPod, when there are so many peripherals? Feature-wise Apple says "less is more" and as we can see, the iPod sells better than a small cheap iriver flash player with Radio, Recording and Microphone built-in. The iTunes Store is available in many countries, the Zune Marketplace is US only.
So this means that it's clearly the combination of features, price and availability makes the money.
One word: Advertising
How many Zune commercials have you seen? How many iPod commercials have you seen? Apple shoves the iPod in everyone's face, which it's as big as it is
One other word: Subscription
Sales aren't all that's important, MS can have a smaller marketshare and still get a lot of money from subscription services for a long time- it's very smart really. 3% marketshare with a lot of users paying $15/m is nothing to shrug off and as time goes by and they make more competitive products/adverts their marketshare may get higher, I predict even as high as 20%, which would be a phenominal cash flow. Being MS they'll want to expand Zune into a Platform, and that may work, at least they'd get more subscriptions and make the social a larger place, but they'd again be relying on others to make products (who typically f--- things up for MS). Perhaps we could even release a product that surpasses all others and sibsidise it by selling with a 1y Zune pass?
Marketshare isn't the most important thing.
gentux is right but the Zune also suffers because it's not for sale anywhere other than Canada and the US whereas the iPod is sold everywhere. Also, don't forget that it took Apple a long time to open iTunes up around the world despite the fact that the iPod was being sold globally.
Zune will never "kill" the iPod but that doesn't mean that it can't be a successful product for Microsoft. Also, it's really all about selling music and iTunes is what Microsoft needs to kill if they want to beat Apple in this game.
Having said all that, would Microsoft please start selling Zunes around the world.
Microsoft is like Coca-Cola for the US. It sells vapor to a high price and most of the money goes to US. Now it is interesting to me that how some US media and people try to undermine their Cash-cow. While creating alternatives for Coca-Cola is easy, it is not the same for MS. MS is a very high tech asset for US.
As a foreigner I might (for whatever reason) be interested to see MS goes down but I do not understand how a US citizen might want this.
Look how CNET, ZDNet and Engadget try to ruin/undermine MS credibility! Ha! Ha! Ha! !!!