All Zune models not named 'Zune HD' on the outs
By Ross Miller 
posted Sep 1st 2009 10:03PM
posted Sep 1st 2009 10:03PM
[Via ZuneSpring]
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Well, so much for that!
Its to be expected. Touch screens and flash are taking over PMP's, it's just the easiest way to control everything. All mechanical drives are transitioning to flash, even computer hard drives. Apple had the first major success with the ipod nano with flash. Microsoft followed with their Zune mini to much fan fare. Apple launched the itouch and revolutionized PMP's and Zune's going to get similar results as it did with the Zune mini following the ipod nano.
(super secret experiment, lets time how long it takes for this to be ranked lowest for mentioning apple)
You meant so many models? Zune with 2% marketshare, why bother with 5 devices?
0.5% marketshare for each device? :) Zune has beome a big PR embarrassment for
the company. Soooner or later MS ought to consider an exit strategy for Zune or continue
to embarrass themself!
Wow! Where did they Get such an idea?
Was it watching the ipod touch do the same thing over the last 2 years?
Nah, microsoft doesnt copy Apple in any way :)
For sure! Don't wait to put all your eggs in one basket!
Wait, I don't get this at all. One Zune for the masses but 5 version of Win 7?
Oh well I guess I'll never get to see a Zune in person lawls
eBay will pick up the slack.
Problem solved.
2% Marketshare? Try 10%- bigger than Apple's 8% PC marketshare.
@mr click
uh, yeah where's that, zune has 10% marketshare, in ur house? I've never read that anywhere. It's only available in one country or such like. Thought we might whip up some action eh, bit of trolling eh
@X24
looks like u had an epic fail on being downranked. somehow you didn't get mauled by the fact haters, perhaps cause you chose carefully.
... In general, I'll never know if zune was good, I've seen pictures... But I live in that far away place called -the rest of the freakin planet beside the USA-. Hopefully zune HD graces the distant and long forgotten lands where the other 96% of the people on earth live... Hopefully
Seriously - based on the number of comments I feel this may be interpreted as a facetious comment, but what is a zune?
@Emailacar: hmm yeah because the multiple images, description and countless comments on the matter make you sound 'serious' - having had a serious lobotomy that is.
The first guy who asked was plenty.
X24 - Are you saying no other company had success with flash models before the Nano? iRiver were very successful (I owned an ifp-899) and certainly most mp3 players I came across back when I was in college (in the UK) were flash models, before the Nano was released and the Mini had the HDD.
If not, fair enough, but Apple certainly shouldn't be appreciated for it over anyone else!
What a stupid idea - to let people rank comments. Far stupider is the idea of fading out low-ranked comments.
Mr Clickerson said something that is outright rubbish - it is factually rubbish, you can check for yourself. Yet Mr Clickerson's lie is "Highly Ranked".
Right underneath that, Cy calls him on his lie. But Cy's comment is "Lowest Ranked" and therefore near-invisible (to everyone who hasn't modified their client-side stylesheet to override Engadget's censoring).
Is this clear enough for you, Engadget? Do you see now why I keep asking you to at least stop the fading of comments, if not get rid of the stupid comment rankings altogether? It is nothing but troll-bait, and you always end up with a ridiculously one-sided conversation, which side being totally dependent on whether the fans or the haters of the article's subject are more prominent on that day.
The comment rankings NEVER reflect the value or worth of the contents of the comment, so why keep with this stupid system, the only purpose of which is to reward the trolls?!
"Mr Clickerson said something that is outright rubbish - it is factually rubbish, you can check for yourself. Yet Mr Clickerson's lie is 'Highly Ranked'."
I low-ranked your comment because you didn't back yourself up. Therefore, I'm going to call your bluff and ask you to cite recent statistics proving your point.
RIP large capacity Zune. :'(
Next week we could be saying "RIP, large capacity iPod" as well.
I mean, what's next? Who will pick up the large capacity slack?
Uhm....high capacity flash memory in iPods/Zunes? We all know it will come to 128 GB in a few years anyways, and that still won't be enough for some people.
@tiger578,
A few years? Again, who picks up the slack NOW?
microsoft! where is my Zune Pad!
@kit
right next to clippy
Wi-fi streaming picks up the slack.
@AJ
Archos is releasing a 500Gb tablet soon. Maybe you could check that out. I still have some hope that MS will release some new high capacity zune, but no one can be sure until the release show.
@tiger:
Yea. And they'll cost $600 for what you could get now in a hard drive player for $200.
Anyone remember the old RCA Lyra hard drive players (from the time period of the 1st-3rd gen iPods)? They should bring those back. Not only were they cheaper than the iPod, they also had more features. Hell, they had features that _current_ iPods still can't match. How hard would it be to throw a graphic equalizer onto the iPod touch? The Lyra had it. How about FM radio? Lyra had it. Recording ability? I believe the Lyra had it, though it's been a while so I could be wrong. Hell, I'd rather have a built-in graphics equalizer than the entire friggin' app store - it's not worth the effort sorting through millions of crap apps for the one or two rare decent ones.
Oh, and they were cross-platform. They would work on Linux, Windows, Mac, anything, without installing _any_ software. You transferred the data as a USB hard drive, and then the device itself would create a library of all the songs. No software required. Of course you _could_ use their software and build the library on the computer to save a bit of time.
Ah, and the backlight was actually a backlight, not a friggin' flashlight. Even with the iPod touch's backlight set as low as it can possibly go it's still bright enough to light up a whole room. I hate using that thing on a bus/train/plane at night because I'm alway afraid I'll wake everyone up. The lyra's backlight lit up the screen perfectly, but barely emitted any light outside of the device.
Assuming that both Apple and Microsoft are stupid enough to alienate their heaviest music store users by removing their high capacity media players, I'd imagine that someone like Creative or iRiver will step in the fill the gap. I doubt that it will happen, though!
500 Gb isn't that big. 500 GB on the other hand...
If this is true I am done with the Zune. I don't need a touch screen. I don't want a screen covered with fingerprints. I want a large capacity drive and I don't want to flick through it. Zune Pad + Large Capacity = WIN
@Brian
My first MP3 player was the Lyra 20 GB Jukebox. While I don't want to knock it, the thing was beastly huge and very prone to HDD issues. As for FM radio, I don't remember mine having it. The casing was cheap, painted plastic, and the controls were over sensitive.
Don't get me wrong, I used that thing till the HDD crapped out, and I even bought a replacement for it, but it wasn't all you seem to be making the line out to be. As much as the line has evolved, it's still stayed fairly middlin'.
Who cares who picks up the slack. Stop your whining, it's not like the world will grind to a halt because you have a few less gigs of space in your mp3 player.
Its not like they are going away today, if you thing you need a high capacity zune buy one while they are still around. Hell buy two if you thing one will break down before they get 512GB flash models out in a few years. You're 80-120GB zune will keep on working long after the 64GB flash models are released, whats the problem?
Is this the end for the Squircle? *gasp*
Squircles are our friends!
I like squirrels!
Did I mis-hear you? Is that not what we're talking about?
I hope not, I freaking love the squircle. They could have even stuck one on the HD
If the squircle could only make it to a few WIndows Mobile phones..
OK doodee hed!
I think engadget should do formal funeral with rituals.
the death of the squircle is second only to the beloved clippy.
i dont see why microsoft decided to ditch it though,
they could have made it a rectangle at the bottom of the zune HD
maybe for one way slide, but slide nonetheless.
and the two sides of it could be two buttons (kind of how volume buttons/light switches work)
or you know. something of the sort....
just.. i dont think im ready to let go.
good move ms
Did it ever occur to anyone that there might be new zunes coming? Like the original ones but a new revision.
That's what I thought when I finished reading the article. I'm not sure why everyone is worried.
but where is the reader drawing drama of that
Is there some kind of Microsoft September 9th event we can look forward to?
While I don't disagree that there may be new non-touch Zunes coming, Thurrott's article doesn't make it look that way. Directly from the post:
"I met with the Zune folks today and one bit of information than I can discuss immediately is that the Zune HD will be the only device type going forward: The current Zune models, the Zune 8, 16 80, and 120, have all been discontinued."
The important part: "the only device type going forward". That makes it sound like they are going all touch.
In my opinion, this might be a mistake. While hard drive players are on their way out, physical button players with flash, ala iPod Nano, small Zunes, will certainly always have a market. Touchscreens are not very useful if you are in a situation where you can't really see the screen, such as working out driving (responsibly at least), etc. Of course when you are 2% of the market, I guess you have to cut out what won't grow. Watch out though. With MS putting all of their eggs into one basket, this time next year we could be talking about the end of Zune players as a whole if the HD does not sell well.
Bad news for anyone with more that 32 gigs of media. My 80GB Zune is almost full and that's with just music.
my syntax is error-less
your argument is invalid
It's not like Microsoft is going to go around shooting old Zunes and forcing people to upgrade. Just stick with what you have then.
I agree with everything this guy says, because i soiled up his post.
i thought the only one still alive was the ZUNE HD,
and the buzz for it is almost dead before its even released.
LOL.
the buzz for the zune hd is almost dead? look at how many posts there are for this article after I post this........
don't get me wrong, tegra and the whole package ain't so bad,
but apple people won't move if they have a mac-
and this will only bring over a handful of ipod fans.
be real.
Fade away, troll, fade away...