MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

May 06, 08 - 02:37 pm Comment from: Mac n' Cheese

Run, don't walk!

1st? MAYBE?

haha more like sprint!!!

May 06, 08 - 02:46 pm Comment from: wannabe

Well, it seems to me that if you decide to buy into a sort of "single-world" system, where all the components from downloading to syncing to accessories are basically taken care of, you'd buy an iPod. Personally that is my choice, but if I wanted a do-it-yourself approach where I'd have to figure out where to get the music, how to manage it, etc I'd probably buy a SanDisk too. There doesn't seem to be a place for the Zune.

May 06, 08 - 02:46 pm Comment from: Ouate de Phoque

Microsoft can't walk away until they fail in the Canadian market too. -)

May 06, 08 - 02:48 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

I have lost all respect for The Motley Fool.

Microsoft will courageously fight on with the magnificent Zune, thank you.

Wherever pretentious 'artsy' I-Pod types with their white earbuds and sissy emo music hang out, Zune enthusiasts will be there in their Members Only jackets rocking Journey, Styx and REO Speedwagon.

Wherever smug I-Pod losers are listening to PODcasts, Zune lovers will be enjoying the awesome programming only FM radio can provide. Clear Channel makes sure you can find Beyoncé anywhere, anytime.

Wherever I-Tunes Store dorks are shopping online for crappy content using currency, Zune Marketplace patrons will be using user friendly points to acquire NBC's wonderful 'Alf' episodes—which aren't available at I-Tunes Store.

May Zune live and reign forever.

Your potential. Our passion.™

Alf rules!

May 06, 08 - 02:52 pm Comment from: 84 Mac Guy

I love the concluding sentence in the original article:

"The Zune will never be an iPod killer. Truth be told, it will never even get close enough to be an iPod tickler."

BTW, let's all prey that MS keeps all these money-losing products in play. Nothing like the distraction of a bunch of loser products to drag the MS ship down faster.

May 06, 08 - 02:54 pm Comment from: Thorin

Meh, I hope they continue to lose money on the Zune for a good while.

May 06, 08 - 02:55 pm Comment from: Jim - TIV

MS just can't match Apple's Customer service.

Just got back from the Apple Store. My daughters macbook had been acting up. 7 months old reurb purchased from the Apple store online, 2.0 gh core2duo, 80 gig hd, combo drive. They had tried swapping out the HD twice. Couldn't get it to stop having kernel panics.

Today they traded it out for a new macbook, not a refurb, 2,1gh core2duo, 120 gig hd, super drive.

No hassel, no fuss. Just great customer service.

Suck on that MS fanbois.

May 06, 08 - 02:56 pm Comment from: Macintosh

They will walk sooner or later... After all, Ballmer is a sales guy.

May 06, 08 - 03:00 pm Comment from: LateRegistrant

What, oh what will MS do with its stockpiles of chrome?

I just Googled Zuckers image. He's almost as bald as Uncle Fester. Perhaps he is jealous of Steve's hair.

http://images.usatoday.com/life/_photos/2006/06/19/mediamix-zucker.jpg

Trade them for Albania Leks would be a good idea

May 06, 08 - 03:05 pm Comment from: Rainer

Hehe, I like the image:
"The problem is that the writing is on the wall, even if Microsoft is pressed up against it too closely to make out the lettering"

As we saw from the Yahoo-case, the writing needs to be pretty big

May 06, 08 - 03:07 pm Comment from: Ampar

The Zune Marketplace Sign Up page lists System Requirements as Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista.

O.K. But at the bottom of the page, it has a Mac and OS X logo and says "Compatible with all MP3 player" (sic).

WTF?

(Don't get excited, ZT. I was just curious. )

Dude, I saw those zunes again for the first time in a few months, I also saw there mini version. What pieces of crap. Ancient technology that offers no reason for anyone to truly be interested.

They will pull the plug and monkey boy will have some bs excuse all lined up.

As i said before, MS should consider getting out of these markets and stick with what i knows how to do, they make software applications that are very good, just not OS.

Ditch the hardware, ditch the OS market and start developing quality tools for developers and enterprise solutions.

We NEED Zune!

We need crap to compare iPods to.

But...you can squirt things to another Zune user, if you can find one, and if the record label gives you permission, and of course, no squirting videos... MS, innovating themselves into a small box.

May 06, 08 - 03:21 pm Comment from: wyorancher

I would just like to compliment Zune Tang on a particularly good screed today. Above average and filled with fashion references. Nice one. Keep it up. Member's Only jackets - I loved that one.

@ Zune Tang

You fergot to mention how you can listen to PODcasts on a Zune
but you can't listen to a Zunecast on an iPod.

..wait a minute...what's a Zunecast.....?

Yea, BigBoy hasn't been flaunting the amazing success of Zune in a long time. Hmmm?
He can never bail on that product, not unless he's looking to get the "office chair" treatment.

*MS door opens...Ballmer lands face first on pavement*

If only MS hadn't bailed on turd brown - that rocked hard.

May 06, 08 - 03:33 pm Comment from: tbsteph

First, I'm a Mac/iPod user. With that said, never doubt the will of MSFT when they want to enter, for them, a new market. Best recent example is the XBox. I personally hope they have some success with the Zune if, for nothing else, to keep AAPL on its toes. Windows is a classic example of what happens when a company has a monopoly position in the market place. Without competition, will Apple continue to innovate the iPod? I don't know for sure but, the history of others in a similar position tells me they would certainly slow down at a higher price.

May 06, 08 - 03:35 pm Comment from: MacRaven

One Zune owner per time zone does not make a good "social."

May Zune Tang live forever....

May 06, 08 - 04:09 pm Comment from: Demon

Ballmer doesn't have the stones to admit the Zune is a dead horse stuck in the gate.

@ tbsteph

Apple as plenty of competitors for the iPod. SanDisk, iRiver, Samsung and even Sony all have better more original and more innovative products then the Microsoft Zune. Apple isn't competing against the Zune. Apple is competing with everyone else, the Zune at 4% is competing with the cheat bottom of the rankings knock off players.

They can't bail now... they just got NBC for Zune!

I think some representatives from MS may want to drive around various metropolitan areas and shovel out new Zunes onto the streets and alleys for distribution. I mean, there must be someone who would pick one up.

Only morons buy zunes!!!!

May 06, 08 - 04:30 pm Comment from: Woody

If MSFT bails on the Zune, what will happen to Zune Tang®? Will he be like that guy with the Zune logo tat, who I imagine will burst into flames immediately upon the Zune's cancellation? (Or is he that guy?)

Personally, I enjoy Zune Tang's posts (call me weird), so I hope that Ballmer keeps the Zune around for a good long time.

@tbsteph, the Xbox is already the #3 console being sold in the market. They've floundered since Xmas. Of course, they blamed supply issues, but we know they stuffed the channel in Xmas, making it impossible for their retailers to take much more post-Xmas. Same as the Xmas a year before.

May 06, 08 - 04:38 pm Comment from: Mr. Peabody

- If MS bails on Zune then Zune Tang can become MicroTang.

- This article goes to show that The Fool can be objective. (In the past they've been some of the biggest nay sayers of Apple.)

- MS won't bail now 'cause they've got NBC on their side - ooooo...! NOT.

@ tbsteph

Will Apple continue to innovate the iPod?

Let me introduce you to the iPod touch.

It's been out for a while and is available in the Apple Store.

if you are a shareholder of microsoft, wouldn't you want them to continue making zunes, just making them better? Mobile computing is going to be huge, why give up? That would be like saying, yes we are closing microsoft.

Ofcourse I wish they would stop producing the zune, cause I love apple. I am just saying, this is really really stupid advice if you like microsoft

Zune, you must be in your 40's...Styx, Speedwagon...hey maybe I'll pick on you a little less. The Member's Only jacket needs to be burned, though.

May 06, 08 - 05:35 pm Comment from: Ray

I wonder if M$ even understands how badly Zune is doing? I mean they understand the money numbers...but do they get how far behind they are?

Just my $0.02

May 06, 08 - 05:37 pm Comment from: Rainer

@david
You are right, but the problem is that Microsoft has lot's more of these "sure winner" products up the sleeve that were launched too late in booming markets with too little features or quality (or both) to endanger the already existing competitors.
MSFT was good at putting out knock-offs at a decent speed into a booming market - the problem seems to be that their ability to deliver is gone (hello Vista) and the speed with which markets develop is now gigantic, compared with 15 years ago.
Just think about how long it took before half the people had a television set - and compare it to the time it took until half the people had internet-access.
Microsoft needs a couple of years "lead time", light a big ship.
Unfortunately (for MSFT), these days almost nobody has this lead-time anymore - you've got to pump-out products and updates in fortnight-rythms to stay ahead of copycats and clones.
MSFT has been trying to jump on various bandwaggons for the last ten years. None have brought any significant returns. Even worse, some will most likely never even repay the investment (X-Box, MSN).
This situation can normally not exist in a publicly traded company for too long. It exists at MSFT, because the Windows and Office cash-cows cover-up for all the other blunders. Or have been covering up. The last quarter with shrinking OS-sales was certainly a warning.

Zune Tang is MDN's resident clown. He's not really a Microsoft fan, he just likes to get people's blood boiling. Once you realize that, you'll enjoy his comments more. Microsoft has so few fans who aren't overpaid "tech journalists" (cough Enderle, cough Thurrot) that Zune Tang had to fill in, even if he's not a real Microsoftie.

May 06, 08 - 05:49 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

If Microsoft bails on the Zune, then Zune Tang® will have some hammering to do. Isn't that right, buddy?

In the words on an immortal venture capitalist:

It's time to take out the gun and shoot it.

May 06, 08 - 06:21 pm Comment from: DizzyD

hammering? ...reminds me of a line from the movie "Real Genius"!!

May 06, 08 - 06:53 pm Comment from: Chuck U Farley

They will keep the Zoon like they will keep Ballmer.

Got Red Ring?

May 06, 08 - 08:50 pm Comment from: Zune Tang®

Hammer what? The Zune is on a roll. Microsoft has clearly differentiated their revolutionary product from all others, and they build the whole widget. If you ask me Microsoft is in the driver's seat. Now brilliant content providers like NBC are getting on board making Zune and Zune Marketplace the one to watch. Lastly Zune Marketplace uses points. Points! Game, set and match, Apple.

If I were you MAC lemmings I would worry a little less about Zune and more about your dead end I-Phone. I can't wait to see the look on your faces when Apple cancels the I-Phone debacle and announces they are licensing Windows Vista at this June's WWDC. You read it here first.

Your potential. Our passion.™

I always thought that the choice of a brown Zune just summed up the problem with Microsoft. They just seem to have a major disconnect with their customer base. And the use of the term "squirting" for sharing music was just plain weird.

No Potential. No Passion. No ideas whatsoever.

May 06, 08 - 11:05 pm Comment from: Scot Murphy

Zunie, Zunie, Zunie... god love ya, Zune Tang!

4% if the player market.
Thats maybe 1.5 million zunes a year. How?
No-one has ever seen one. Who has them all?

Microsoft has dumped them for $50 a pop to thousands of vendors and they just leave them in a pile in the basement and keep stalling the M$ invoice.
"We seem to have lost the zune invoice, can you send it out again?
Cool, thanks"

Eventually they will return them all and M$ will crush them with a Caterpillar D9 and bury them in a secret location.

May 07, 08 - 12:32 am Comment from: The Other Steve

"This month's new initiatives are unlikely to change that... Apple has been serving up video for a couple of years now. Just copying the leader isn't enough"

Wow, I thought I was reading a MDN take.

Um, Zune Tang? It's spelled "iPod", lowercase "I", capital "P". And the word "Mac" is not all caps like an acronym; in fact, it's short for "Macintosh". And the word "podcast" (a neologism) is all lowercase, just for your future reference.

I don't understand why you like the Zune so much. Is it just that you feel safe in the cocoon of Microsoft? Believe it or not, Microsoft is not a very innovative company -- if you read Wikipedia, they actually copied other companies' products for most of their history. The Zune is just another example of this.

Ask yourself: Is FM radio really such a great feature after all? The iPod has several features Zunes don't have, by the way. It's apparent you don't like Apple users because you view them as too "artistic" or off the beaten path. But there's a difference between the stereotype of a computer user and the actual product itself. Apple products are designed to be easy to use and learn. They "just work".

I hope you'll consider stopping all the Apple bashing and judge the company's products on their merits. Who knows? You may discover you like them.

@ PowerUser

Ha ha, go for it PowerUser, stick it to Zune Tang like he deserves it.

On the other hand you could read the comment by 'Alswa' posted at 06.39pm and save all that wonderful passion for bona fide M$ plonkers.