Microsoft names it Zune |
I can name that Zune in, mmm, er, ahhh, one — one rabbit!
Confused? I can relate if you looked at comingzune.com which is reportedly the teaser site for Microsoft’s new portable music device that they think hope pray will compete with the iPod.
At the end of this odd video — I wonder if it was drawn with a Tablet PC? — comes a sneak peek at the Zune logo:
Engadget has a bunch of Zune details with Ryan Block declaring “… this is one of the biggest gadget news stories of the year for consumer electronics.” Good to see the Microsoft hype machine has Engadget’s support.
Anybody remember the UMPC? The same UMPCs we’ve run a poll for here on the home page the last six months and the number one response (59%) is “Huh? What’s that?” followed by “No plans to buy” (29%). Microsoft had better hope Hmm polls remain completely unscientific. Ahh yes, those glorious UMPCs that were supposed to be priced from $500-$1000, and yet how many have you seen in retail stores at $500 or even $750?
And how about all those portable Windows Media video players? You know, the ones that cost around 500 bones? Those haven’t exactly become must-have portable devices.
Microsoft came from behind with the X-Box and will do it again with Zune. In fact, the Zune team is in the same organization as X-Box. Don’t be surprised if Zune supports mobile gaming and has some ties to X-Box.
I think Mr. Dodge is being too anxious here but at least he’s not resorted to calling it an [gasp] ‘iPod killer.’ Xbox had one thing that Sony didn’t: a killer broadband-only online initiative. I’ll continue to give Microsoft huge props for everything that is Xbox Live because it’s the best gaming experience out there but I’m 99.99999% not convinced Zune will be worth even half the hype it’s generating. Has there been any Windows Media portable device that competes on the scale of the iPod? And what about MSN Music vs. iTunes Music Store? MSN Music has, or at least had ,an exclusive deal with AC DC and that’s the brightest star I can name on their map.
This is coming from somebody who doesn’t currently own/use an iPod and considers himself platform agnostic. I’m sure the iPod faithful are already shredding the idea that Microsoft could develop a worthy iPod competitor simply based on history, but if the Redmond camp does go with something that plays games and works with Xbox Live Arcade, that would interest me. I hope that’s what Zune will be doing. It’s on Engadget’s “maybe” list.
I wonder if the Zune folks have seen the humorous video below and don’t fall into the same traps of past Microsoft products. Despite my clear lack of confidence with Microsoft’s portable device plans, I wish them well.
Did this post make you go hmm?
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You know that this video was made internally at Microsoft, right? Scoble outed them.
Comment by Will — July 23, 2006 @ 12:16 am PST
Great, they can make fun of themselves, now hopefully they’ll actually do something about it.
Comment by TDavid — July 23, 2006 @ 8:52 am PST
Will, that link is broken, BTW.
Comment by TDavid — July 23, 2006 @ 10:08 am PST
Hmmm, I tested the link before pasting, could your software have cut it out?
It’s comment 41:
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/02/27/ouch-what-if-microsoft-designed-the-ipod-box/
Comment by Will — July 23, 2006 @ 10:17 am PST
You are correct, Will. Looks like a flaw in WP comment handling that they use elipses for long URLs. I can see why they would want to do that — to protect pages from having gigantic non-breaks — but they should just insert BR tags into long URLs at a specific number of characters.
In the meantime before I patch that or WP does, for longer URLs you are better off using straight HTML like this in the future or use a URL shortening service like tdurl.com (my own), I’ll remove your original link. Thanks for returning and correcting the link.
Comment by TDavid — July 23, 2006 @ 10:53 am PST
Microsoft Zune – The iPod Killer?
Well the rumors that Micorsoft wants to make an iPod kilkler are true. On Saturday they confirmed that they were making a family of devices code named “Zune”, and the software that will power them.
Trackback by Media UnCut — July 24, 2006 @ 1:22 pm PST
The wifi option sounds cool.
Comment by zune — July 25, 2006 @ 11:54 am PST
[…] Most Hmm-worthy posts from July 22 - July 28, 2006 - Microsoft names it Zune (**7) [july 22] - Families more fragmented these days? (**5) [july 23] - Washington most “no religion” state according to poll (**6) [july 23] - Vonage out, Skype back IN/OUT (2) [july 24] - *Look more forward than back, two million in the distance (**10) [july 25] - Keeping count of the published and unpublished words on your Wordpress blog (3) [july 25] - Calacanis plays limp personal attack card against Kevin Rose (10) [july 26] - Second Life to Real Life business intersections (0) [july 28] […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Hmmcast #18: Secret bonus! — July 29, 2006 @ 12:12 am PST
[…] At the end of the day I don’t think Apple is going anywhere any time soon. The Zune is going to be about as successful dethroning the iPod as Tablet PCs replacing laptops en masse. […]
Pingback by Small batch of new iPods ship with Windows virus » Make You Go Hmm — October 18, 2006 @ 11:41 am PST
[…] Retail store availability prediction: 90%. Will we be buying a Zune player? 50% chance yes. When I first heard about the Zune with the bizarre rabbit comingzune ad admittedly I was much less enthusiastic, but as the launch date draws nearer, I’m warming up. Still on the fence until I actually see and touch one of these in store. I’ll be at the store on November 14, money in hand, looking at the demo. I wouldn’t mind having a portable music player for Windows, but I’m not sure how much I’d actually listen to one. Too many things to listen to like satellite radio, terrestrial radio, internet radio and podcasts. […]
Pingback by Zune, PS3 and Wii all go on sale week of Nov 13-19, what will availability be like? » Make You Go Hmm — November 3, 2006 @ 12:13 pm PST
This is a non starter for me, the music i like doesn’t even show on “pop” “top 100″ or any other charts, nor even on the file sharing services. it’s a sub genre of sci-fi and is artist and small producer sales driven. thanks microsoft, but no thanks.
Comment by Frank fernandis — September 6, 2007 @ 9:04 pm PST
I think competition is good, but I don’t see the Zune ever becoming a legitimate threat to the Ipod.
Comment by Ralph — August 18, 2008 @ 8:04 am PST
I have a friend who has gone through a couple of Zunes. The quality just isn’t there. I do, however, love the Xbox. Microsoft scored big on that one!
Comment by Larry Smith — October 2, 2008 @ 2:14 pm PST
I agree with Larry. The iPod still dominates the market, unfortunately for Zune.
Comment by Morgan — December 2, 2008 @ 2:46 pm PST