Well, it was no surprise to most people that Microsoft could release a well-designed MP3 player well after the problem of the MP3 player had been solved. (Although, the Zune Desktop software was way too underpowered for my needs.)

It was also no surprise that it had little impact on the market. They have been 3 steps behind their competition for the entire time. Few differentiating features beyond music subscriptions; a useful feature for some, but clearly most music fans would rather collect music than rent it. And with no connection to their mobile smartphone strategy, the Zune HD was always a dead-end platform.

So the Zune brand is now toxic and worthless. They only way it's mentioned in popular culture is as a punchline to a joke. Microsoft has no choice but to trash it.

But Microsoft will regroup, rename and redesign their desktop music software (again) and release an iPod Touch-like device based on their WP7 platform. I wonder what they'll call it?