R.I.P. Microsoft Zune, 2006-2011 | Hacker News Reader

R.I.P. Microsoft Zune, 2006-2011

techcrunch.com

30 pointsthankuz35 comments

The Zune served its purpose as a closed mobile platform where Microsoft could practice vertical integration.

Windows Phone 7 is essentially the Zune Phone. In five years, it managed to evolve from an ugly brown brick of a media player to a sophisticated smartphone platform adopted wholesale by the world's leading phone manufacturer.

From that perspective, Zune looks like a significant R&D success, even if the last chapter in its story was more due to Nokia's resounding failures at software development rather than the platform's absolute merits.

> a sophisticated smartphone platform adopted wholesale by the world's leading phone manufacturer.

"Wholesale adoption" must mean something different than what I was taught, since Nokia was paid a cool billion to take WP7.

http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-will-pay-nokia-1-bi...

The deal isn't so simple as you make it out to be. Bing will get access to Ovi maps which will fill in the gap in EU and Asian countries. Even Google tried to court Nokia but the talks failed.

$1 billion over 5 years is literally peanuts between such big players.

And Google "pays" handset manufacturers and wireless operators to use Android.

http://www.puremobile.co.uk/insiderblog/google-is-paying-car...

The cool billion was just the up front fee, Nokia still has to pay licensing fee.

from your article, "Nokia will have to sell more than 60 million phones, as Microsoft is estimated to charge no more than $15 per handset for Windows Phone."

From at least the PR perspective, the move seems disastrous.

How does the slogan: "Come try Windows Phone 7, based on failed Zune technology!" sound?

Maybe "Windows Phone 7, we promise we won't junk it in a couple years like the other stuff we junked..." instead?

I don't understand this move. Virtually every ASP.NET programmer I know has a Zune and absolutely loves it. Almost universally, they consider the Zune to be one of the best gadgets they own.

Microsoft is making a big mistake here.

Too bad the general population is not a majority of ASP.NET programmers.

Not sure what you don't understand about the move, though. Simply put, the thing just isn't selling. Maybe it's the terrible marketing, maybe it's the choice of verbs to describe the functionality ("squirting"... really?), maybe it's fact that PlaysForSure couldn't play on it, maybe it's because the software delivered a sub-par performance (at least in the minds of consumers) versus iTunes.

Or maybe it's all of that, combined.

Fairly sure the GP was being sarcastic. If only ASP.NET developers were making up the numbers then it would clearly be time to call it a day.

I think the Zune SW was generally considered much better than iTunes. IMO it entered the market too late. It was probably, just looking at the device and HW, its better than the iPod line up until the iPod Touch. But ecosystem and marketing effects were too strong. Particularly the ecosystem. The fact that every home/auto audio device works with an iPod makes it very attractive, and something Zune doesn't have.

In a world w/o the ecosystem,starting fresh from day 1, I think the Zune maybe beats the iPod. But the iPod with its headstart in ecosystem just crushes it. And deservedly so -- the Zune never exists if the iPod didn't exist. The Zune was created in response to the iPod. A very good response, but Apple has executed well from day 1 to present. I'm happy if they get rewarded for the execution, even I don't particularly like the device (the pre iPod touch versions).

Agreed, I bought two Zunes, a 120gb one and the Zune HD. The devices were fantastic but more than that I love the Zune software.

iTunes drives me crazy, but the Zune software looks like nothing else Microsoft ever created. It's cool, intuitive and works great.

If they had gotten in to that ecosystem a bit sooner it could have been different, but the timing was all wrong.

I get the general feeling that most people dislike iTunes. Many of the same people like the Zune software.

In this case I think people just didn't try it. They already owned iPods when they were superior devices and never switched even when Zune passed them in quality.

The "squirting" absolutely killed me. A word you don't want to put through corporate content filters and a word that systems like Google's autocomplete won't complete. The conversation must have gone something like like:

Clueless Boss: I think we should call the lending feature: Squirting!

Embarrassed Subordinate: Uh...are you sure that's a good word?

Boss: It's great, really pushes the fun, playful image we're after. I love it!

Subordinate: It's just that it...

Boss: Yes?

Subordinate: It means...It, uh, I mean...yeesh, I'm going to go grab some lunch. <runs>

Boss: Cool, squirt you later!

"Squirt! Say it! Say it!"

I don’t know a single person with a Zune. Did they ever release them outside the US?

Edit: looks like they did, but in software form only

Aren't MS developers infamous for thinking that if it doesn't come out of Redmond, it doesn't exist? (Yes, I know that not everyone is this way, but stereotypes usually exist for a reason...)

Every company I have ever worked for uses XP, Microsoft is making a big mistake working on this "vista thing"

All of the .net developers that I know who have one only got it via a prize or gift at a tech conference.

Is this a joke? I know a whole bunch(around 50) of ASP.NET developers and none of them own a Zune.

Given the pressure to the WinTel dominance by ARM, Apple, Google and the web in general, it's clear that it's fish-or-cut-bait time at Microsoft.

Zune is being cut as it was never profitable and executed poorly. I imagine MS is looking at a whole lot of other departments that aren't pulling their weight.

This is yet another sign of the end of the PC(1) era.

1: PC's aren't going away, but it is no longer king.

Meta nit: Bloomberg broke this story. Seems to me like we should be linking to them instead of a 1-paragraph rewrite on TC

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-14/microsoft-said-to-s...

/humour

Ah, but you see Techcrunch is run by Michael Arrington, who Fake Steve Jobs hates. And since Fake Steve Jobs loves Apple, and Hacker News hates Apple, that means we prefer Techcrunch in an enemy of my enemies friend is my friend kind of way.

/obscure geek reference

Though arguably rule #29 applies here too.

/wry meta-commentary

Also note that not always, but often enough to be unsurprising, on HN the shorter reply will receive vastly more karma than the long initial write-up. Hence the majority apparently favours the sound bite over more substantial journalism.

I thought Penny Arcade broke this back in 2007 with the piece "The Microsoft Zune: 2006-2006" http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/10/

Not surprised. The future of media players is definitely going to be split between smart phones and the $30 bottom end.

Thank god. I've never understood why mp3 players were growing to the size of personal cassette players, becoming fragile, or needed full color constantly active screens. The MuVo TX FM ( http://www.amazon.com/Creative-MuVo-1GB-MP3-Player/dp/B00077... ) was the best mp3 player I ever had. Make me a 16 gig one and I'll be your customer until the next technology shift.

Well, the media player market right now is currently split between Apple and the $30 bottom end.

Very sad news. As I've posted here before, I own a Zune and love it. The Zune software on Windows is terrific and I use it instead of Winamp/WMP/Foobar/etc by choice.

Hopefully they open-source it so the community can keep it alive.

Wow. Cognitive Dissonance.

That is too bad. As a consumer, I want as much competition as possible.

I predicted that Microsoft would turn Zune into a phone like Apple did with the iPod. This was before the Nokia mess.

Erm isn't that what effectively happened? Didn't we get a phone out of it? Except they're not made by MS.

Microsoft likes to build platforms where other companies manufacture the hardware(XBox excepted). That's why Windows/WP7 run on multiple OEMs hardware.

The theory is that competition among hardware manufacturers will drive down costs. Sure worked with PCs.

No. X-Box should not be excepted, because it is a major new product and is successful. I was expecting the X-Box strategy.

Actually, I also still think that they will make an "X-phone", if you will. Think a PSP + voice/data and Windows Phone 7.

I guess MS felt that phones were more like portable computers and not like niche devices like the XBox.

Unlikely they will make an XPhone, because that would fragment WP7 games into those that support hardware input vs. those that don't, and making software that does both usually results in suboptimal results.

Apple didn't turn the iPod into a phone. The iPhone is derived from the iPad [0]. Later, they created the iPod touch from the iPhone.

Before the iPhone, there were several Moto phones with iTunes integration [1], but those were less than successful (and frankly, horrible to use).

[0] http://thenextweb.com/apple/2010/06/02/steve-jobs-the-ipad-c...

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_ROKR_E1

I understand your technical point, but the iPhone followed up on iPod features and when it was announced, the concept was sold and received as if it was the future of iPods. (And it was.)

Does Windows Phone have Zune's functionality?

Yes

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