Zune hardware was a mistake, admits former Microsoft exec Robbie Bach

Time will tell if the Xbox will be considered just as much of a mistake. They've lost billions of dollars on it, it hasn't given them any advantage in other consumer product categories and the idea of any company "winning the living room" seems quixotic in a world ruled more by highly personal devices (phones, tablets) more than whatever's on TV.

Summary of http://www.geekwire.com/2012/robbie-bachs-lessons-intraprene...

Again proving that when you do something that is not in your companies nature or DNA but rather for money or reflexive response towards your competitors you will fail.

It's one of the reasons why tablet=iPad. For Apple, it's technology intertwined with their corporate DNA. For others, it's a reflexive product to make money because they see a profit opportunity.

The initial Zune reviews should have tipped him off. I saved one that really amused me, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to dust it off:

"Avoid," is my general message. The Zune is a square wheel, a product that's so absurd and so obviously immune to success that it evokes something akin to a sense of pity...

    -- Andy Ihnatko

I think it was a great product. I still have mine in my car (although it's use has been replaced by spotify + iphone).

The subscription service sold it. The hardware was good, but the ability to get whatever I wanted for a $15 a month charge made it one of my favorite things.