
RIP Microsoft Zune brand - str
http://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/microsoft-to-kill-off-zune-branding-20110215/
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chops
As a longtime Zune user and appreciator, I'm hoping that the Zune-Pass will be
rolled into something else and that existing devices won't suddenly lose
access to the Zune-pass service songs ($15/mo for unlimited (DRMed) songs and
10 MP3 Downloads was generally great).

Further, if the Zune software becomes the "WP7" software, I won't really care
so long as it still works with my existing devices.

If, on the other hand, my existing Zune stuff is ultimately gone and no longer
supported, I guess it's back to Amazon MP3 for me.

I love my Zune, even when it came out I would say things like "Microsoft
products generally suck, _except the Zune is a pretty sweet device - they did
that right_ ". My opinion of MS has changed for the better since then, and it
started with the Zune.

~~~
foresterh
How was it better than Rhapsody? That's only $10/month, and you can, as far as
I know, download whatever you want to listen to offline (though I may be
wrong... I listen to most stuff online)

~~~
darthg0d
Other than the unlimited songs which have DRM on it, you get to own 10 songs
every month (in MP3).

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brondaire
Although the Zune was largely a failure in terms of overall market share, it
wasn't a bad product offering.

* The Zune Pass was an excellent way to get music for a flat monthly rate, and the selection and price was competitive with Rhapsody and other services.

* Zune hardware was always top-notch, with Zune devices having FM or HD radio. The Zune HD was particularly nice.

* Zune Social was somewhat similar to last.fm and provided useful music recommendations.

* Zune offered DRM-free music, in addition to DRM-locked music for the Zune Pass.

* The (Windows-only) client software was very well designed, and superior in usability to iTunes (IMO).

I would be disappointed to see the Zune name go, but sometimes good products
fail in the market.

~~~
Griever
In regards to the client software, I must say that iTunes is an absolutely
atrocious piece of software (at least on Windows). I think the Zune app really
got it right for managing large amounts of music in a simple-to-use interface.
It really is too bad that it will most likely be getting the can soon enough.

~~~
nigelsampson
Agreed, I started used the Zune software when I purchased a WP7 and really
enjoy the software, especially when compared to itunes.

Great products but unfortunately failed for other reasons.

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raganwald
Dear author:

 _boasting features like song-sharing that Apple still hasn’t managed to catch
up to._

Don't be silly. Apple hasn't "caught up," because it was never behind in some
kind of race to add song-sharing. Apple chose not to implement that feature,
as it has chosen not to add a great many other features.

If you think it's a benefit, it's appropriate to praise Microsoft for adding
it, but you shouldn't imply that Apple is staffed by hapless engineers that
are somehow incapable of figuring out how to implement this feature, or that
Jobs sends out a weekly email asking when this feature will be ready.

~~~
gamble
It's hard to say whether Apple could even negotiate a deal to offer song
sharing. The media companies are so frightened of extending iTunes near-
monopoly to other areas that I tend to assume that they'd rather not cut any
deals with Apple than let them become dominant in new services.

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Legion
Another Microsoft digital media strategy reset? Has it been 5 years already?

At least the Zune Marketplace went DRM-free, so people won't get shafted like
all those PlaysForSure media buyers.

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thasmin
Yet another spin on the Microsoft brand carousel. Someone over there seems to
think that if they give their product a certain name then people will start
buying it. Zune seemed like a good brand. The products were of high quality
and had good reputations. I feel like a few well placed articles titled "Zune:
Microsoft's quiet success" or "Microsoft becomes the underdog with Zune" would
have gone a long way.

~~~
Legion
I think the Zune launch tarnished the name so permanently that it never
recovered. In too many peoples' eyes, it was always the poop-brown also-ran.

Which is too bad, because in many ways, the later Zunes were superior devices,
although far too prone to sync problems. My old Zune became unrecognizable to
the Zune software far too many times.

~~~
gamble
The Zune was never well-known enough for its name to be tarnished. The
marketing was so low-key and sporadic that it hardly seemed to penetrate much
beyond Redmond. Not to mention that it was basically non-existent outside of
the US.

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thought_alarm
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?

~~~
ptomato
Judging from what they call that, they'll probably call it the Windows Media
Device 7 Windows Windows Media Device Windows 7 Windows Device Device 7.

~~~
smbwrs
I kept reading the name and it never got not-funny.

(Should I get the Home Edition, Premium Edition, Professional Edition, Gold
Premium Edition Plus, or the Home Platinum Professional Office Extra Plus
Edition?)

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uvTwitch
I think Windows Phone 7 really suffers from the lack of unique branding. It
doesn't have a unique product name like Android or iPhone; even 'Zune Mobile'
would have been better, Windows Phone 7 doesn't evoke anything and just sounds
like a technical specification.

~~~
thought_alarm
Zune is a great name! Very catchy, and they spent a pile of money to get it
out there.

But that's also the problem. Zune has been reduced to a punchline in popular
media. That's what happens when the product doesn't match up to its marketing.
Fair or not, it's become an embarrassment for the company. And the same thing
happened with Vista.

So I think going forward Microsoft will rely on the Windows brand for their
underdog products. It's difficult to write a catchy punchline about, say,
"Windows Music Device 7".

Or, they could just call it Windows Xzyxxz. You can't write any jokes about a
product that can't be pronounced.

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jey
Damn, I'll miss the self-mockingly absurdist tagline "Join the Social".

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c141charlie
The Zune desktop software is stunning. The design and layout of the
application is vastly superior to iTunes and Windows Media Player. The Zune
pass, and artist bios are excellent people who love to discover new music.
Each time I use Zune I think to myself, "I need to write software this
beautiful and functional."

Zune integration with Windows Phone 7 was the candle that flickered my last
hope for Microsoft to compete with iOS and Android. Microsoft's inability to
work with carriers to push out WP7 updates, and now the death of the Zune
brand, puts that candle out. What a tragedy.

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spoiledtechie
I hope they don't get rid of the player. That desktop player is by far the
best one I have ever used except for maybe Winamp before AOL. Its too feature
rich to get rid of. Yes, even better than iTunes.

~~~
rbanffy
> Yes, even better than iTunes.

Beating iTunes is not exactly hard.

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leif
You know, as a guy that uses free software whenever possible, I never liked a
Microsoft product until I gave the Zune a shot (got it for free, so...). It
still pisses me off, having to run a virtual machine just to load up my music,
and I've never used an iPod, but I honestly like the device and the firmware a
lot. It's one of the best offerings they've put out.

I hope the product design and engineering talent in the Zune team continue to
do great things for WP7, even if I'll probably never use one.

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allwein
This seems like a silly move to me. I would have expected a zune running Phone
7 to help push the OS to more users. I would love to have a Phone 7 device to
hack around on, but I've already got a phone and data plan.

~~~
protomyth
It would make sense, as a way to build market share, to turn Zune into the
WP7's iPod touch. From a developer perspective, that is a powerful additional
number of users.

~~~
burgerbrain
When you say "Zune" to your average consumer, all you get is laughter. The
tech might have been good, but in my (humble) opinion, ditching the brand and
all it's baggage is a very good idea.

~~~
Qz
Actually plenty of average consumers I know actually like the Zune brand, the
windows media program specifically.

~~~
burgerbrain
The most I ever personally hear is _"my aunt bought me this instead of an
ipod, it's not as bad as I thought it'd be"_.

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r00fus
So no more iPod Touch competitor? Perhaps it'll exist, but not be called the
Zune HD (and run WP7 Apps). In fact, that would be quite cool (esp. if Nokia
is in on this operation).

~~~
rbanffy
> So no more iPod Touch competitor?

Was it ever?

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narodick
RIP squirting you friends! Sigh...

~~~
shaggyfrog
"I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video
of your vacation. That's a software experience. The truth is, though, if it
makes money, it will be built into the gross margin on the hardware. We'll
figure out how to make money on the community perhaps later though advertising
or other means."

[http://news.softpedia.com/news/Balmer-Talks-About-Zune-
And-T...](http://news.softpedia.com/news/Balmer-Talks-About-Zune-And-The-
iPod-37800.shtml)

I guess they decided that figuring out the "making money" part was second to
getting squirting exactly right.

