“Microsoft’s attack on the Apple iPod began with a whimper Tuesday as Zune players made a lackluster debut in US stores,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.
AFP reports, “Two boxed Zune players sat ignored on the top shelf of a Plexiglas showcase packed with iPod accessories in a Virgin Megastore near Union Square in San Francisco’s popular shopping district. ‘I didn’t even know they were there until a customer pointed them out,’ said sales clerk Jake Brooks. ‘I’m sure we have more in a closet in the back somewhere.'”
“By mid-afternoon the store had sold one Zune player and one other person had inquired about them,” AFP reports. “The scene was bleaker at a CompUSA store a block away, where the manager said that an oversight by Microsoft sales people had resulted in the store not getting Zunes for display. No apparent harm was done though, said the manager, because no shoppers came asking about Zunes.”
“Apple has sold nearly 70 million iPods since introducing them in 2001 and the devices command about 75 percent of the global MP3 player market,” AFP reports. “Apple’s online iTunes store sells digital music, podcasts, video, and films [with music library of over 3.5 million songs]. Microsoft’s online Zune Marketplace sells only music for the devices [with a library of about 2 million songs].”
Full article here.
Reuters reports, “Donna Murphy is no fan of the ubiquitous iPod music player so on Tuesday she became one of the first to buy Microsoft’s new rival Zune device. ‘I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos,’ said Murphy, who bought a Zune at Best Buy’s midtown Manhattan store. ‘I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.'”
“But initial shopper interest suggested the Zune media player—heavily promoted in gadget reviews and television talk shows—was in for a slow building process,” Reuters reports. “An employee at the Best Buy store said two shoppers entered the place as it opened and purchased Zune players, and that about 20 were sold within the first three hours.”
“At the Virgin Megastore in New York’s Times Square two circular displays sporting Zune players with earphones attached were unmanned that morning, save for store employees restocking supplies,” Reuters reports.
Full article here.
Related articles:
Microsoft’s Zune incompatible with Windows Vista – November 14, 2006
Dvorak: ‘If anything is doomed to failure, it’s Microsoft’s Zune’ – November 14, 2006
Ballmer: Zune’s Wi-Fi will help Microsoft challenge Apple’s iPod+iTunes – November 14, 2006
CNN ridicules Microsoft’s Zune while gushing over Apple’s new iPod shuffle – November 14, 2006
Engadget: Microsoft’s Zune software: ‘It sucks’ – November 13, 2006
Early Microsoft Zune customer greeted with Zune ‘Installation Error’ – November 13, 2006
Zuned: What’s the ‘deal’ with Microsoft Points? – November 12, 2006
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Apple has no need to worry about Microsoft’s cumbersome, chunkier Zune – November 11, 2006
BusinessWeek: ‘By this time next year, Microsoft’s Zune will be considered a dismal failure’ – November 10, 2006
USA Today’s Baig: Microsoft Zune is no Apple iPod – November 09, 2006
Forbes: Microsoft’s Zune stinks; like ‘Microsoft Bob,’ only more embarrassing – November 09, 2006
NY Times’ Pogue: Zune should come in green to match Microsoft’s iPod envy – November 09, 2006
Mossberg: MS Zune has ‘too many compromises, missing features’ vs. ‘thin, sleek, elegant’ Apple iPod – November 09, 2006
Microsoft to pay Universal for every Zune sold – November 09, 2006
Analysts: Microsoft Zune may end up being a flop – November 08, 2006
Are 58% of iPod owners really thinking of a Zune switch? – November 08, 2006
Survey: 58% of iPod owners planning another MP3 player purchase will consider Microsoft’s Zune – November 01, 2006
Zune is from Microsoft, but Microsoft doesn’t want anybody to know about it – November 07, 2006
Microsoft Zune to be US-only, no firm plans to launch anywhere else globally – November 03, 2006
Five Microsoft Zune TV commercials – November 02, 2006
JupiterResearch: Apple’s iPod will dominate for foreseeable future; Microsoft’s Zune insignificant – October 25, 2006
Ellen DeGeneres Show gives away Microsoft Zunes, studio audience goes berserk – October 23, 2006
More Microsoft Zune myths explored – October 20, 2006
Five more Microsoft Zune myths – October 18, 2006
Microsoft Zune intensifies chaos in Apple iPod+iTunes also-ran market – October 16, 2006
Newsweek Q&A: Apple CEO Steve Jobs discusses iPod’s impact, Microsoft’s Zune, and more – October 15, 2006
Microsoft’s Ballmer: Zune device not money loser, wishes Apple’s 30GB iPod was $299 instead of $249 – October 11, 2006
Microsoft’s consumer electronics track record: long string of failures – October 11, 2006
MP3.com founder: ‘Zune will be an expensive failure for Microsoft because consumers aren’t stupid’ – October 06, 2006
Microsoft fails to secure key Zune domains – October 04, 2006
Microsoft rigs Zune with tricky pricing and proprietary money schemes – October 03, 2006
Why Microsoft’s Zune won’t kill Apple’s iPod – October 03, 2006
10 Apple iPod vs. Microsoft Zune myths – October 02, 2006
Analyst: Zune could lead to ‘civil war’ between Microsoft and Windows Media partners – September 29, 2006
Thurrott on Microsoft’s Zune: ‘The makings of a disaster, what the heck are these people thinking?’ – September 29, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft Zune’s as good as dead on arrival – September 28, 2006
Microsoft sets 30GB Zune price at $249.99 – September 28, 2006
How Microsoft’s Zune can kill Apple’s iPod – September 21, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune insanity – September 21, 2006
The Microsoft Zune 1.0 dud – September 20, 2006
Microsoft’s underwhelming Zune a ‘viral DRM’ device – September 18, 2006
SanDisk teams with RealNetworks against new common foe: Microsoft Zune – September 18, 2006
Creative does Apple’s dirty work by immediately attacking Microsoft’s Zune – September 17, 2006
Motley Fool’s Jayson: Microsoft’s ‘just plain ugly’ Zune a meager offering, not an iPod killer – September 15, 2006
What’s in a name? ‘Zune’ a French-Canadian euphemism for penis or vagina – September 15, 2006
Crave at CNET: ‘Microsoft Zune, all the excitement that brown can bring’ – September 15, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune underwhelms – September 15, 2006
Enderle: Microsoft Zune ‘a design mistake’ – September 15, 2006
Microsoft hypocrisy exposed with Zune: What ever happened to ‘choice?’ – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft Zune with fake scroll wheel ‘hardly an Apple iPod killer’ – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft Zune won’t spoil Apple’s biggest iPod Christmas ever – September 14, 2006
Microsoft unveils Zune 30GB player, Zune Marketplace; declines to disclose prices – September 14, 2006
Analyst: Microsoft’s Zune an ‘underwhelming’ repackaged Toshiba Gigabeat; no threat to Apple iPod – August 30, 2006
Microsoft confirms brick-like Zune to be made by Toshiba – August 25, 2006
Microsoft Zune is chunky brick made by Toshiba – August 25, 2006
Microsoft to sell single Zune model this fall, rumors of Wi-Fi capability were greatly exaggerated – August 10, 2006
Microsoft to spend hundreds of millions, several years on Zune trying to catch Apple iPod+iTunes – July 27, 2006
Zune: Apple cannot lose. Microsoft cannot win. – July 26, 2006
Since Microsoft has a huge war chest of money, this cancer will not go away.
So, to date, Universal has made $20 from Zunes sold in Manhattan.
This may be the first time P. T. Barnum’s axiom, “No-one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public,” is challenged.
Good
Donna Murphy is no fan of the ubiquitous iPod music player so on Tuesday she became one of the first to buy Microsoft’s new rival Zune device. ‘I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos.
Good for her. If only more people had the courage of their anti-Apple convictions.
Will she still feel this way when she experiences the grainy video quality or has problems installing her Zune? Who knows? At least she’s made a stand. And she might find someone to network with in around a year.
‘I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos,’ said Murphy, who bought a Zune at Best Buy’s midtown Manhattan store. ‘I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.'”
I hope it wasn’t DRMed. If so, she is SOL.
Hah.
Hey Donna,
The Zune doesn’t play videos.
DOH!
(In best Nelson from the Simpsons voice):
HA HA!!
“Good for her. If only more people had the courage of their anti-Apple convictions.”
Yeah… uh.. way to root against the good guys…Good job Donna.. Apple has gotten away with providing a stellar end-to-end experience long enough.
“I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos,’ said Murphy, who bought a Zune at Best Buy’s midtown Manhattan store.’I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.'” There are a lot of people like her out there intimidated by coolness but even that’s ok. But why not buy a Sony, Creative or even Toshiba who actually makes the turd Zune? M$ fans are a bunch of ignorant herd!
You know, this whole I-can’t-like-it-cuz-it’s-popular things is so sad. I guess I went through that phase when I was in my early 20s as well, but it’s just so stupid. There are plenty of popular bands and products that are great, and there are PLENTY of unknown bands and products that are just awful.
There is no such thing as “alternative” any more. Hasn’t been for at least 15 years.
Hey mudflapper,
The Zune does play videos. The Zune Marketplace isn’t selling videos yet, but there’s nothing to stop you putting your own videos on there. Same as you can do in iTunes – buy from the iTunes Store or import your existing video collection.
Classic MDN headline! And, as far as Google is concerned, totally unique, too:
http://www.google.com/search?rls=en&q=selling+like+snotcakes
I made a trip to the local CompUSA store last night so that I could bad-mouth Zune. They didn’t have any and the sales kid never heard of it. He knew all about ipods. I walked over to the Mac section and hung-out for a few until a family approached the iBooks. They were possible switchers and I sold the crap out of Apple by telling the truth: My wife and I have owned 11 PC’s and switched to Mac four years ago and started a new and better life. I left them with the feeling that they would be new Apple fans. Zune sucks.
‘…selling like snotcakes.’
LMAO
MaWo: ‘going’. As in, nowhere.
“Donna Murphy is no fan of the ubiquitous iPod…”
There are not enough iPod “anti-fans” to make a difference. You know the product must suck if the primary reason for someone buying it is because she is “not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.” She definitely got something “different”…
She wants to try something different yet she uses windows? When will she get her mac (or even install Linux) so she has a computer different from most people? Sounds like a contradiction to me.
Good work guys, your checks are in the mail.
Alex,
Really? Could’ve sworn I read that it’s video capabilities haven’t been activated yet, at all.
m
The cancer analogy is apt. From another version of the same Reuters article:
“Microsoft itself has acknowledged that the Zune investment may take years to bear fruit, and analysts upheld the expectation. . . . Microsoft is going to put tons of money in this over time, much like they did with the Xbox” video game console, she said. “It’s not about the first generation (of devices).”
It’s just going to take a bit of long-term patience, as Apple diligently continues to apply the latest iPod chemotherapy. So long as Apple continues to develop new and effective drugs, I believe they can beat this horrible disease.
If music players were food, iPods would be cakes. Apple would be selling the cakes slightly warmed up. The cakes would fly off the shelves with people snapping them up like they were going out of fashion.
The zune is a cold broth with lots of cooks trying to make it taste nice. They’d ruin it though. They’d think they were making it better but the surfeit of cooks would have a negative impact.
“I’m not an Apple fan, I love mediocrity and half-assed attempts,” said Donna Murphy. “And besides, I can’t wait to see the error screen that looks to have some girl-on-girl action and an Asian girl having an orgasm.”
Maybe no one knows about Zune yet that much. Maybe there asking the sales Person what is a Zune i never heard of it and the sales person says sir/mem its almost like the twin brother of Ipod but only one is made by Apple and other is Made by Microsoft. Bye
Maybe she can watch this on her Zune
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1750823427949463618&q=video+of+bsod
One of the obvious problems with Zune is that it is only able to partially compete with one iPod in Apple’s product line. Microsoft has no answer to the iPod Nano or iPod Shuffle; both of which account for most of the iPod sales. The Nano is the best selling iPod and the new Shuffle is going to be an outstanding seller in it’s own right.
I doubt for example that many women buy the regular iPod. How is Microsoft going to attract that part of the market? They’re not. Active people on the go? Not them either. So who exactly is their market? College students? Teenagers? Perhaps, but what percentage of the iPod buying market is that? And how many of them will switch?
Apple has a five year lead and a diverse product line that reaches all apsects of the digital music player buying market. How can Microsft compete with that? Any by the time Microsoft comes out with an answer to the Nano and Shuffle Apple will have innovated again and released an even better device.
So the only thing Zune can compete with is all the other players. Zune is the best thing to happen to Apple’s iPod. Zune will kill off all the other competition and Apple will be left with one inept competitor that they can innovate circles around.
I was tired of all the BMWs and Mercedes in my town. Everybody drives them. I wanted to drive something different; I just didn’t want to follow the leader, you know? So I just bought a used brown Yugo.
MacMental,
Thanks for the point. I was going to make it yesterday and forgot. Somehow this has been totally ignored by the fans of sites like this as well as the media.
Question for all of you: While Apple won’t tell us, what percentage of iPod sales do you think the 30GB Video takes up? I’ll bet it’s less than 10%.
So Microsoft isn’t competing against the iPod, because iPod means shuffle and three nanos and 30GB and 80GB video.
At best Microsoft is competing against 10% of the iPod line, and if they were able to take ALL of it (insert wild laugh here), it’s only 7.5% of the total market.
And they have NO market outside the US.
Serve me up some of those snotcakes!
Hey I tried to find this Zune Marketplace software, thinking it’s akin to iTunes, but I can’t find it anywhere on M$’s website. What did they do limit software availablity to CD’s included when you buy a Zune??? I don’t get it? It’d be nice to see the competition, I’d like to see how it works. Or doesn’t.
um, scottm, tried the zune site?
http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/software.htm
You know what I’m tired of hearing? This pathetic corporate apology that MS is handing out every time they talk about how many of these they expect to sell.
“Oh, we know it’s going to take years, but hey, eventually, if we throw enough money at this, we might bungle out way into a cool feature or two.”
Think about the way Apple introduces things. Do you think they’re gonna put out a half-assed dumpy looking phone and tell everyone to just wait a few more generations until they get it right? NO!!! They’re going to introduce a product that is *READY*, and it’s going to be one that blows everyone away.
MS has exponentially more money, resources, partners, distribution and supply deals… and THIS is the best they can do out of the gate, complete with promises of great things to come.
psssshh… Whatever.
-c
MW: ‘cut’ (your losses and get out now. MSFT @ 20 next year)
People who just have to have something different will love the Zune because they can buy one knowing that no one else will have one! What a thrill! But some people did buy Zunes this morning, proving that morons like music, too!
MDN is not doing its job. It is far too early (after one day) to make any judgement calls on Zune sales. And it’s patent nonsense to extrapolate nationwide results by looking at one city.
Here’s a counterexample to prove the point:
From http://www.nypost.com/seven/11152006/business/ipod_slayer_zune_hits_the_ground_running_business_sam_gustin.htm
“Microsoft’s Zune media player, which the tech titan hopes will dethrone Apple’s market-leading iPod, was flying off shelves in New York on its first day in stores yesterday.
“‘It’s been crazy,’ said Eddie Feliciano, a sales manager at Best Buy at 44th Street and Fifth Avenue. “Our Zune area has been mobbed.”
(Rest deleted for brevity. See link above for full article.)
So which is it? Zunes being ignored, or flying off the shelves? The answer is both, neither, or possibly a bit of both. It’s far too early to tell.
MDN, if you want to be taken seriously as real journalists, then start acting like it.
This chick rejects the ubiquity of the iPod and wants to try something different? So what does she do…why of course, chooses a Microsof product since, afterall, no one knows about or possesses anything from this little known company.
This proves again that the difference between stupidity and genius is that there are limits to genius.
Selling like snotcakes…ahahahahaha..oh oh….I think I pissed myself.
I have met idiots who won’t buy things because they are popular or because everyone else has one, AND that is why they are idiots. NO logic, just because….nah!
The little lady wants something different to play her music on, well she got it. It won’t play her music unless she buys it again with all those points and other shit.
Jeeeeessss how many stupid fuckers are out there. Ask her in a month if she bought one and she will say NO. It will be hiddeen under all her teddy bears…
No body wants to admit they bought a shit sandwich.
Why am I not shocked…
mmmm….squirt
“I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan”
It’s fine to not like Apple, but you don’t need to cut off your nose to spite your face – and line the pockets of multimillionaires which in turn helps bugg*r the music industry further just because.
Mixed Bag,
Since this is the only report I have seen claiming brisk Zune sales, I hope some bloggers investigate for more details. I suspect a typical Microsoft astroturfing operation.
MS has a history of dishonesty and faking success. I’ll bet that they or some of their shills faked this one too.
You know, I ‘m not an iPod fan, per se, I’m a MUSIC fan. I like the iPod because it gets out of my way and lets me enjoy my music.
ALL THE OTHER PLAYERS want to get right up in your face and show you all their features. JUST LIKE CELL PHONES.
They SUCK.
SUCK SUCK SUCK.
I have a Moto Shitty Flip Ass Phone that I hate. I take pics on it, but anything more requires reading a manual and subscribing to all kinds of services. I have to do a kludgy work-around to sync my contacts (and it only syncs ONE WAY)
Make the Machine Invisible. Don’t put ‘services’ between me and my data.
GET OUT OF THE WAY.
Apple is not perfect, but they are the ONLY company that seems to get this in any meaningful way. If they make a phone that works as well as an iPod…
The Game Is Over.
-c
MW: ‘make’ (me a phone that I don’t want to throw from a speeding truck)
ChrissyOne is spot on… about pathetic MS.
It’s your typical MS strategy; get the product out the door, buy some print ads, radio spots, give one to Jay Leno and pay Rob Enderle to whore it around the ‘net and if the wind starts to blow in the direction of S (for sales), then (that’s a really big then my friends) move the product into Rev B. and fix it’s Fscking problems. Maybe by Rev G. sp2*, they’ll have it working correctly.
Now, about Ms. Donna Murphy…. I’m sure she grabbed her Zune, jumped into her Jag’ and went back to the NY marketing field office of M$.
Haven’t heard anything about the Zune’s Battery life or the like. I remember last year that was the biggest point Sony could come up with for switching to the ‘Bean’ or Walkman….
thx – W.A.
LinuxGuy, you’re spouting ideology, not facts.
There’s zero evidence that indicates the NY Post article is faked. There’s zero evidence that the Agence France-Presse article that MDN quoted is faked.
In fact, there’s precious little facts at all about Zune sales. Two stores in one city on one day does not a sales report make. Even three stores in two different cities is too little information to get a read on Zune sales.
My point is that MDN is selectively quoting one report, but not the other. This is not what serious journalists would do. They would gather facts, report them, and put them in context.
As the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan so astutely observed: “You are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts.”
Enough is enough. You people just don’t get it.
Think of it this way: Apple implemented a graphic user interface (Lisa, Macintosh) which displaced a command line interface. I say if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, but whatever. They took years trying to get it right until Microsoft crafted a masterpiece called Windows and the world is much better for it. Windows introduced things like icons, scalable fonts, a folder metaphor which Apple could only dream of using on their machines, so Apple copied it. Flash forward to 2006 and leave it to Microsoft finally get MP3 players right after Apple nearly destroyed the notion of portable music players just like they just about killed the idea of a stable, functional easy to use operating system.
Thank you, Microsoft! Welcome to the Social.
I just went to Best Buy to look at one of these. It lived up to my expectations. Boxy, ugly, Soviet-surplus design, annoying phony clickwheel, nice-sized screen but washed out looking next to an iPod. The screen is the only thing that makes you want to pick it up, then you look at it for a minute and want to put it right back down. No one was anywhere near it, and I didn’t see any in-store displays for it. The benighted thing was with the rest of the also-rans on a sad little table that looked very much like the Island of Misfit Toys.
Walking in, I was shocked to see a line of guys out front. “Could that actually be for the Zune?” I wondered for a second. Nope, they were camped out for the Playstation 3 release on Friday.
Ahhhh… such short memories people have.
DOS vs CP/M
Excel vs Lotus
Word vs Wordperfect
Windows NT vs Novell
Internet Explorer vs Netscape
SQL Server vs Oracle
Windows CE/Mobile vs Palm OS
XBox vs PSP
and now…
Zune vs IPod
I think you guys are being a little too hard on the lady in the article. It may so happen that the Zune is just the perfect size to insert rectally as an anal dildo.
Truth,
Your examples are invalid in this case since everything you cited is from the “corporate” world, except for the last one. But it’s not Xbox vs PSP, it’s Xbox vs PS3 and/or wii, and that war is far from over.
The consumer market is a completely different ball game where emotions and a lot of external forces come into the decision process. Everyone just wants to “be the same for the cheapest price” in the corporate world. Plus MS could bully their way into many of those markets. Not the same with the consumer market.
Zune Tang….will you go take a long walk off a short pier? its tiring to have to jump over your posts to continue reading the more intelligent comments on this thread. Join a circle jerk and go community squirt with your MS Zune loving dorks you call friends and stop bothering us…..stupid git.
Apart from the plethora of CAPS, I also agree with ChrissyOne’s take…its amazing how MS just doesn’t get it. Forget about the small percentage of people that are never satisfied and want this useless feature or that useless feature. Keep it simple and functional.
Apple (Ives) has shown time and again that this works.
I suggest that M$ should make a new ad with ‘The thrill is gone’ by Marvin Gaye as soundtrack.
XBox vs PSP
What about the Wii? It’s the only one of the 3 new consoles that will be in my home.
Zune Tang:
M$ also introduced the world when it crafted the masterpiece that allowed 114,000 new Doze viruses to “socially” interact with the world. Welcome to the social.
I don’t know why people keep quoting me…
Welcome to the social? WTF is that?
Zune Tang, you are truly mis-informed. I won’t even go past the first one. MS introduced icons? You’re kidding right. Can people be this dumb?
Maybe EVERYONE else loves to read about ZUNE, but for goodness sake, this is a Macintosh news site. AS for me, I will skip MDN from now on. There are plenty of alternatives where ZUNE is not every other story!
me,
I think you’re the dumb one.
Gone, I’m afraid that you’ve been misinformed about what MDN is about. Of course you won’t be reading this since you’re Gone.
Last quarter Microsoft’s entertainment and device division LOST $96 Million. Zune should add to its investment.
That’s right Buster — me an my Zune loving dorks are squirting each other night and day, only this honeymoon is gonna last forever! Zune ROCKS! The ones on the short pier are the iPod/iTunes users ’cause their time is just about over! You are in no position to squirt each other, and when you can finally squirt, it will be too late.
HOW ABOUT SOME MORE CAPS, BUSTER!!! YOU LIKE ‘EM BOLD TOO? YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT — BOLD CAPS!!!
History repeats itself: time and time again Microsoft lights the way out of Apple’s darkness. Have fun using your antiquated money on your has-been iPod. As for me, it’s glorious points from here on out…
Welcome to the Social.
It’s kind of interesting, these people that throw a hissy fit about there being another bad Zune review cited and discussed here on MDN. They first of all seem not to understand that no one is making them actually click on the Zune story. It’s a matter of free will. If it doesn’t interest you, move on then.
And they also seem not to understand why laughing at that shit of a company known as Microsoft is something many Mac users enjoy doing when the opportunity presents itself. Yes, yes, you don’t have to point out…YET AGAIN…that this is a Mac news site. We all know that. But all that means is that any subject which is likely going to be of interest to a large percentage of Mac users is likely to be discussed here. And seeing MS embarass itself IS indeed of interest to many Mac users. The worlds is a worse place than it had to be because of that wretched filthy company.
Essentially, these “I’m not comin’ ’round here no more” type of people want the world to revolve around THEIR wishes, and to hell with everyone else. Killjoys!
@MixedBag:
Reading alittle further down your link…
“”We’ve been moving a lot of them,” said Rod Saboya, a supervisor at Best Buy at 23rd Street and Sixth Avenue. “We had people lined up outside this morning one hour before we opened.”
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Saboya said his store had sold 60 Zunes, or nearly half of the store’s inventory.”
60!!!?
Apple stores sold 500 to 1500 iPods a day in my area last Christmas. 60!!!!!? This is a joke, right?
Ad suggestion,
I’m pretty certain that ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ was B.B. King’s song (although it was covered by many others, including Aretha Franklin). Now an appropriate Marvin Gaye song for someone using Microsoft products would be ‘What’s Goin’ On’, although you could also make a case for ‘Trouble Man’.
Zune Tang….its a scary thought that people like you walk the streets alongside normal people. Doesn’t your guardian notice when you leave go of the communal rope that the other kids of your daycare have to hold on to?
Buster, I apologize. The gratuitous use of caps was wrong, but to put them in boldface was disgusting. Sometimes I go a little too far. See, this is the passion Microsoft talks about when they say “Your potential. Our passion.” It gets the best of me.
I just get so flustered with Apple’s chicanery in the MP3 player marketplace. Microsoft’s legendary ease-of-use, generous DRM implementation, flawless interoperability with PCs, robustness of the online store, continued customer-focused innovation and millions of happy customers is being overlooked because of the false hype with these iPod things. Apple can’t claim any of the aforementioned traits, so they bully the market and consumer. Too bad, really.
Hopefully we can put this behind us and maybe squirt each other some time.
Welcome to the Social.
Know Zune Software Issues straight from the Jackasses mouth.
Zunetang is … is … oh, frack, I forgot his tag. but it’s him. It’s gotta be. Same kind of semi-Soviet retorical gibberish as … whoever it is I’m trying to remember. God it’s been so long since… He used spout about how .Net was going to take over everything and I’d laugh myself silly. Who the …
SPUTNIK! YEAH! SPUTNIK!
That’s who Zunetang is.Yep. Gotta be Sputnik. Welcome to the Social!
Why is there Zune software and Windows Media player 11? Why try and maintain 2 systems to use your music? Is this direct from the department of redundancy department? Are they so afraid of the bad taste that people have in their mouths from MS software that they have to try and fool people that Zune music software isn’t just windows media player with a skin? Has anyone else noticed this unnecessary double of the same software?
The truly silly thing is that these people who hate the ipod are buying a product that is trying to copy it. I guess it really is just a fashion statement.
I love the brain dead simplicity of my ipod experience. But for those who want something truly different, it would seem that there are all kinds of competitors trying to offer something different, rather than copy.
You’ve got companies struggling to stay alive by adding truly different ideas and features, providing real alternatives. But they don’t have billions to burn. So instead it comes down to a referendum on the ipod, whether you like rubberized or shiny. It’s sad.
Once again, I love my ipod and its ecosystem. But there are legitimate criticisms that make it not right for everyone. Zune copies almost every one of those criticized features.
The wireless, the fm, it’s all cover. The appeal of the Zune is simply that it’s not an ipod… see what an individual I am now.
Sad but typical.
I’m becoming more and more convinced that this Zune thing is only going to help Apple and its ipod. I believe it will fracture the already fragile non-ipod market with good old fashion confusion for the consumer.
Dion – “I made a trip to the local CompUSA store last night so that I could bad-mouth Zune……”
You might want to investigate getting a girlfriend, its a little bit more fun than these shenanigans.
or if you’re truly hardcore, get yourself a Best Buy uniform.
20 in the first 3 hours!!?? Oh no! Look out Apple! The iPod is doomed – doomed I tell you!
Z
I went to WWDC this year…San Francisco isnt exactly a model place to sell a Zune. Its packed with Fags and White Earbuds…New York, Dallas and Atlanta would be better benchmarks…
Anyone who knows anyone who lives in New York knows that the NY Post is not to be taken as serious journalism. The rag is not much higher in the food chain than the National Enquirer.
By the way, why are there so many who don’t “get” that Zune Tang’s comments are saturated satire??
If you are going to try and make a point you shouldn’t insult a group of people in the process. Your “fags” comment doesn’t exactly paint you in the best light. Now your comment is absurd because you really should look at demographics. You are correct that there are a lot of gay people living in San Francisco. However, if you think that there isn’t a large gay population in New York, Dallas, and Atlanta you really should get some better information.
> MDN, if you want to be taken seriously as real journalists, then start acting like it. – Mixed Bag
The whole point is capturing heads, which MDN, apparently, as a Mac-fan and troll site, has no problem achieving. That is journalism, 2006.
To early to tell.
I would think that fags would like the brown Zune. Might remind them of their favorite poop shoot.
Queers,
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Hopefully your brand of tolerance and acceptance will spread among the iPod-lemming masses and allow the Zune to be absorbed into the marketplace.
See everyone, Queers’ ability to live free of prejudice affords him the ability to see the Zune for what it is: anonther stunning accomplishment of the highest order from Microsoft. Wow. All I can say is Welcome to the Social!
You have to agree the Zune response this week has been an overwhelming success all over the county (except you-know-where). 70,000,000 iPods sold? Whatever. They aren’t normal like us, Queers. You get it.
We should get together and squirt.
Zunetang, I love your comments, really great satire!!! keep it up
Buster – re: Zune Tang
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm
RE: “Truth”
PS2 not only destroyed the Xbox-1 but is currently outselling the Xbox-360. And that’s not counting Japan where the Xbox was at the bottom of every list, being outsold by the Wonderswan and PS1. Haha.
And just incase someone says I’m full of it, heres the official numbers from the companies themselves.
Worldwide Hardware Sales (End of 2003)
PS2: 69.46 million
Xbox: 13.7 million
GC: 13.94 million
GBA: 49.42 million
PSX: 99.22 million
Worldwide Hardware Sales (End of 2005)
PS2: 101.37 million, up 31.91 million
GBA: 74.25 million, up 25.83 million
Xbox: 24 million, up 10.3 million
GC: 20.61 million, up 6.67 million
PSP – 15.03 million, new
Nintendo DS – 14.43 million, new
Xbox 360: 1.5 million, new
Note, I don’t have PSX numbers for 2005, but I’m guessing they’re in the ballpark of 110 million. It’s being said that in 2006 the PS2 will break the PSX’s record sales, being the most sold console in history. PS2 dominates so handidly it’s not funny.
My bad.
The PS1 ended shipment from Sony in 2005, peaking at 102.49 million units. The PS2 broke that around March and is currently at 11.25 million units Business Data.
Oh god, bad typo. 111.25 million units. Okay, this is my last post. I promise.
Zune said: “Did you ever fart so hard you ended up in another zip code?”
“Donna Murphy is no fan of the ubiquitous iPod music player so on Tuesday she became one of the first to buy Microsoft’s new rival Zune device. ‘I just needed a new MP3 player to play my music and watch videos,’ said Murphy, who bought a Zune at Best Buy’s midtown Manhattan store. ‘I’m not an Apple fan, not an iPod fan. So I wanted to try something different.'”
Unfortunately, I’m coming across all too many of these people who seem to think that they’re being “cutting-edge” or “anti-establishment” by buying a Zune just to stick it to the “ubiquitous” iPod.
Even as a self-admitted “Apple fanboy” I would have no problem if the Zune was a success (a lot of MS-heads seem to think we’re “afraid” of the Zune), as I’m sure it would just push Apple to make an even better product.
My issue is that it seems the big labels like Universal are trying to use the Zune to force Apple to agree to more restrictive DRM and licensing terms. It’s ironic that “free thinkers” like Donna Murphy are exactly the type of lemmings the major labels are counting on to eventually turn all online media purchases into exploding vaporware.
So how many Zunes do you think Microsoft will buy before they publicly announce first week sales?
Hey guys! Go to CNet! They’re having a posting session about the Zune vs. iPod!
http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11294_7-6664887-1.html?tag=btn
Check it out and post your comments!!!
What gives with Microsoft saying this is their device? They didn’t design it. At least Apple designs their own devices. Microsoft knows nothing about design, they’re dependent on Toshiba for anything they sell. At least Apple is innovating in the area of physical design.
Good luck Microsoft. Hope you get your ass bit off like you deserve.
I just did a doo doo on my Zu-Zune!
Dogriend
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Disambiguation
SallyFields:
did you ever fart so hard, you gave birth to a zune?
Forgive me if anyone has already mentioned this (I did not read all the comments).
I was watching the TV with some friends (none of whom know or follow computer news like I do). And they literally did not notice the Zune amongst all the other commercials. In an ironic twist, my friend saw the iPod nano commercial and said she misses her old iPod (that her brother stole). She’ll probably be getting a nano soon =). iPod ads rock! My friend still doesn’t know what a Zune is.
MDN Word: Spring
As in “In Spring, the Zune will be discontinued.”
I think everyone, maybe except Microsoft, is actually over-hyping this. MDN is obviously gushing at Zune’s “poor” sales, but it seems that they are the only ones expecting Zune to fly off of shelves. Take this interview with Stephenson, an MS executive in the Hollywood Reporter:
“THR: iPod has a 75% market share. How do you intend on breaking that near-monopoly?
Stephenson: I think it’s 78%, actually. The most important thing here is to be a relevant No. 2. It’s absolutely what our goal is. iPod has created a tremendous market position. They’ve defined this market.”
See, Zune isn’t looking to take over the market in a day, month, or year. Only you guys are putting that expectation on it. Maybe you all should be called on your own FUD. (???)
It was the Zune sites that MS set up that started using the phrase ‘iPod killer’. SO I think they kinda brought this on themselves. If you want to be the ‘iPod-also-ran’, that’s fine, I think they might succeed at this. But there is not going to be any ‘killing’ for a long, long time.
-c
MW: ‘received’ (a Zune for Xmas. Fuck you, Santa)