“Yes, Microsoft’s new Zune digital music player is just plain dreadful. I’ve spent a week setting this thing up and using it, and the overall experience is about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face,” Andy Ihnatko writes for The Chicago Sun-Times. “‘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.”
Ihnatko writes, “The setup process stands among the very worst experiences I’ve ever had with digital music players. The installer app failed, and an hour into the ordeal, I found myself asking my office goldfish, ‘Has it really come to this? Am I really about to manually create and install a .dll file?’ But there it was, right on the Zune’s tech support page. Is this really what parents want to be doing at 4 a.m. on Christmas morning?”
Ihnatko writes, “That might not be Zune’s fault. After about a year of operation, it’s almost as if a Windows machine develops some sort of antibodies that prevent it from recognizing new hardware. But what’s Microsoft’s excuse for everything else?”
“The Zune is a complete, humiliating failure,” Ihnatko writes. “Throw in the Zune’s tail-wagging relationship with music publishers, and it almost becomes important that you encourage people not to buy one.”
“The iPod owns 85 percent of the market because it deserves to. Apple consistently makes decisions that benefit the company, the users and the media publishers — and they continue to innovatively expand the device’s capabilities without sacrificing its simplicity,” Ihnatko writes. “The Zune will be dead and gone within six months. Good riddance.”
Full article here.
Well now, there’s a lovely review to add to the mountain of bad reviews. This couldn’t happen to a more deserving company.
Related articles:
TheStreet.com: It’s not looking good for Microsoft’s Zune; bad press may taint brand for years – November 24, 2006
Amazon’s bestselling MP3 players list chronicles Microsoft Zune dud – November 20, 2006
Bill Gates: Apple iPod ‘phenomenal, unbelievable, fantastic’ – November 16, 2006
Cramer’s Mad Money: Microsoft’s Zune is pathetic; Vista may cause people to turn to Apple Mac – November 15, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune selling like snotcakes – November 15, 2006
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
Opinion: More blood on Apple iPod’s Click Wheel: Microsoft pulls plug on Zune – July 25, 2006
Andy Ihnatko doesn’t get it.
I am especially uncomfortable with his comments blasting Microsoft and their relationship with the record labels. Why can’t you iPod lemmings see this is a good thing? Apple doesn’t have the guts to work with the labels like Microsoft does.
Thank you Microsoft for (once again) looking after the consumer’s best interests!
Your potential. Our passion.
disease
If this POS was marketed by a Taiwanese also ran, no one would give it a second thought. Because it’s Mafiasoft’s POS, countless of resources are poured on it, like fresh rain on a steaming POS.
Let’s all move on now. Don’t waste anymore of your precious time on it. It is shit. All those surprised, please raise your hands.
I regularly read Men’s Health, which this month includes a special section “Top electronic gadgets for men” or something. So I’m leafing through it and see PS3, Wii, some phones, etc. Number one? Zune. I couldn’t tell if this was an advertising section or not, but I’d guess Microsoft paid for that placement.
I really want to write them a letter that says “stick to health, you don’t know a damn thing about electronics.” In fact, perhaps I will…
Buy a Zune, get zwnd!
Microsoft have pulled off something that I would have thought impossible. They’re changing Apple’s iPod lead into an even bigger one.
The non-iPod market was previously covered by ‘Plays for Sure’ players, but Microsoft has orphaned them overnight, so there is now little point in buying one. The only major alternative is Zune and that’s not looking too attractive either.
So having killed off ‘Plays for Sure’ and offered a Zune that is unappealing, Microsoft have at a stroke removed most of the alternatives to iPods.
You’ve got to hand it to Ballmer, there are no strategists quite like him and as an Apple share holder, I’m absolutely delighted that he’s employed by Microsoft and hope that he stays with them for a lot longer.
I feel sorry for every poor schmuck who buys a Zune. They don’t care about supporting MicroSlop they just want a music player.
A lot of idiots will buy Zune just because its MS and they think it will somehow go with their Windows computer better. What morons.
beleaguered
• adjective 1 under siege. 2 in difficulties; harassed.
not quite yet i guess
From: Less is More
“the Pune”
Now that’s a great name. Who wouldn’t want a brand spankin’ new Pune? I’d show it off to everyone, “Hey, Check out my Pune. It’s brown!”
If MS is to survive outside of the corporate world they MUST have a solution against the iPod.
Our love of songs (radio), podcasts (talk back), music videos (MTV) and videos (TV) have been ubiquitous for decades and are unlikely to go away. The customer seems happy to change their technology to Apple to get this all working and Apple is now seen as the ‘safe’ and future-proof brand.
Even the corporates only really need MS for the ‘back end’ with thin client technology (web, AJAX, Office, Terminal, SQL, Java, etc) at the front end, which is fairly interchangeable between Unix, Mac and Parallels. Once MS lose the ‘front end’, the back end can be changed more invisibly (ask Novell or Oracle).
The iPod not only makes Apple money, but it helps prepare us for other technologies (phones, movies, games, etc) that we might ignore if they came from other companies. For this reason MS MUST have a solution, even a money losing one. They can burn their profits from Windows and Office, but once the move is made away from generic PCs, the mental move away from Windows and Office becomes easier too. This possibility must be scaring MS no end.
The iPod vs Zune saga has shown that the MS Goliath CAN be beaten, even if he is not dead yet, and has given many smaller companies and governments a much needed second wind when dealing with MS.
On this very topic, check out this link:
http://www.microsoftshitbrick.com/
i know it’s silly, but it did make me smile…
Zune is so bad, so fast, one suspects a conspiracy. And then it’s suddenly fun to think about that product. I dismissed failing cold war enemies, and the religious right. What’s left?
And then the philosopher intrudes, urging timeless truth – never suspect a conspriracy when incompetence covers the facts.
I had a thought tonight Apple might get cocky. I hope not.
And the sad thing is that when he was talking to the office goldfish, he was still probably still talking to a more intelligent lifeform than Steve Ballmer.
Let’s consider MSFT’s folly here…
Firstly, they foist the lie that was “Plays For Sure” on the public whilst promulgating some nonsense about consumer choice and Apple’s ‘proprietary’ approach to the music market.
Then, they turn their back on Plays For Sure by developing Zune which is – by design – inoperable with any Plays For Sure product or service. In the process, they burn their bridges with their ‘partners’ (who now understand where they live in MSFT’s world view) and their customers (who have no consistent idea what MSFT thinks, although that only puts them on a par with MSFT’s management).
Then – just to make sure we get the message – they shut down MSN Music, which must be nice for all of that service’s customer base. OK, it’s not a huge number of people – but even so.
And then they release a ‘turkey’ which manages to get some of the worst reviews since Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman conspired to create Ishtar.
Genius.
Airbag? OK, I thought it said hairbag.
Airbag doesn’t seem so bad now.
Friday Night, about 11:20PM PST:
So I’m doing some Christmas shopping on Amazon. Figured, what the heck, I’d check out the ranking of the Zune.
MP3 Hard Drive Players: The Black Zune is ranked #7, behind a couple of Zens. Brown is #14 and White is #16.
MP3 Players: The Black Zune is ranked #22, Brown is #51, and White is #56.
All Consumer Electronics: The Black Zune is ranked #81, the others aren’t even in the top 100.
So…placeyerbets! When will the Zune drop off the All Consumer Electronics List?
The rebranded Toshiba Gigabeat Portable Windows Media Player (which the marketing geniuses at Microsoft call the “zune”) is now at #81 on Amazon, which is probably one of the quickest falls of any product on Amazon’s top sellers’ list. Looks like Microsoft ran out of employees willing to buy one for the team.
-jcr
As someone who earns a living testing airbag strength by having them deployed in my face all day I can asure you all, you get used to it.
Down to #86.
So… how many 100s of millions did MS invest in order to outsell the fierce and mighty U2 special edition?
For anyone who remembers the 80s… this is starting to feel like a New Coke-ish debacle… not just a failure, but a high profile, highly visible disaster.
One of MS’s worst mistakes is the high profile full throttle (including Business Week!) marketing effort. The Dell DJ might have been a marketplace failure, but the Zune is quickly turning into a joke. And the world class marketing and PR makes sure we all take notice!
Yes MS can be persistent, but 6 months or a year from now when they’re #4 or 5 or 6 (or worse) in the marketplace, and they got all the overhead caused by maintaining a complete ecosystem, it is VERY plausible that they’ll just pull the plug. This is going to be a money pit for them. At least MS Bob didn’t require them to maintain an online store. And because Zune is a closed eco-system to be competitive they need to develop copies of the entire Apple line. They need to answer the Nano, the Shuffle, the next generation video ipod and phones! All the while subject to extortion by the music industry.
Seriously, I think the assumption of a two horse race with Apple were a litte premature.
The big winner here is probably Microsoft’s most serious competitive threat: Google. They must be giddy watching MS squander its capital and talent on this disaster.
OK, I’m kinda giddy too.)
Ferf Muckmeyer…
When Panther is released??? Just goes to show that most IT departments havn’t a clue.
Zune Tang are you related to Peterson?
He had a Zune, Tang on him once!
John C. Randolph:
When the self-described elite in the Windows world call your biggest failure (i.e. Vista) a success who are we to argue? These people certainly may have lowered their standards of excellence and performance; however, according to their eroded criteria they are faultless. Rather than debating their conclusions critique their analyses, dispute their assumptions, and compare their benchmarks of performance with objective standards.
To John C. Randolph (Nov 25, 06 – 04:07 am):
Actually, Zune is not compatible to Windows Media Player, too.
For anyone who remembers the 80s… this is starting to feel like a New Coke-ish debacle… not just a failure, but a high profile, highly visible disaster.
What’s worse is MS has done absolutely nothing (so far) to counter this disaster.
Where are all of MS’s marketing goons, the ones who can MAKE a product a success? Are they all tied up, locked & loaded with Vista? Heh even the Xbox camp has been quiet, despite two serious competitors rolling out major new products within a week.
I wonder if, internally, MS has given up, and is down to milking their legacy Office cash cow for what it’s worth (the same way certain automakers gave up on cars & milked their SUV’s). How else could such a rich company make such a half-assed entry into such an established market?
If I didn’t know better I’d say MS was located in Detroit…
Edsel
At least New Coke had Coke Classic to fall back on.
MS has……….Origami.
Micro$haft sucks. Plain and simple.