“Well, it had been two weeks since the Zune had hit stores, and I was ready to sample a stranger’s tunes. Equipped with a demonstration unit–courtesy of the folks in Redmond–I set out to try to find some fellow Zunes and their playlists,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News.
“I headed from CNET’s offices in downtown San Francisco up two blocks to Market Street, the main thoroughfare in the city,” Fried reports. “Along the way, I popped into a Starbucks to see if there were any Zunes amid the Venti Macchiatos, or whatever it is that they serve these days. I quickly checked my player. ‘Searching for Zune devices,’ it said, promisingly. I waited, hopeful. ‘No nearby Zune devices found, or nearby devices have wireless turned off,’ my device sadly informed me a few seconds later. Sigh.”
Fried continues searching, “I checked for Zunes frequently as I headed down busy Valencia Street, passing thrift stores and tragically hip coffee shops. I was searching for a particular spot, recommended as the ‘in’ coffee joint. It was called Ritual Coffee Roasters, and it seemed almost to require a laptop for entry. There was a decidedly Mac bent to the ultrahip crowd, however. There were 19 Mac laptops, along with nine Windows machines. An iPod or two could be spotted, though most of the white headphones were plugged directly into the Macs. I immediately realized this was probably not where Zunes come to meet. Alas, after a fruitless search, I was right.”
After a week of searching for another Zune with no luck, lightning struck Fried, “I hopped on the subway to head into the office and went through the familiar Zune routine. Menu…Community…nearby. This time, I did not see the familiar rejection notice. Was I dreaming? …There was another Zune. ‘I should send them a song,’ I thought. But what? I quickly settled on R.E.M’s ‘Begin the Begin.’ ‘Lost connection,’ my Zune reported. ‘0 of 1 songs sent…'”
Full article here.
Instead of the real world, Fried should’ve tried trolling the halls of CNET to try and fail at transferring a DRM-laden time-bomb advertisement disguised as a song. Surely he’d have quickly run into Michael Kanellos or any number of other “I’ll screw myself in a vain attempt to spite Apple” types right there in the adjoining cubicles.
Related articles:
CNET editor Kanellos: ‘Apple iPhone will largely fail’ – December 07, 2006
Microsoft Zune plummets to 5th place in U.S. digital media player market share with 2.1 percent – December 04, 2006
Analysts: Microsoft needs to ‘rethink’ as interest in Zune fades fast – December 01, 2006
Enderle on Apple iPod vs. Microsoft Zune – November 30, 2006
The Channel Checkers: 81% recommend Apple iPod – November 30, 2006
NPD: Microsoft Zune hits 9% in US market share in first week, takes #2 spot from SanDisk [UPDATED] – November 29, 2006
Microsoft says Zune sales in line with their expectations – November 29, 2006
Newsflash: analyst says Apple iPod beating Microsoft Zune – November 28, 2006
Thurrott reviews Microsoft Zune: ‘a joke, a travesty, I can’t imagine what they were thinking’ – November 28, 2006
Apple iPod clearly immune to Zune – November 27, 2006
Zune reinforces Microsoft’s dorky image, pushes people toward Apple iPods, Macs – November 27, 2006
Ihnatko: Microsoft Zune experience about as pleasant as having an airbag deploy in your face – November 24, 2006
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
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Ballmer: Zune’s Wi-Fi will help Microsoft challenge Apple’s iPod+iTunes – November 14, 2006
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Engadget: Microsoft’s Zune software: ‘It sucks’ – November 13, 2006
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Go to YouTube for the latest Zune advertisement.
Originally found it at MacShrine.com.
“MDN Magic Word” ; law, as in there ought to be one about Zune.
Buster,
After the snow melts, the zunes appear from their winter hibernation. Love those Parisian Poodles.
Montreal is the same way, the language they use is just 300 to 400 years behind.
“Ina is a Man that perhaps thinks He is a woman.. but no.. definetly born male. I saw an interview He had with Balmer. I just don’t get why people would call a man who dresses acts or has surgry in opposition to their gender of oragin a woman.. or refer to him as her.”
You could just ask, ya know.
I don’t get how an LCD works but I don’t pretend that it doesn’t.
;P
-c
MW: ‘forces’ (you to think, even if it hurts)
My Jewish friend is giving me, a Muslim, a Zune for Christmas.
Go ahead. Make your snide jokes. Just remember: he who laughs last laughs best.
We might be an underdog now, but there will be a tidal wave WiFi connected Zune users come Christmas morning. It ain’t gonna be a social, it’s gonna be a riot! You lemmings are all jealous you can’t squirt. Face it—You iPod lemmings are antisocial, miserable WiFi wannabes. Just plug your headphones into someone else’s iPod? Puhleeeeeeeze. Use the sharing feature in iTunes or allow up to 5 computers to play your music? C’mon. Burn a CD in iTunes and loan it to a friend? Whatever. When are you lemmings going to figure it out? Apple’s FairPlay is the East Berlin of DRM. Liberate yourselves by coming over to the light side and enjoy Microsoft’s so-liberal-you-won’t-know-its-there DRM!
Believe it or not Apple lemmings this is exactly where us Zune-atics want to be. Ask Ina & Buster—squirting alone is better than not squirting at all. I’ve been squirting alone for a long time, and someday I’ll squirt with someone else. Right across the room.
Welcome to the Social.
Fried should have gone to the Special Olympics if he really wanted a chance of finding a Zune owner to squirt.
Chrissy,
You are a man, Right?
Maybe you call yourself a woman.
We probobly will not ever agree on this.
I’m sorry If I’ve offended you.
ChrissyOne, anybody who gets a Zune for Christmas will be squirting “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” by the Smiths. In fact, that song deserves to be preloaded on the thing.
‘Dear Zune Tang…’ gets it. Great stuff and thank you for the advice. Looking forward to your next post.
Apple’s miserable dominance of the MP3 player market is nearly over. Microsoft is well on their way with their technological marvel: the Zune. I am a fiercely proud Zune owner as you all will be when Apple pulls the plug on their ultra lame iPods because they can’t compete with Microsoft’s wildly innovative Zune.
The preload on Zunes is “We Are the Champions” by Queen. Says it all.
Welcome to the Social.
RE: SHE???
It doesn’t matter if we agree. I respect your right to be a person. I only ask the same from you. If you knew me in real life, you would never call me a man. I promise.
NOW – back to the ZUNE bashing.
I think if Zune ever gets any significant sales, there could be some great potential for having some fun with the ‘social’
I’m thinking of an application for your laptop that pretends to be a Zune, and then relentlessly tries to squirt cheesy elevator music to every Zune that comes within range. Or songs labeled as Top 10 hits, but actually just contain chanting that says “Zune sucks” or something.
Welcome to the social bullying
Short Bus Driver makes me laugh. Am I evil?
He sould have sent REM: Half a World Away, because that’s the next nearest Zune.
Or Redmonds’ Ballmers’ fav, Big mouth strikes again.
Now we know what would-be Zune book author James Kim was doing traipsing around the backwoods of Oregon: desperately searching for a fellow Zune user. Welcome to the social.
By the way, I fully back Microsoft. And, yes, I do own their souls.
Zune song to squirt:
One (Is The Lonliest Number)
“Kudos to the R.E.M. choice, but I would have sent something more apropos like Ignoreland or Can’t Get There From Here.
Receiving a Zune for Xmas might make me think…
What if we give it away?”
What’s the Frequency, Ballmer? None, probably. You wore a (sweaty) shirt, violet-brown, uh-huh!
Maybe we should just subject all Zunes to a Wake-Up Bomb.
MDN MW: “drive”. Heh! “Maybe you did, maybe you walked, maybe you rocked around the clock” With a Zune, that’s not likely…
I think when the history of media players is written, Zune, even if Microsoft doesn’t Stumble, will be little more than a Murmur.
“No nearby Zune devices found, or nearby devices have wireless turned off”
[ Try Again ] [ Shut Down ] [ Reinstall ] [ Report a Bug ] [ More Info ] [ Help ]
* click *
“No squirt hosts or targets found. Move to a cooler place, like Redm…er, Seattle’s Best Coffee.”
[ Try Again ] [ Shut Down ] [ Reinstall ] [ Report a Bug ] [ More Info ] [ Help ]
* click *
“You attempted to squirt a song to | No target found |. Your battery is down to 67%.”
[ Try Again ] [ Shut Down ] [ Reinstall ] [ Report a Bug ] [ More Info ] [ Help ]
* click *
“Audio file detected! Audio file detected! Sending bug report to Microsoft! Press ‘Accept’!”
[ Try Again ] [ Shut Down ] [ Reinstall ] [ Report a Bug ] [ Accept ] [ Help ]
* click *
“Playing Sample…. Your battery is down to 27%. This track will self destruct in || 2 || plays.”
[ Try Again ] [ Shut Down ] [ Reinstall ] [ Report a Bug ] [ Save Incoming Stream ] [ Cancel ]
[ … crackle, pop, fizzzz … ]
[ … “…and Rummy said the NSA, FBI, CIA ain’t coming up with the goods, and we needed another agency – the Department of Homeland Security. I said, ‘good idea, but the name sounds like a supermarket.'” … ]
[ … “…Anyway, one of the first things they came up with is this secure communications protocol developed with the help of Microsoft. Apparently, neither the NSA, FBI nor CIA can intercept this….” … ]
[ … “…Hello? Hello? Listen, Rice, can you cut down on the background music? Hellooo…? Dang! Cut off agin…! ” … ]
This is just a test you may go back to the Zune Thing.
Microsoft should contact the Dollar Store to move inventory, that’s about all the Zune is worth.
Isn’t it ironic that the only other Zune owner couldn’t even spell “I am Legend” correctly?
One more…
Zune: Welcome to the DRM Occupation.
That Zune ad is strange.
The whole point of the iPod adverts is that they follow a theme. The theme is slightly modified each time, but the theme remains the same.
This way a brand image starts to emerge. This is one of the reasons why the iPod dominates.
This Zune ad seems to be a stab in the dark. I get the idea of ‘sharing is good’ but you could still do that within the context of a ‘Zune brand image’, and it would work better.
The fact that the advert does not conform to the brands’ guidelines (such that they are) means that it has to work twice as hard to grab your attention.
An iPod ad follows a rigid set of guidelines so within a few seconds, you know it’s for the iPod – and therefore the brand gets further enhancement in your mind quickly.
The flaw in this ad is that once the cookie is consumed, it evaporates within 3 chews or disappears from your stomach after 3 days, leaving you hungry, unless you go to the cookie store and buy one for yourself. What the advert says, does not match reality, which will eventually piss customers off.
However, this is the best Zune ad yet:
OMG I just watched that zune add and I really must say WTF was that???
MW: ‘possible’ as in, is it possible that M$ is this shmarmy? gawd my niece could have done a better commercial! what total crap!!
I feel so… alone…