“The company has launched a brand-new anti-marketing scheme across its Zune group headquarters – an iPod Amnesty Bin. Employees are meant to dutifully drop their music players into the bin, and run hot-foot to the company store to buy themselves a Zune (also available in, erm, brown),” Evans reports. “And they aren’t doing it.”
Evans writes, “The fact of the matter here is that by attempting to coerce employees into abandoning the world’s favourite music player, Microsoft is actually showing how very popular the iPod has become – and the fact employees aren’t playing ball reinforces the notion that Microsoft has lost this battle for good.”
Full article, with link to image of an “iPod Amnesty Bin,” here.
What about another type of psychology ?
Drop your Zune into the toilet ?
That might get a few takers !
Muhahahahahahahaha!
Sad.
Too frickin’ funny!! Totally pathetic. Even if it you owned a lesser MP3 player (not an iPod), would you really trash an expensive electronic gadget that you purchased for yourself and drop it in a bin?? The very next person walking by the bin is gonna reach in & grab it for themselves, iPod or not!
Is bin slang for toilet? Just asking…
They’re hoping to use some of the donations as cadavers to be dissected and replicated!
Maybe they should see if the employees will take a Zune for free – that would be the real test.
MS is the Soviet Union writ small — and shrinking all the time.
Yea, the Zune looks like poop so you might as well treat it like what it is. I’ve never heard of a company stooping so low as to even hinting at giving up something that someone has purchased from outside the company and are trying to make them just throw it away just because they have a similar product. Also to make them BUY IT TOO! I’m glad the employees aren’t giving in to such non-sense. This must have been a Balmer move as he forces his family to only use Zune and forbids anyone in there household to buy an iPod. It won’t work.
Bin is another term for wastebasket. A small container to throw stuff away.
I love this – The Zune is dead and so is Microsoft
The story’s pic of the bin was taken with an iPhone stolen by Ballmer.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fimoculous/503637222
There is at least one empty cover case and some iPods. What hell is that black one?
Bite me?? Zune you!!
And just a few MDN’s ago I was reading someone labeled “Apple Employee” whine about how “arrogant” Apple users are. We’re not at all arrogant, we’re just happy bubbly computer users. (Ok that sounds gay, but you get the point.)
This stunt, if true, is yet another sign of just how self centered and really arrogant MS has become over the last decade and a half. All I can say is, WOW!
Any real threat to MS is treated, by MS, with a shoulder shrug and a committment to either buy it, or threaten all Windows users into not using it. Yikes! Nothing like a little corporate fascism to get the day started, eh?
It’s so stupid. Even if they wanted a Zune why would they dump a perfectly good piece of technology. I think they’d be able to someone who’d want it.
My Zune “amnesty bin” is equipped with a shiny silver lever.
No, it is a UK shortening of rubbish-bin or trash-bin
Loo is the (UK) slang for toilet (the most common at any rate)
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As in : In disgust, Ian droped his zune in the loo.
You are fired if you don´t leave your iPod here!!
I find it disturbing if it’s true. To me, for a company to ASK employees to throw are iPods or other MP3 players is profound. I am just at a loss for words here, I believe about 10% of that article.
I’m all for iPods and everything Apple Inc., but I just don’t believe Microsoft would press that issue with their employees.
Apple should offer a trade in for Zunes … $10 off the price of any iPod.
@OGfF
I’ll bet those were purchased by Bill and Steve and then dropped in there as bait. And it looks like there are some vintage iPods in there, so maybe some employees who fear possible repercussions, just brought in their old ones so they look good for the boss.
They put the bin there this morning with 10 iPods in it to start the ball rolling.
By lunchtime there were…none!
I bet anything that some manager will buy a bunch of iPods to fill this bin so they can say hey look how many people are ditching their iPods.
Betcha.
Where is that idiot “ZUNE TANG” ???
And they’re strip searching all employees on the way out of the office this evening!
This was a joke, it had to be. I can’t believe that even MS could have been this stupid.
Do I?
I bet the few that are in there were seeded by the Marketing team to make it look like someone would actually dump their iPod.
Why would anyone throw money away? I mean if you really want a Zune, why not sell your iPod on eBay instead of just throwing it away?