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I love my 120GB Zune. Has outlasted my iPod by far.

It would be sad, to say the least, if MSFT stopped making Zune players. Most people I know with a Zune also have an Android phone and, like myself, are not willing to switch to WP7 just for Zune capability alone.

Having said that, the fact the brand has expanded as it has is great. Xbox and phones? Hell yeah. I just hope they don't kill/replace the Zune name as it seems kinda pointless and would create more confusion for users. If you have an Xbox/WP7 you already know Zune, so.

IF they decided to kill the hardware, might as well hook it up with good discounts for people who have held out for one.

Dear Microsoft.

My name is David Roman DeSilva. I'm a long time Zune user & fan. To the point of un-official evangelist. At 1 point and time I've faithfully & for the most part happily owned every version of the Zune. From the White 30 gig, to the black 80 gig, the mini zunes and the Zune hd. I now own a windows phone. I've probably been your best unpaid advocate. When I've had to go into a Apple store (not intentionally. I assure you.) & the sales people & mac geniuses tried to pitch me an iPod. I've shown them the Zune & demoed its features. I can safely say they were blown away. I know of at least 3 that I've converted. My iPod & iPhone friends envy the Zune. I've bought Zunes & 1 month passes for people. Not for any special occasion. But because I believe in Zune so much that I've put my own money on it. I even gifted my last Zune hd when I got my windows phone. That person went from an iOS user to a member of the Zune nation. He bought a Samsung focus.

I say all this because there are rumors of Zune going away as a brand, service & or as a device. From "reliable sources" who say that Zune is getting the ax. I'm not an MVP or an msft employee. So I don't know who to believe. So let me say, please don't kill the Zune. You'd be spitting in the faces of everyone like me who has supported ever bit of this brand. Zune is a successful brand if you look at it this way. Do you have a majority of the market? Absolutely not! But like Apple has the "Cult of Mac", there is a cult of Zune. The Zune nation! Zunes devoted following. Even if you were to go by the complaints on the message boards & here on the fan page. If we didn't care, we wouldn't complain. We wouldn't ask for more. I know that sounds like I beat you because i love you. But when people are generally happy, sadly we don't take the time to say thanks. That aside we do love our Zunes. We believe much like Mac users; that what we've got is better than what everyone else has. That our device while its not as popular, is the standard for what devices like it should be. We see other people like us with Zunes & without knowing them, we suddenly start talking to each other. We've turned our noses up at the iPod & said I've got something better & here's why. Apple was on its death bed not too long ago. They didn't fold! They fought back & look where they are now. Zune deserves the same shot.

only months into the 2'nd Gen, you stopped advertising the Zune. Meanwhile Apple blankets the landscape with ads. You innovated but your advertising wasn't on par with your engineering. So logically Zunes market share hasn't exactly done gang busters. Zune never got a public reboot for the second generation with a longhorn style ad campaign. if Zune had the advertising the kin had. The advertising that windows 7 & windows phone 7 has. The Zune could've been a contender if not the market leader. There would be no question as to wether Zune has a future. For the most part we all love our Zune HDs. We only asked for a robust app marketplace.

. the Zune can't be a failure worthy of disbanding. The Zune hd interface is the basis of windows phone. Why put Zune on the Xbox & windows phone only to kill & replace it? Confusing customers! Further more what about those of us that have really shown appreciation for Zune? If you kill off the Zune as a device & disband Zune as a service, do you think people like me will have any reason to buy its pale imitation of a replacement? Killing Zune will do more harm than good.

. you microsoft thought Zune would sell like windows. Just because it had the name Microsoft attached to it. Instead the Zune as of late has grown slowly in popularity due to people like me. As I said before. I've bought and given away zunes & Zune pass's. I may have done more to market the Zune for free than your marketing team has in the past 2 years. The Zune as a hardware device is really important.

1.
It sells the Zune service

2.
Apple sells more ipods than iPhones. Not everyone can get a contact for a smart phone as the plans are expensive. People buy ipods then graduate to iPhone, ipads, then to Macs.

3.
The iPod boost the iOS marketshare. Which is attractive to developers. Who make apps. That sell iOS devices like the iPod, the iPhone &iPad.

4.
Sonys' next psp may run Android & Android apps. Off contract! Samsung is going to make a PMP running Android. Where's the competition against them & the iPod? For that matter, if the marketplace is filled with Android & iOS devices, will your app marketplace ever catch up to Google and apples app stores.

5.
A kids 1'st introduction to computers these days are ipods. They'll end up as Mac users as they get older. Your bottom line is going to be severely effected.

6.
You think that with wp7 you don't need to make Zune hardware. FALSE! It more important. Now more than ever. Forget the halo effect of the iPod touch that drives buyers to iPhone and iPad. Do you know why Apple is able to update the iPhone with little to no trouble from at&t and now verizon? 12 of it is that they don't have to go through handset makers. The other half is that they have the iPod touch to update along with the phone. If at&t blocks the update, Apple could come out and say there nothing wrong on their end. Point at the iPod touch & show that everything is o.k & blame the carrier. Google, if it weren't for the nexus phones would have as you do with the NoDo update. All the blame lumped on their shoulders for their update disparity. They can blame the carriers & handset makers. Kill the Zune rather than make a new one that runs windows phone minus the phone. And you OWN the update woes. I know your corporate philosophy is "don't kill babies" a.k.a don't harm your partners. Your hardware partners & the tel-co industry have their knives out for you. Start throwing a baby or two head 1'st into a wood chipper.

you've done a lot to make the Zune better hardware than the iPod & iPod touch (3'rd generation). Zune as a service is way better than iTunes. Zunes media manager is better in many ways than iTunes. Where you've failed miserably at is marketing the damn thing. I don't know who's in charge of product development & marketing for Zune. But I can do better in 1 year than what's been done over the past 2 or 3 years. FOR LESS MONEY! Hell, I would work on commission & a stipend if I can cartè blanch over zunes development & marketing. Zune, if someone at the top there had their heart in selling the device as I or anyone like me does, would be giving the the iPod a run for its money.

please put a definitive end to these rumors. Announce a Zune HD2. the current Zune should be a base line for all around quality. Its the best sounding audio device I've ever owned. I love the screen. Its durable! HD radio is great. Give it a bigger super amoled screen. Have it run windows phone without the phone. Meet and beat the iPod touches tech specs. Brand it as a Zune & advertise the hell out of it. When vista wasn't selling. You put out the longhorn campaign. You gave kin way more and much better advertising than the Zune. Zune deserves better. Have Nokia built it. The Zune as far as quality goes is the best. Nokia can only build on it. So long as its good quality & people know it exists, people will happily throw their money at you for it. If the rumors are true then do this anyway. Give Zune 1 last fight. What do you really have to lose by putting out 1 last Zune device? You owe us that much. Other than Xbox, can you really name 1 of your own products that not only are its users not merely ambivalent towards it but dedicated fans of it? The more devices, the devs will code for it. Which will help sell windows phones. You'll make the money back in the long run. If Zune is going down, then do it with a bang. Not a cold whimper.

. I & many people have stood by Zune. We defended owning it & believe me the initial kicks from iPod users were stressful. We grit our teeth for its short comings & but sung praises for its unique features. Apple, jeep & only a handful of other companies have a following of brand loyal people. Don't throw Zune away. When you anger customers by making a product that wasn't as good as it could be & or killing off something people actively using it like, do you think they'll trust you? Kill Zune without at least giving it 1 more device & trying hard to sell it & the service and all you will have done is damn what you replace it with. If you do this & Zune isn't worth the money, its loss will be easier though still painful. Please Microsoft, build a Zune HD2. I'll be he 1'st one in line to get it.

Sincerely

David Roman DeSilva

P.S: if you like and agree with this letter. Please email it to askzune@microsoft.com & SteveB@microsoft.com

I'm really mad that Microsoft is killing the Zune. I've owned Zune since it hit the shelves. I've sworn & stood by them. The Zune & the Xbox have been the only Microsoft hardware that's worth paying for.

This decision makes sense to me only if MS admitted internally they would continue to do a great device such a marketing disservice. The Zune, blended with WP7 (sans the phone), would be a great device to push to let those on other contracts have the opportunity to experience a vastly superior program and device than Apple is currently offering.

The HD exhibited great design that truly took its own approach. The software was easily better than iTunes and the Zune Pass and ability to add from or copy to any machine were two moves that should be pushed forward as the norm for media devices. Coupled with the customization, I'm now tempted to buy a backup 64GB to use whenever my current conks out or is lost.

I've got a Zune 120 which possibly wasn't the cleverest move as I live in the UK. Anyhow, had an iPod 80 beforehand which lasted about 5 mins. 3 years on, the Zune is going strong. Love the device and the software - it's given me much more enjoyment than my iPod ever did. That said, the Zune experience lives on in WP7, and when my current contract is up I'll definitely be considering a WP7 handset.

I was really still hoping/waiting for a new large capacity Zune to be released; an upgrade from their Zune 120 and peer to the iPod Classic.

What I really love and care about is the Zune software, not the hardware. I still have my original Brown 30gb Zune player and it's as solid as ever. My wife shut the tailgate of our Jeep on the player and it barely scratched the player but did a great job of bending the corner of the sheet metal on our tailgate...that's a sturdy media player! The Zune Pass is the thing I wouldn't want to live without, so hopefully that continues along with the software.

The great thing about being a Zune owner is that over these past 4-5 years, while Microsoft has been trying to catch up, they have been adding features and giving updates to everyone for free. As an original 30gb owner, I never really saw the reason to upgrade, because I was getting all the new goodness for free!

Great post Peter,

I love my Zune HD and love it more than any iPod I've ever used or seen. I especially love the Zune software more than iTunes (DESPISE). If they only make Zune software for WP7 and Xbox 360, neither of which I plan to own. I'm going to be very disappointed. I have a Zune Pass and I want an app for an Android phone. Microsoft please get your head out of your butt and realize that you don't have to only work within your own ecosystem, make it great in your ecosystem, but make it work on others. How did you pump so much money into Kin yet nothing into Zune, an amazing product? it's appalling. I don't want to ever use iTunes again, please wake up.

I don't think anyone would be surprised given the focus on the WP7 phone. I have to say I don't even touch my zune except to discharge it one a month or so. I do use the software player and think that while it has its kinks, it's still far superior to the bloatware/crapware that itunes is.

I think the focus will be to work on the marketplace more than the actual software. The point system really needs to go.

I own a 30GB classic and 16GB HD, love them both. I'm not surprised by the move, they are obviously shifting to a single mobile platform. I would love to see them beat Apple to the punch with a web-based offering. Maintaining multiple Zune libraries on my multiple computers is a pain.

Although I have been strictly an Apple user for three years now, I must say I am very sad to see the Zune hardware going away. The original devices were great and the Zune HD was simply awesome. In my opinion, superior to the iPod touch. Perhaps not in terms of content, but hardware wise, very impressive.

I agree that the Zune software was/is far superior to iTunes. I never thought I would see the day that I could actually say Apple could take a few design lessons from Microsoft. I was always hopeing to see the Zune software on the Mac.

As you mentioned Peter, this really isn't a surprise though. I think that internally Zune was always meant to be a software platform and the hardware was simply an attempt to get the name recognizable to the public.

A positive note to this story, is the idea that the Zune services will still be around. If Microsoft can leverage their weight as a corporation with the success of their Xbox brand. We might finally get a good competitor to the iTunes monopoly that exists today.

Who knows, maybe there will be Zune software on the Mac that can sync with my iOS devices. :)

Well first of all Microsoft hasn't said they are discontinuing zune so you should not be posting they are. The fact is nobody has said they are going to from within Microsoft.

I hope that all of this "Zune is dead" talk is actually just a misunderstanding.

What if Microsoft just isn't making any more hardware?

What if they are licensing the WP7 software out to third-party PMP manufacturers? Aka, a "Windows Touch 7" of some kind.

Those devices wouldn't be branded as "Zune", but some new branding. Zune would still exist as a service and platform. Microsoft would then be able to do what they can't right now, leverage the new WP7 marketplace at people who can't afford a new phone contract right now.

I'm not too upset, because I plan on getting a WP7 device once Verizon gets one worth picking up. Until then I'll stick with my ZuneHD and my Droid Eris.

Hoping to pick up a 64GB HD in the fire sale!

I love my Zune 30, 8, 60 and HD 16. They all do different functios in my house. different rooms, different playlists, you know the deal. I still don't think this news is official though. I really need to get a blue 64 HD from Zune originals (One Zune to rule them all)

I'm loyal to a fault. I've been with Sprint for 15 years, Rhapsody since it was Spinner.com, and Windows since 3.1. That combination has become impossible because Rhapsody unofficially abondoned Windows. Their PC software is unusable compared to Zune and doesn't look like it will exist on Windows Phone, so I switched just this week. Hours and hours of work building a new library in Zune. I'm only a quarter finished with that project and find out the Zune hardware is discontinued. I've decided to forge ahead. Zune HDs are less than half-price right now and accessories are practically free. I'm grabbing one and going against the grain.

Meanwhile, when I can afford to upgrade my Touch Pro 2 to Windows Phone on Sprint I'll be ready to rock 'n roll with Zune there. The Arrive will come with free 25gb cloud storage along with 16gb onboard. My budget constraints are extreme. Wish me luck.

My decision to stay with the iPlatform for a phone, PMP, and tablet, most strongly centers around the ecosystem. Nobody else has been able to put together a form factor/connector that is universal across there line, and therefore supported widely. I have ancient iPod chargers that still work on my iPhone, iPod, and iPad. My car has a dock connector that works with every one of my iDevices, from the oldest to the newest. I know that any iDevice I buy will just instantly sync with everything I'm doing on my computer (music, photos, videos, etc etc). If I break an iDevice and get a new one, it gets magically restored as if nothing ever happened.

I'm constantly hearing from my friends how they have to buy all new chargers for their new Android phone. None of them have any sort of dock integration ability. A few have had to replace their phone and lost much valuable data like past SMS, bookmarks, etc. Sure, there are utilities to sync or back up many of those, but that's still far from the Apple way of just making it all happen with zero user intervention.

Few people care that the Zune has 'x' feature that is better than an iPod. Very few care if it's a few dollars cheaper. The average person cares that they get a seamless experience. Everyone is sick of technology that fails to deliver a good experience. I work in technology, I own and run a VoIP company. I'm sick of my personal technology being something I fiddle with.

Ecosystem. Until someone else can figure this out, iDevices will have one huge advantage.

As a self proclaimed MS Fanboy and some one who has owned a Zune starting with the brown double shot unit I am sad to see the Zune HD so neglected. The design is elegant and made me hopeful for a really great Windows Phone 7. I wanted a 4 inch screen phone that looked like the Zune. But instead we got a bunch of plastic crap with a very limited piece of software.

I skipped getting a WM7 device because of the lack of functionality. Namely multitasking. It was a deal breaker that if I took a call while using the GPS that the Nav software would have to reload from scratch. Thus I have an Android phone.

I am a Zune subscriber as well and am rethinking it thanks to the poor implementation of Zune on the Xbox and the lack of a WM7 device. Microsoft has a lot of great products but they work together so poorly. I still have my Zune and use it daily but when it goes, not sure what I am going to do which means my subscription is gone as well.

I was excited about the Zune HD. I asked for it for Christmas. I had heard that Zune Pass and music sorting was superior to most on the market, and the speed and beauty of the device was really enticing.

So I got one, and found out that there were virtually no app support what so ever (besides the long awaited apps that haven't lived up to my expectations) The device screams for app creation on top of the wonderful music service already established.

What I ended up with was a device that is basically twisting in the wind from the start. For any company to have a product and support it in this manner is inexcusable. It reminds me of a good tv show that gets cancelled after two episodes. I'll forever have a bad taste in my mouth in regards to Microsoft. They've basically pushed me away......and I'll happily spend my money elsewhere. About the only thing to look forward to is a deeply discounted piece of elegant hardware.

This is coming from a person who was very late to get an iPod and I never owned a Zune so just keep that in mind.

I owned a Rio and other mp3 players and though I liked them, the software sucked, battery life sucked, they broke and were not popular, though they were cheap. The mp3 player only had a slight advantage over the cd player due to form factor. Everyone had cd players, but few walked around listening all the time. The fact that you had to manage your "space" on a mp3 player likely turned ppl off who just wanted to pop in a cd and go. That being said:

Apple over-inflated the market for MP3 devices with its superior marketing, especially in urban areas. People wanted iPods. People like you (I mean media ppl) write articles about what they see. Well, when you go on the subway/bus/main street like people do every single day and you see giant iPod ads it's going to attract attention. Same with all the commercials. People dancing, having a good time, because they had iPods. Apple created the market by selling an intangible ideal that everyone can relate to. Listening to music is fun and will make you so happy you will want to dance in public. They sold people with disposable income the same device over and over with minor upgrades (video ipod, camera on nano, etc) thus making it cool to own an iPod. The software was better than anything else at the time, though it slowed your computer and took forever to use.

My point is that Apple went all-in for at least five years on this and it's working, it took some time, but they are not backing off. They put so much marketing into iPods that Apple iPod is the first thing people think of when they think of a new portable product. Apple's prices allow them to keep an allure about their products and make a considerable profit so they can take chances on things like facetime, thunderbolt, quick turn on, solid state memory and other aspects of their products that are not considered "mature" in the market.

Microsoft doesn't have a money issue, and they haven't for a while. Instead of convincing the public that Windows is for them, they did way better. They convinced Dell, Sony, Toshiba, HP, etc and they were right. Windows is probably the best software for most computers. When you used to think of computers you knew what Windows was but it's like you're dad's truck. It's what you used because it was there, you didn't choose it, because there was nothing else.

However Microsoft has a "cool" issue. It's not cool to have Windows on your computer; everyone does. Yes, it's cool to have Windows 7, but my guess is less than 10% of people have the new operating system, yet Microsoft pushes new software with a steep price. Not a good way to give them a good PR.

Getting back to the relevant argument, I still have not been able to play with a Windows Phone 7 device, but I know how to use my iPhone 4 and it's better than anything I have seen (except maybe the Atrix and Nexus S) so why try a new platform that I am going to have to buy the same apps and such all over again? More ways Apple is genius; they didn't start the smartphone, they made it visible and fun. People would hide their blackberrys and Treos whereas most iPhone users are happy to own it and wouldn't want anything else.

With Zune competing with iPod the first thing that comes to mind is that iTunes is free. Everyone has iTunes. I don't care that you say the software sucks because it was better than anything else when it first got introduced, it's very simple and changing from it will likely be a frustrating process. Most people have playlists that they have made, songs they've purchased, movies they have downloaded.

At the end of the day it's about being early to market and marketing. iPod wasn't early to market, but Zune was very late and Zune was not advertised anywhere near as much.

I have both a Zune HD and a Windows Phone 7, and I love them. I think they're great devices. Microsoft hasn't officially announced anything, though they have said that Windows Phone 7 is their "Zune device" this year. Of course, that doesn't mean they won't release a Zune HD2 in the future. Here's hoping!

I'm not a Zune owner and didn't have a realistic chance of ever owning one, why? Because this like many other products didn't make it's way far outside the US.

Idud's are everywhere world over, Apples poor excuse for software has tonnes of content for many countries. licensing issues aside, if Zune's (or anyone else's) subscription/music purchase models made it to some other countries besides US/UK other devices may have a nice differentiator. That being said, we are starting to see movies start to come through on the Zune software here in Australia, but no real alternative to itunes for music, so ipods will end up generally being the default player.

Just my 2c.

I have never owned an ipod. Absolutely refuse. So a few years ago, I bought a Zune120. It was great, held all my music, pics, plenty of vids that you could connect to the TV to watch without dragging equipment everywhere I went. Not to mention the Marketplace.

I get the smartphone craze. But there are still those of us that prefer a dedicated media player. I don't want my music interrupted with texts all day or calls or whatever. And I don't want to burn my EVO battery out in two hours playing music or watching vids. Not to mention the fact it doesn't plug into my car stereo.

I put all this blame squarely on MS. They claim 'no official announcement' bs but with the HD being 18 mos?? I want to buy the HD but want more features. I brought this up in an MS forum just the other day and they told me it was a very current device with 'hd radio'?? What the hell is that? Yea it's great for integration with Marketplace. But is that what people are saying when they choose devices.....'It must have HD FM or not thanks"...............really?

If they added lyric support, stopped taking away the things available in the marketplace (in the last three months, they have removed 3500 items from my music collection alone!)

So it's time to shop. I really, really don't want an Ipod. My brother just bought the latest classic and I'd take my 120 any day. It is a great piece of hardware as is the HD. I really want a 64. But after WP7, I kinda hoped some new devices were coming.

What really bothers me is the fact that they seem to have given up simply because they can't beat Apple. Who cares? Isn't knowing you have a superior device enough? And they are wrong when in thinking they can't dent apple's marketshare. I have tons of friends willing to switch tomorrow if they were confident it would be supported.

With all they make on enterprise, office, and windows 7, why not pull out a HUGE PR launch on a new Zune device with apps available similar to their phone apps, browsers, lyrics, eq, etc. And price it to slay the Ipod to begin with. They may lose a little to begin with but they can afford it. And they could use it as a launching pad for WP7 and tablets. If the device is superior and they can get the same capabilities with more freedom for less??? People will buy. Then raise the price to match the worm holes.

I think this would help their phones, not hurt them. I have never been a big fan of Zune software. But all the apple fanboys that claim MS is the control freak? Just compare Zune and marketplace to Itunes and IPod.

Come on MS. If you can't beat em', quit? Then WP7 is going to be very short lived indeed as well as any Windows tablets. So if you are gonna take your toys and go home just because you can't win, pack it up with all your hardware and stick with software.

But taking away the only real alternative to rotten fruit over 32 GB sucks for consumers. I'm not an MS fanboy but I have been a supporter since 3.1. But this has pissed me off to the point I"m ready to walk from MS altogether and primarily because they just won't give a straight answer. That's all I want.

This is about the last straw for me. I love 7, love XBOX360, the latest release of office can't be beat. But giving up on Zune without even giving it a chance? It's gonna fade away. Their phone has no chance. And the software, though much, much better than itunes, still lacks simple things like EQ, real themes, etc.

So for me, it's on to droid devices including OS for PC the minute a real Chrome OS build comes out, I love my EVO, gladly switch to PS although I was looking forward to Kinect. But if it doesn't product like they want? I don't trust MS anymore. Bottom line. Now just wishing someone would make a real HD Media Player dedicated to media without a phone.

And as mentioned, Ipods just don't count. They suck.

So long zune..................... Another hardware failure from MS that didn't have to be. All because they don't know how to market something they don't have a monopoly on. And this one hurts.

I bought a Zune HD 16 GB after much comparison with the iPod line of devices and have to say I made a great decision because it does best what it was made for that is to play music and videos along with a brilliant OLED screen which is still a treat to watch.

I didn't care about apps much then, so I opted for Zune HD and hoped that more apps and games would be developed since Microsoft has done a fantastic job in providing the best hardware and processor of the time, the Nvidia Tegra for portable devices.

But the arrival of Android changed this all and Microsoft should consider developing apps for Android. Like lot of people here, I now own Galaxy S and would love to use the fantastically made Zune software to manage my media even on my Android device.

I own a old zune 4, and a HD, and I love them both. I'd like to say that this is a surprise, however it is kind of a MS thing to abandon hardware. Tie that with the lack of Verizon stepping up to offer a Windows phone, and my personal quandary w/ MS continues.
If not for my dislike for Apple products, I might consider jumping ship, but for now, I will soldier on with what I have.

I'm really happy with my Zune 80. I'm actually a big fan of the squircle. I like my 4 year old PMP so much that I bought a second one a few weeks ago when the headphone jack started having a connection problem causing my player to pause every time I bumped it.

It's too bad there isn't more focus on media devices anymore. I always want a second device for music and podcasts that isn't tied to draining the battery on my phone. I guess I'm in the minority here.

While as a long time Zune owner and a Zune Pass subscriber it saddens me to think Microsoft is throwing in the towel in the PMP hardware department it was always confusing to me just why they had dove into the battle at such a late stage when other opportunities were out there. Apple was clearly in dominance when the Zune came out. If I remember before the Zune came out Microsoft came out with their UMPC which many people mistakenly expected to be a portable Xbox because of the leaked and as it turned out old video of a portable device playing Halo. They also needed to work on their tablet PCs which they still are not doing now. With the shifting market I would say Microsoft’s is proably smart for continuing the Zune service while perhaps refocusing those who designed the awesome Zune HD onto other hardware. Like say tablets which MS desperately needs to be a part of before it becomes another Zune situation with Apple completely entrenched (although it appears they might be too late again). Oh and why not bring some of those awesome courier ideas to the tablet table with perhaps some Windows Phone 7 flavor too. The other option would seem to be the creation of a portable Xbox hardware to compete with the NGP and Xperia Play. It seems a no brainer considering how much they push Xbox Live on the go in their Windows Phone 7 ads. None the less Zune is here to stay in some shape or form so it’s not all sadness.

I had a Zune for a hot minute years ago after i lost my 2nd iPod. There were a few things that it did right that Apple wasn't doing. the ability to move songs back and forth on my device was one thing and the FM tuner was another. But the biggest minus for me was back then, it had no podcast support and the software that youneeded to use to load your music on was not very user friendly so within 2 months I went back to iPods. Microsoft needs to learn that if you are going to release a product for public consumption outside of computers, everyone needs to be able to intuitively use it right out of the box.

I can't help it but remembering of the guy that tattooed the Zune logo on his arm. www.engadget.com­/2007­/06­/11­/what­-kind­-of­-man­-gets­-...