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Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
Home / News & Blogs / Hardware 2.0

Zune is dead ...again!

By | October 11, 2011, 3:48am PDT

Summary: It’s dead Jim … again!

Zune was dead. Then it came back to life. Now it’s dead again.

Last week Microsoft updated the Zune support page to add that it would no longer be building or selling any more Zune hardware and that it would instead focus on Windows Phone.

Makes sense. right?

But then Microsoft comes out with a statement saying that the statement was a mistake, and the note was pulled.

OK …

But now the ‘Zune is dead’ page is back up again.

Is Zune dead now? Well, to be honest I think it’s been dead for a long time, it’s just that Microsoft hasn’t been willing to admit it.

Interestingly, some 59% of you think that Zune didn’t deserve to die.

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Topics

Microsoft Zune, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
sacocrap 2nd Nov
I hate Ipod and it's Emo customers. If you are sad and disturbed buy an Ipod.
View in thread
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
allspammailhere Updated - 11th Oct
the poll results reveal that 59% of your responders - and some bloggers in this site - are Redmonians
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
ed_yasi@... 11th Oct
Or just that Zune HD was a really good MP3 player that couldn't compete against the iPod Touch due to weak marketing and lack of apps....
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Cylon Centurion 11th Oct
@ed_yasi@...

It's a PMP! It didn't need apps. People are too damn app crazy. I'm glad I bought one though. I love it to death, and haven't let it out of my sight since this started. In fact, it's sitting in my safe now.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
kiz 11th Oct
@Cylon Centurion

While I appreciate that you're keeping your Zune safe, I'm listening to mine and find that to be quite enjoyable as well. happy
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
ScorpioBlue 11th Oct
the poll results reveal that 59% of your responders - and some bloggers in this site - are Redmonians

And they get paid very well for it too. wink
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Flagged by a Redmonian
ScorpioBlue 13th Oct
LOL... grin
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
hjenkins1 11th Oct
They probably wanted to pull this off on Halloween.. spooky!
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
bobiroc 11th Oct
The hardware may be dead but the service lives on in Windows Phone, XBOX Live, and in Windows.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
dsf3g 11th Oct
Zune: it's the mummified mother in a rocking chair of MP3 players.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
scH4MMER 11th Oct
@dsf3g - with its feet propped on the footstool that is iPod. happy
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Tom@... 11th Oct
Too bad, but yes has been dead for some time but...

Some years ago I won a Zune 30Gb and it has been an excellent player. Microsoft did not market the model well enough to compete with Apple but the unit was and remains rock solid. Unfortunately this is another example of Microsoft coming to the game just a little late and not really committed.
I fear Windows phone may be in the same state, too little - too late.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
kroels 11th Oct
My daughter and I both have Zune HD's. We had the orignals also, which I sold for a good amount on Ebay a few months ago. Neither of us really care if it's from Microsoft or somebody else, it is irrelevant. If you don't get into the 'app' thing, and desire a really nice music or video player, this device is superior to most. I know market forces killed it, but I've always been an underdog fan so I have a soft spot for the Zune players. I like 'bashing' M$ as much as the next guy when talking about the money part, but I really have to admit I think they had a good product here that was poorly marketed. Kind of the opposite of what you'd expect from Microsoft happy
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Cylon Centurion 11th Oct
@kroels

I wish I had an "original". The Halo one was particularly nice looking.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
GreatWhite 11th Oct
What a butthead, you all are hook into itunes which is the MOST expensive of the services. Screw ITUNEs, I have been using Zune for over a year with NO issues. Get off the apple wagon and see what life has to offer, jobs is not GOD
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
wcollar@... 11th Oct
@GreatWhite
No Jobs is not GOD.... yet, however I expect the Pearly "GATES" to be renamed soon.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Rick_Kl 11th Oct
@GreatWhite iTunes is not the most expensive. It is a completely different business model. Microsoft is all about unearned revenue, and subscriptions. Apple chose to go the way of purchases over subscriptions, so the two are not even competing against each other, other than both producing a PMP. Apple just figured out what people wanted, and Microsoft did their best to copy it.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
HackerJ 11th Oct
Why would ANYONE buy a Micr0$uck$ device in the first place (LoseDoze O/S based phone or media)? With their history of screw the customer, hasn't anyone learned anything?
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So this is Microsoft's problem
jscott418 11th Oct
This is what I do not like about Microsoft. They come to game late with a product as they did with the Zune. They they failed to market it correctly and yet they continued to work on the hardware until it was actually pretty good. Then they still failed to market it and then they just kill it. So its no wonder Microsoft cannot get any respect. They do not even try themselves.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
aplevine 11th Oct
Been using my 8GB Zune for about 2 years now. Never had a problem, sounds great, handles podcasts and audio books excellently. Microsoft bashers beware. Its a fine line between what becoming what you criticize.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Muttz 11th Oct
These things have one huge advantage - no iTunes! I hate iTunes with a passion.
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Even if You Prefer iPods
WebSiteManager 11th Oct
having a decent competitor wouldn't hurt.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Champ_Kind 11th Oct
What's a Zune?
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
ScorpioBlue 11th Oct
It's a planet inhabited by die-hards.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
puckster970@... 11th Oct
I had an original 30 GB Zune I gave to my Daughter to use. I could convert my movies with a software program and then play them on the unit without any problems with buying the same movie as a download. I have put so much music on and off of that thing and it still keeps right on going. I realize the Ipods of this world were better marketed but did you see the size of the screen and the clarity of the picture? A little effort on the part of Micrsoft and this thing would still be competing even though it would not be number one.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
rpbert4@... 11th Oct
I have the original 30 GB Zune and use it solely for music and music videos. 30 GB easily handles all my songs and videos. It's excellent for that since I can make playlists and find them easily. I bought it at an very reduced price. And never saw the need for the HD version.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
gotamd@... 11th Oct
This is sad. I HATE using my phone as an MP3 player. Unless my phone's battery can last all day while playing music and making phone calls, it doesn't make sense. Right now, a separate device still makes the most sense for me. Unfortunately, Creative MP3 players look terrible and I'm not touching anything that requires me to use iTunes. It's looking like my next PMP may be Android-based.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Crashin Chris 11th Oct
The first sentence said they killed it "again". New Zune players are no more. Long live the Zune - in WP7!!
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
strangefruit 11th Oct
MS was never committed to the Zune in a sensible way. What exactly was the point of the Zune HD? The original, with larger capacity and more refinements in the software and that would have done me fine. My Zune 120 is a joy to use, for video and audio, and yeas I am a little crazy about the simple games on it and do not want more. Everyone I know has had at least two or three ipods in the time I have had my Zune working with the original battery, and it has never needed repair or crashed and lost all my data, and I dont actually need to shop with it etc. Perhaps MS could outsource the hardware division to some more creative company in Hong Kong or China (do i see pigs flying ...?)
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
zapthepunctual@... 11th Oct
I have the original Zune, the Zune HD and wp7 all of which are great products that really do not get the attention they deserve. I'm not really a fan of the Zune Desktop Software since I prefer Windows Explorer to do my management, but the players themselves are great pieces of hardware.
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Phones as music players?
radleym 11th Oct
If MS thinks the average user is going to cough up for a smartphone to replace an mp3 player, they are showing how poorly they researched this market.
Why don't they spin it off or sell the mfg rights?
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
Doctor Demento 11th Oct
@radleym

As much as I hate it it's the right move, the market is clearly moving towards the idea of combining all electronic doodads into one device....the fact is that smartphones have been cannibalizing the Mp3 player market for years....even the iPod doesn't sell as many as it used to because people are buying iPhones instead.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
EricVM 11th Oct
When a Zune breaks, you'll get it repaired. I sure like my Zune 80, I will always get it fixed.

Do people repair their iPODS? Just wondering.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
ScorpioBlue Updated - 11th Oct
Do people repair their iPODS? Just wondering.

Yes they do. I have a place down the road from me that will replace worn-out batteries and broken screens. The two biggest types of repairs iPods face.

Next time I'm in there, I'll have to ask about mini-HDs for the iPod Classic, though...
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Where Is Steve Ballmer's Leadership?
ldo17 11th Oct
Clearly there is some internal politicking going on at Microsoft over whether to kill the Zune or not--one moment it's "officially" dead, the next moment it's not. This kind of thing makes the company look as though it has no idea what it's doing--clearly, not a good look to potential customers. It should be up to the leadership to put a stop to this and make the sure company articulates a single, coherent, consistent message. Where is the leadership? Looks like they are not doing their job.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
dhays 12th Oct
I never had one, my daughter did, but it quit working, so she sold it to Best Buy in their buy back program and is now looking to upgrade to a Kindle Fire, she had bought a Polaroid player with a 5" screen, but couldn't get to work under W7, so she took it back to Big Lots, it seemed to work under XP, none of the literature that came with it specified an operating system. there was no mention of the unit on Polaroid's website at all--an indication that it was an old product. It looked like a nice system music, e-reader, etc. Her experience with iTunes is not good, so she is not looking at any Apple product.
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
metroid24 15th Oct
well that sucks but i hope they will change their minds non the less i will still continue to use my zune since they will still updateing the zune program ill go back to cds befor i get a crappy ipod
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
u2fanaddic 15th Oct
i have a zune 120 no problems EVER and the picture is the resulution of my 42 hd 1080p wide screen tv so yeah zune rocksalso magic dvd ripper puts all the concerts on it so you can play it back anywhere on anything witrh rca cords
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RE: Zune is dead ...again!
sacocrap 2nd Nov
I hate Ipod and it's Emo customers. If you are sad and disturbed buy an Ipod.

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