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Zune Team Getting Amnesty for iPod Use
MsManhattan writes "The Zune development team at Microsoft is apparently offering amnesty to employees who give up their iPods in favor of using the Zune MP3 player. An MSNBC employee has posted a photo on Flickr of the company's 'iPod Amnesty Bin,' which sports an image of a bitten green apple and the words 'Bite me.' Whether it's to be taken seriously or is a joke to boost employee morale is anyone's guess, and naturally no one at Microsoft was available for comment. From what can be seen in the photo, only a few early-model iPods have been deposited."
I saw the new ad by Microsoft (on American Idol, at least they're finally picking a demographic):
I asked my wife to view the ad (tivo), as I suspected the "uploading one song" (tune?, track?, can't remember) on one Zune screen, and the "downloading one song" on the screen of a Zune behind the first did not convey the "sharing" notion. Sure enough, when asked, she said "of course" she understood -- it was demonstrating how a Zune could upload and download music from the computer wirelessly (something I don't even think it really is capable of).
I explained what it really demonstrated, and she thought that was kind of cool, but I told her she'd have to
- encounter a fellow Zuner within fifty feet of her (unlikely)
- could only play the shared tune 3 times OR
- within 3 days, whichever came first
- live with drm encumbered music
All of which she says (said) "ewwwwww!" to, and not in a good way. Zune is hardly a product that lights a fire under any consumers' desires.So, according to a manager at Redmond, there are ~16,000 iPods at MS-HQ. From looking at that bin, they've managed to get about 0.1% of those people to "upgrade" to a zune...
I especially love the employee who gained brownie-points by putting something (anything!) in the ipod-bin, even if it was only an iPod *cover* [huge grin]. I wonder if Steve (that's Balmer, in case of confusion) was watching him walk on by, and he thought he had to put *something* in...
If MS can only get 0.1% of their *own* people to switch, they ain't gonna make it too big in the far more neutral marketplace...
Simon.
Physicists get Hadrons!
Those early model iPods weren't put there by real employees giving up iPods. It's like a tip jar. You always start it out with a little in there to give people the idea.
Disclaimer: I own neither an iPod nor a Zune. I have an off brand music player.
Remember RFC 873!
I'm missing something here. Why would anyone deposit a few hundred dollars worth of hardware into essentially a trash bin for the sake of an anonymous show of company loyalty?
....DOA or broken. Otherwise, the bin would have been pilfered.
Camping on quad since 1996.
I would think that the Zune team should be working on making a better mp3 player instead of trying to guilt trip MS employees into giving up their iPods.
Heck, it should be mandatory for every single employee on the Zune team to have an iPod just so they know what the best in breed mp3 player looks like.
Maybe if Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and others actually asked their employees what they like about the iPod and why they don't own a Zune then they would learn something.
But instead they are too arrogant to realise their product isn't good enough.
None of these devices interest me anymore. I used to own a 30gb iPod video.
The screen died after two months. The backlight wouldn't turn on anymore.
Instead of getting a new iPod (ebay to me: gg) I recently purchased an HTC Hermes (Cingular 8525) for slightly more than the cost of a new iPod.
It's serves as my:
-Mp3 player (I have 8gb of storage and I'm telling you, when I pick the songs I really want, instead of the thousands I don't care about at all, I have PLENTY of storage)
-Digital camera for everyday use (if I want greater than 1600x1200 I use my Canon, usually 1600x1200 is plenty)
-Cell phone
-PDA running windows mobile; it synchronizes all my appointments and reminds me in advance of upcoming birthdays/holidays
-Instant Messenger and e-mail (has built-in WiFI G)
I got all that for trading the storage space for movies on a 2.5" screen and music that I am constantly hitting next to get to a better song.
Please tell me, for pure mp3 players/storage devices, where's the appeal now?
TLF
I do not respond to cowards. Especially anonymous ones.
Who the heck modded you interesting? Is their sarcasm-meter broken? Just because someone says the word interesting, doesn't make them interesting.
Insightful +1
Amnesty from what? This is probably an internal joke to boost moral, but if it wasn't what do they receive amnesty from? Being fired for owning a personal device?
> The screen died after two months.
> The backlight wouldn't turn on anymore.
What about the warranty? Didn't Apple honor it? You should have at least had Apple fix the iPod under warranty so you could sell it on eBay. The semi-recent iPod Video models fetch a good amount of money on eBay!
Heck, I'll take your dead iPod if you don't want it.
Same resolution though. That just means you need to hold the Zune a little further away...
Yes the Zune has its own software, but thats no diffrent than itunes being seperate from quicktime.
Very different actually. Quicktime is a component of iTunes. Not the same relationship between the Zune software and WMP.
Apple is more evil than MS.
Opionion stated as fact.
If you look at anything that apple sells, you could easily find the same thing made by another company at leat 1/3 less cost.
1/3 is a bit of an exageration. (The Zune is not 1/3 the cost.) Often times Apple may be a bit more expensive, but its the user experience that comes with their products that people like.
I' not trying to rain on your parade, just point out some things you're missing.
"Most of the people [working on] Zune would want to have an iPod to keep track of the competition,"
That's right, how can you copy your competitor if you don't have any of their products on hand? Oops, did I say "copy"? I meant "compete with".. my bad..
plug their dirty headphones in your ear?
just plug your headphones into their ipod.
What's the matter, you don't have your mp3 player with you? Well then, you wouldn't be able to share with the zune either.