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Zune Team Getting Amnesty for iPod Use

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the ooooh-free-ipods dept.

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."

15 of 303 comments (clear)

  1. Uptake ? by Space+cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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!
    1. Re:Uptake ? by jeffasselin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Steve (that's Balmer, in case of confusion) I just call him Uncle Fester. No confusion with that name.
      --
      If he explores all forms and substances Straight homeward to their symbol-essences; He shall not die.
  2. act quickly by jcgf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't this a bit like trading in your mercedes for a cavalier and the ability to hear your friends tales of where he has been with his cavalier? Doesn't sound like a very good deal to me.

  3. Re:Tips by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't the Zune an "off-brand music player"???

  4. Re:new ad campaign ineffective, misses point by soupd · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And anybody who bought into Microsoft's 'Plays For Sure' DRM, which Zune doesn't support, is surely going to think twice before picking a Zune over an iPod.

  5. Make a better Zune by PackMan97 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  6. Re:In other news by fistfullast33l · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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

  7. Re:In other news by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who the heck modded you interesting? Is their sarcasm-meter broken? Just because someone says the word interesting, doesn't make them interesting.

    What's interesting (let's see if this works!) is that the individual was likely just trying to work around a design flaw in the moderation system. The Funny mod doesn't increase karma, but modding you down will decrease it, meaning that typically getting modded funny very often results in loss of karma. In fact, if someone mods you funny, then someone else mods you overrated, then not only do you lose a karma point, but the overrated mod never appears in metamoderation, so the bad moderation is never corrected (as per the FAQ, you should concentrate on positive moderation.)

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Re:In other news by jez9999 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just because someone says the word interesting, doesn't make them interesting.

    Interesting...

    --
    == Jez ==
    Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
  9. Re:In other news by apt142 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just because someone says the word interesting, doesn't make them interesting.
    Interesting...
    Funny how that works out.
    --
    Star Pirates
  10. Re:no, use *your* headphones. by Mockylock · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Damnit, i AM a retard. ;) This is true.

    --
    "Please, shut up. Just when I think you can't say anything more stupid, you speak again." -Archie Bunker.
  11. Re:In other news by mrchaotica · · Score: 5, Funny

    In that case, instead of "interesting" people should mod funny stuff as "underrated."

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  12. Re:new ad campaign ineffective, misses point by rbanffy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Somehow, I don't think the sets "people who think twice" and "people who buy Zune" share any meaningful intersection.

    --
    http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
  13. Re:new ad campaign ineffective, misses point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear Mac users,

    We have no problem with you wanting to get rid of us oh-so-horrible PC users, if it means that you guys stop trying to push Macs on us. Seems like not a single Apple story goes by without one of you guys smugly declaring how superior your Mac experience is. All it takes is for you guys to actually shut up, but I guess that concept is too difficult for you.

    PS: You might want to get Jobs to cancel all those smug advertisements aimed at converting PC users too.

    Love,
    PC Users

  14. Re:In other news by squizzar · · Score: 5

    Crazy, how long can a simple joke go on for? The ability of a simple concept to adapt and continue is completely underrated.

    (also, how does slashdot always get the capchas so spot on - drunker? well not now, maybe later though?)