Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Zunes Committing Mass Suicide
jddeluxe writes "There are multiple reports springing up all over the internet of a mass suicide of Microsoft 30GB Zune players globally. Check Zune forums, Gizmodo, or other such sites; the reports are spreading rapidly, except apparently to the Microsoft official Zune site."
I turned on my Zune (bought for 90$ last year) today morning only to find it die a sad death with the hard disk humming in the highest pitch. I do not think the hard disk will survive 3 more hours of such grueling ordeal. I feel sorry for MSFT. Best of luck, guys.
This year has 366 days in it instead of the normal 365.
So if you did (365-day) you could end up with -1 which might cause either a crash or freeze.
Just one (likely) possible cause. If that is the case it should fix its self tomorrow.
I guess they just allocated a 3 bit year, in their systems (starting year 2000). Hey who would think there would still have Zunes around b 2009.
I think your issue may more likely be a leap year issue, with the Zune calculating the length of the year in seconds, but did not take into account that 2008 is one day longer because of 29 February.
Which would explain why they are failing before new year's, rather than after.
Clicked pie.
http://www.google.com/trends
At the time I loaded the page:
1. zune frozen
2. reset zune
3. zune locked up
4. zune troubleshooting
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?sa=X
Those are today's top one hundred google searches. As of now, ten of the top forty searches are zune related. Something tells me this is a bit more that "a few people..." I agree that the article is sensationalist, but there's a hearty grain of truth in there.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
Food for thought.
If he had bought, say, an 80 GB iPod before September of last year, he would have paid $350 for it. If instead he buys a Zune that lasts a few months for $50 and then buys an 80 GB iPod after September of last year, he would have paid $250 for it, thus a net GAIN of $50.
Point is, depending on how long the Zune lasted and what he gets to replace it, it's entirely possible that he broke even or even came out ahead. Shoot, maybe he'll buy one of those 80 GB iPods used and make a lot more than $50 for waiting on it. Or maybe he'll take advantage of the fact that by just getting by on a $50 Zune for a while, he can buy a much more interesting device now, such as a 32 GB iPod Touch, whereas if he had bought one of the shiny new 80 GB iPod videos a year ago, he likely wouldn't do.
At any rate, I just plain disagree that by buying something cheap now and holding off on getting the bleeding-edge gadgets, you're "losing" money, as should anyone who has, for example, invest $50 or $100 into upgrading a slow component of their desktop instead of going out dropping $2000 on a high-end system every year.
Betamax, DAT, MMCD, MiniDisc, ATRAC, ATRAC-3, SDDS, NetMD, Hi-MD, Memory Stick (Duo/Micro), UMD, HDV, SACD, HiFD, MicroMV, BBeB, ECP, ARccOS....
Sony's problem is that it wants standards to be proprietary to them. Some of the above still exist solely because of Sony's bullheadedness, typically only usable with Sony hardware, especially when it is to the exclusion of support for the open standards. Some were/may be superior technology, but keeping a stranglehold on the technology is the undoing of their efforts time and time again. My god, the cabling requirements for SACD players to stereo receivers were unreasonable, even with players that had HDMI ports (though granted DVD-Audio also failed to catch on).
Sony's formats and media succeed when partnerships with other companies (like Philips) force them to be more open. Sony's success is often in spite of their best efforts.
At least with Blu-ray and gaming the competition in the market was/is straightforward and not like their ATRAC-3 players refusing to play the established MP3 format.
(I own several Sony products, including a PS3 and a 400-disc DVD changer that also plays SACDs. I only own two SACD titles. I'm still buying HD DVD titles on the cheap. I may yet find myself buying a Sony HD video camera as Sony seems to be successfully dominating that market.)
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?