Comments on: Zune Death Watch: Microsoft Zune Revenues Plummet

By: Raistian

Raistian — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:17:58 +0000

I bought a Zune 30 when they first came out. Works great only had a propble with the leap year glitch, other than that no problems at all. Bought it to replaace my ipod that died the first time i dropped it. I've dropped the Zune 100s of time never had a problem yet.

By: Ron Giuntini

Ron Giuntini — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:25:53 +0000

I got a three or four 30g ZUNES over a year ago, for a great price, ($90) from Woot. Since then, I have only had to use one, because it holds plenty, and is very reliable. I love my Zune, and run it about two or three hours each day, minimum. In the car. I got the Zune car stereo xmtr, and it is great. I do podcasts only from the zune software, and it is great. The video is good, but mostly I just listen to John C Dvorak and Adam Curry. Plus a few other podcasts. Too bad nobody knows what I mean when I mention ZUNE. That’s because most people are so easily led, and Apple got there first. Even the name Podcast is totally Appley.

By: Rob Greenlee

Rob Greenlee — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:37:30 +0000

Ted, I looked at your podcast feed and it is missing an active album art url. Please replace and would be happy to include your podcast. As for some of the other issues you raise, Zune is not shutting down soon. All 600+ of us here at Zune are charging ahead with coming updates and improvements over the coming years. This person here cares about about all of our loyal millions of users. I work here everyday on the podcast content side to get our users the best podcasts available online.

We have even now launched a web-based podcast directory – http://social.zune.net/podcasts. The Zune podcast platform is growing in usage and expanding. If you are having a hard time getting your podcast into the catalog then send me an email to rob at zune.net and would be happy to help. Rob Greenlee, Zune Podcast Producer

By: Could Microsoft Be the First to Conquer the Living Room? « The SiliconANGLE

Could Microsoft Be the First to Conquer the Living Room? « The SiliconANGLE — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 04:16:59 +0000

[...] never been bullish on the Zune, though Iâ€™ve generally been more gracious towards it than some of my fellow podcast enthusiasts. I do believe, though, that itâ€™s the height of irony that Microsoft seems to better understand [...]

By: Ted Randall

Ted Randall — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:16:53 +0000

I do several radio shows and have podcasts of the same released each week.
These shows are on various subjects one show Radio Disclosure covers a wide variety of topics.
These were submitted to Zune Marketplace months ago and nothing ever happened.
The same submission on ITurnes and the shows had a listing almost overnight.
I have had listeners call and complain about Zunes that passed two weeks after they were recived as gifts.
Zune wanted $100 to repair the units even though they were less than 30 days old.
Each Zune has a serial number and should be traceable as far as when it was manufactured and sold.
Apple does not treat customers like this.
Microsoft displays the same arrogance over supporting their operating systems.
It is quite a shame but that is reality.
Zune probably has not caught on because of Microsofts’ aloof non involved attitude with their product.
Aople gets involved with the custome and I dont get listener horror stories like i do with Zune.
I as a talk show host wrote Zune an email requesting that they show up on our show and talk about Zune problems and solutions.
They sent me back a folm letter and never responded beyond that .
Our RSS feed is correct but the Zune site has an old picture that had been deleted from our server and the wrong audio files and discripetion it’s a mess.
Yet the same RSS feed is showing up fine on ITuntes.
I guess they must be getting ready to shut the Zune player down.
They obviosly dont care about all the people who purchased them.

…

By: Rob Greenlee

Rob Greenlee — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 08:46:14 +0000

This Zune Death Watch is a non-starter as Zune continues to develop – see the latest. Zune launched web-based Podcast Directory – http://social.zune.net/podcasts/. Podcasters (mac only users) can now submit podcast feed URL’s via this new directory and users can post reviews about the podcasts on the pages in the directory. Zune keeps improving and getting better. I would also say that the tech and new media community should be excited about this as not many other companies are being aggressive about building more podcast support. I recall many in the early days of podcasting begged and trashed Microsoft for not jumping into supporting podcasts. MSFT is jumping in with both feet and it seems very few people notice. I have spent all most two years working every day on building podcasts at microsoft with Zune. We are moving downloads and building audience fast. This fact will only grow with Zune over the coming years and everyone one in the podcasting space should be excited about that fact and spend less time bashing the Zune. Many in the podcasting space have been very supportive of Zune, but many have not and it is very frustrating. We will keep pushing on this at MSFT Zune and will prove our worth in this space.

By: coffee

coffee — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:28:13 +0000

Revenue for the Zune might be down because of the recession, or it could be because people are afraid it will freeze up again next New Year’s Eve

By: James Lewin

James Lewin — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 12:46:53 +0000

Rob –

“It is a misunderstanding of Zune to assume that it is all about success of the hardware devices.”

That may be true – but people’s concept of the Zune is of a hardware/software media player combination that competes with the Apple iPod. If Microsoft’s vision is different, it has not articulated it and promoted that vision effectively.

“I continually see Zune being treated in an negative, biased and unfair way by many bloggers who have never even touched a Zune or ever seen the Zune Marketplace software.”

If you really want to blame the messenger for delivering bad news, it’s coming directly from Microsoft, in this case. The most negative bit of this post would probably be this: â€œZune platform revenue decreased $100 million or 54% reflecting a decrease in device sales,” which is a quote from Microsoft’s SEC filing.

By: Rob G

Rob G — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:36:19 +0000

It is a misunderstanding of Zune to assume that it is all about success of the hardware devices. It is correct to understand that Zune success in Microsoft terms is measured on a different scale and is a long-term software and hardware related platform project. Sure the company would like to sell a lot of Zune devices, but Zune devices sales are not a driver for continuing to build the Zune media platform. The company will continue to make and sell Zune devices for the foreseeable future. It is really a long-term media entertainment software platform that can be used to drive value to other revenue generating Microsoft businesses that includes Zune player devices as one outlet. I continually see Zune being treated in an negative, biased and unfair way by many bloggers who have never even touched a Zune or ever seen the Zune Marketplace software. I agree with the above comments that this blog should fairly represent the Zune devices by using images of the more current Zune 120 and Zune 8 devices and not the old Zune 30.

By: got80s

got80s — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:39:12 +0000

One thing that would be nice is when you [podcasting news] & other websites that write stories about the Zune would use the latest gen photo of the Zune when doing an article about them instead of posting that old ass photo of the 1st gen Zune.