Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

RIP Microsoft Zune brand

geek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–48 of 48 posts

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#41

Post by raganwald »

Dear author:

boasting features like song-sharing that Apple still hasn’t managed to catch up to.

Don't be silly. Apple hasn't "caught up," because it was never behind in some kind of race to add song-sharing. Apple chose not to implement that feature, as it has chosen not to add a great many other features.

If you think it's a benefit, it's appropriate to praise Microsoft for adding it, but you shouldn't imply that Apple is staffed by hapless engineers that are somehow incapable of figuring out how to implement this feature, or that Jobs sends out a weekly email asking when this feature will be ready.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#42

Post by thought_alarm »

uvTwitch wrote: post #10

I think Windows Phone 7 really suffers from the lack of unique branding. It doesn't have a unique product name like Android or iPhone; even 'Zune Mobile' would have been better, Windows Phone 7 doesn't evoke anything and just sounds like a technical specification.

Zune is a great name! Very catchy, and they spent a pile of money to get it out there.

But that's also the problem. Zune has been reduced to a punchline in popular media. That's what happens when the product doesn't match up to its marketing. Fair or not, it's become an embarrassment for the company. And the same thing happened with Vista.

So I think going forward Microsoft will rely on the Windows brand for their underdog products. It's difficult to write a catchy punchline about, say, "Windows Music Device 7".

Or, they could just call it Windows Xzyxxz. You can't write any jokes about a product that can't be pronounced.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#43

Post by wot »

raganwald wrote: post #41

Dear author: boasting features like song-sharing that Apple still hasn’t managed to catch up to. Don't be silly. Apple hasn't "caught up," because it was never behind in some kind of race to add song-sharing. Apple chose not to implement that feature, as it has chosen not to add a great many other features. If you think it's a benefit, it's appropriate to praise Microsoft for adding it, but you shouldn't imply that A…

You're right. However, it's not fair for you to say that they just chose not to implement it. You don't know that. (unless you have some insider info)

While yeah it's not like they lack the ability to add the feature, it's entirely possible that they have been focusing their attention elsewhere and possibly just haven't gotten around to it.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#44

Post by gamble »

raganwald wrote: post #41

Dear author: boasting features like song-sharing that Apple still hasn’t managed to catch up to. Don't be silly. Apple hasn't "caught up," because it was never behind in some kind of race to add song-sharing. Apple chose not to implement that feature, as it has chosen not to add a great many other features. If you think it's a benefit, it's appropriate to praise Microsoft for adding it, but you shouldn't imply that A…

It's hard to say whether Apple could even negotiate a deal to offer song sharing. The media companies are so frightened of extending iTunes near-monopoly to other areas that I tend to assume that they'd rather not cut any deals with Apple than let them become dominant in new services.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#45

Post by gamble »

Legion wrote: post #12
thasmin wrote: post #8

Yet another spin on the Microsoft brand carousel. Someone over there seems to think that if they give their product a certain name then people will start buying it. Zune seemed like a good brand. The products were of high quality and had good reputations. I feel like a few well placed articles titled "Zune: Microsoft's quiet success" or "Microsoft becomes the underdog with Zune" would have gone a long way.

I think the Zune launch tarnished the name so permanently that it never recovered. In too many peoples' eyes, it was always the poop-brown also-ran. Which is too bad, because in many ways, the later Zunes were superior devices, although far too prone to sync problems. My old Zune became unrecognizable to the Zune software far too many times.

The Zune was never well-known enough for its name to be tarnished. The marketing was so low-key and sporadic that it hardly seemed to penetrate much beyond Redmond. Not to mention that it was basically non-existent outside of the US.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#46

Post by shaggyfrog »

narodick wrote: post #34

RIP squirting you friends! Sigh...

"I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation. That's a software experience. The truth is, though, if it makes money, it will be built into the gross margin on the hardware. We'll figure out how to make money on the community perhaps later though advertising or other means."

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Balmer-Talks-About-Zune-And-T...

I guess they decided that figuring out the "making money" part was second to getting squirting exactly right.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#47

Post by Refringe »

agazso wrote: post #24
Refringe wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't stand iTunes as a media player. I'm still using an old version of Winamp.

Try Foobar2000! It is open-source, actively developed, has tons of features and plugins but still lightweight, plays numerous formats and the best, works out-of-the box. http://www.foobar2000.org/ I also changed from Winamp, when it became adware.

Thanks for the heads-up. It looks promising.

Re: RIP Microsoft Zune brand

#48

Post by Andrewski »

burgerbrain wrote: post #6
protomyth wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would make sense, as a way to build market share, to turn Zune into the WP7's iPod touch. From a developer perspective, that is a powerful additional number of users.

When you say "Zune" to your average consumer, all you get is laughter. The tech might have been good, but in my (humble) opinion, ditching the brand and all it's baggage is a very good idea.

Actually the average consumer does not know what Zune is. Maybe your average geek does.
Post reply on HN