[David Tucker]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10101356-75.html

“The software maker plans to announce on Wednesday a price cut for its flash-based models. The 4GB version will drop to $99, the 8GB model will drop by $10 to $139, and the 16GB model will sell for $179, down from $199. Microsoft is also cutting prices for several of its Zune accessories. The cuts take effect on Wednesday in the U.S. and on Friday in Canada.”

Well, this is welcome news for the holiday season. I think this is something Microsoft should have done a long time ago, personally. The flash players are where the really big market is and I think these price cuts could actually have a big impact on their sales. The 8GB model at $139 is a very good price.

My only problem will be deciding which one to buy. I really wanted a flash player for working out and I can’t think of a better time than this holiday season.

The CNet article also talks about the new ad campaign that Microsoft kicked off on Monday that centers around getting people to download the software even if they don’t have the Zune player.

[David Tucker]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10101356-75.html

“The software maker plans to announce on Wednesday a price cut for its flash-based models. The 4GB version will drop to $99, the 8GB model will drop by $10 to $139, and the 16GB model will sell for $179, down from $199. Microsoft is also cutting prices for several of its Zune accessories. The cuts take effect on Wednesday in the U.S. and on Friday in Canada.”

Well, this is welcome news for the holiday season. I think this is something Microsoft should have done a long time ago, personally. The flash players are where the really big market is and I think these price cuts could actually have a big impact on their sales. The 8GB model at $139 is a very good price.

My only problem will be deciding which one to buy. I really wanted a flash player for working out and I can’t think of a better time than this holiday season.

The CNet article also talks about the new ad campaign that Microsoft kicked off on Monday that centers around getting people to download the software even if they don’t have the Zune player.

[crashdaddy20]

Too bad really, though I am a multiple iPod user, I always felt the Zune had potential, especially after the 2.0 release.

[David Tucker]

...did I miss something? What's too bad about the price cut?

[inteller]

Microsoft has finally figured it out by attacking with their strength on the software side. They need a library migration wizard though. They also need to pack a song or two so people can immediately interact with the library features.

They need to follow up with a commercial or email that essentially says "you like the software? get a player, it acts just like your software"

to seal the deal they need to get live working models in Walmart and target. The dummy models won't show people that the Zune UI is actually bad ass. Maybe those microsoft kiosks going up in from of apple stores can remedy this. In fact, an email to people who have downloaded the software but don't have a registered device should go out and schedule an appointment at one of these microsoft kiosks just like the genius bar at apple.

[rockbox1590]

I stated in another thread that I belived that Microsoft should drop the price of the 4gig Zune to under $100 to try and compete with the iPod Shuffle, and I'm glad to see that they did. The minute I read about the pricing change I began wondering which color 4gig I was going to end up buying. I agree that there need to be live, working units available for people to mess around with at stores. Once I fiddled with a friend's 80gig I just had to go out and get one of my own. I'm also really happy that the prices on the accessories are starting to drop. I've been wanting the car adapter and a dock or two.