Rest in Pieces Zune

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/r-i-p-zune/' target='_blank'>http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/.../04/r-i-p-zune/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Microsoft is sending Zune to the pasture where Microsoft brands go to die. It's the end of the road for a name that once symbolized Microsoft's grand plans to curb Apple's entertainment ambitions. In a flurry of announcements that Microsoft made Monday at the E3 games conference in Los Angeles, Microsoft executives said the company planned to introduce a new music service, Xbox Music, that would run on the Xbox 360 game console, Windows phones and Windows 8 computers. That service will come out sometime in the fall."</em></p><p>Just in case the past six months haven't proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Microsoft has given up on Zune, the news story linked here drives the point home: Zune as a service is going away, following in the footsteps of the Zune hardware going away.</p><p>Alas, poor Zune, I barely knew ye... :-(</p>

[hgoldner]

I'm not the slightest bit surprised, and was reminded why this past weekend while wrestling with the positively wretched Zune software, which is, after all, the only way you can put anything on the device.

First of all, despite having deleted certain podcasts, the software insisted upon downloading over 100 episodes which had been queued *before* the podcast subscriptions were deleted. I had to download all 116 podcasts, redelete the podcasts in the software, and delete the files in three steps, and of course while Zune is downloading, despite my 25/50 FIOS connection, heaven forbid you should want to do anything else on your computer.

Then I tried to convert a handful of videos to put on my Zune HD to take up the space. Hours and hours of processing time and do you think I got even ONE video on the Zune HD? Of course not.

If it weren't the only device (of about a half dozen, including an iPod classic, two Sansa Fuze's, a Sansa Clip+ and even an old Sony stick w/built in noise-cancelling) with an HD radio, it would be on ebay this very minute and the software long ago uninstalled.

And all I can say to those folks regaling the as yet vaporware "Surface," "Remember the Zune, my friends, remember the Zune." Wonder just how many folks will "squirt" their money away for a Surface, eh? :D

[Jason Dunn]

And all I can say to those folks regaling the as yet vaporware "Surface," "Remember the Zune, my friends, remember the Zune." Wonder just how many folks will "squirt" their money away for a Surface, eh? :D

I'm actually one of those people who's pretty excited about Surface - I have an iPad and use it a lot, but kind of wish I didn't have to. :rolleyes::D