FleshEatingZipper writes: On the morning of May 11th, 2012, Robbie Bach stood before the Northwest Entrepreneur Network while a PowerPoint projection burned bright behind him. The 50-year old former Microsoft executive was graying at the corners while a “Hello, my name is…” sticker began to peel off his shirt. “If I had hindsight, 20-20, and could do Zune over again,” he started, “we would skip portable media players completely.”
The Verge: Microsoft is cutting the price of its Surface RT tablet by 30 percent worldwide because it's simply not selling. It’s also taking a $900 million hit related to the stock it has left over. For a company that has struggled, with the exception of Xbox, to generate consumer interest in hardware products like Zune and Kin, was Surface RT always doomed? Is Microsoft's iPad competitor quickly becoming another Zune?
I swear to God, I don't think Microsoft knows what consumers think. They know their enterprise market but I feel like they have no clue as to what the consumers want. They think Windows and Office are actually “loved” and “wanted” and that’s why they have 93% market share.
Sure, need and not want. But there had to be "want" at some point, so the "need" could emerge later on. I mean, they had to get big somehow, and it's not by "need".
Microsoft USED TO be the only ones to offer something we needed. An office suite, we needed that, MS was the ones that did it right. They got it into business' and schools, and now a few generations of people have learned with it and rely on it.
However there is a new generation of people now that have had access to alternatives, and they no longer NEED Microsoft. MS needs to find that new want, instead of just following the leader. That isn't what made them successful, they became MS by being leaders.
@Soldierone
Yes there are other alternatives, but the alternatives still do not come close to what Office has become. Granted, Microsoft is screwed because there isn't much more they can do to Office besides put a different number on the box and change the colors; Office has been refined to the point that nothing really more can be done to it.
Alternatives such as iWork, OpenOffice, and LibreOffice (we can all agree Corel WordPerfect is dead at this point) are OK for the average user and much easier on the wallet in comparison to Office, but these alternative still lack some of the more powerful features Office has to offer (though only a very small percentage of people use them).
My biggest issue with the alternatives (I've used all three) is that all of their spreadsheet programs pale in comparison to Excel. Excel is a beast with the functions and functionality it provides. I have many things that I do in Excel on a regular basis that just cannot be done in the alternatives due to missing functions. I either have to find a work around with existing functions or figure out a totally different method altogether. Again I consider myself part of the minority, but this is one of the reasons I'm stuck with Office.
The other thing the alternatives have against them is people's familiarity with the Office name and programs. It's the "go to" for them; it's what their work place uses; it's what their schools used; people just do not want to relearn a new office suite regardless of how much it "almost" looks like office.
I need this in my life, I cant wait, it was a sad day when zune died, it was clearly ahead of its time.
despite what people thought, the zune faithful was pretty happy. i just hope for drag and dop music management vs some shit program.
I have a zune touch and It finally broke, its an interesting device and I have a ton of music so my phone is already crammed. I would never use an ipod or itunes in my life so the mp3 player market is cut in half for device choice.
I also like Zune. And would like if they made a new version of it. Too bad that's not going to happen.
Well, you seem like a fan of the Zune. I like how the build quality of the original zune HD.
http://media.gdgt.com/img/p...
Looks good.
yea thats the one I have, its a shame it died :/
i consider it a hidden gem. I wonder if the modding community got good on it.
It would be nice if they would release a product and support it like they did with Xbox.
Zune was awesome, then MS got bored and release Windows phone. They went "sorry, but this time it will be different! We will support it!"
Thats a good promise, but how long did they promise support for Zune and it never came? So I sold my Zune and Zune HD, and jumped to Android.
Good thing I did. MS already jumped to Windows 8 (RT), screwing early adopters, and so far can't even get basic apps offered on it....
Just think about it this way, what does Windows RT (phones and tablets) offer that the competitors don't? Nothing. What do they lack that competitors have? A lot.
Exactly. They screwed the early adopters. And what that means is that the next time they release a product or a new radically different version of Windows, we'll see how many of early adopters will jump on that bandwagon. You get burned by fire only once.
Microsoft is just digging the hole for themselves, and they're starting to go into it, slowly, but surely.
turn off your build in anti-virus... it's a resource hog and you don't need it... you'll find things move smoother
WMpoweruser - Despite Microsoft blaming a publishing mishap for the Zune HD page being pulled from the Zune.net site, a post on the Zune.net support site officially confirms the device has been discontinued.
Engadget - It may not enjoy quite the same level of buzz that the likes of Spotify, Rdio and MOG have been basking in lately, but Microsoft's Zune service is still kicking, and the company's now working to make it a bit more appealing and more widely available. For folks in the US, the big change today is a new $10 per month Zune Music Pass, which is identical to the existing $15 service with the notable exception that you no longer get to keep ten free MP3s each month (that $15 option remains available to existing subscribers, though).
