The Collapse of Zune - 'The iPod Killer'

The Microsoft Zune was on an ambitious mission to take down the Apple iPod. The collapse of the Zune is not a story about how Microsoft failed, but how Apple succeeded.

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Everyday (Produced by Lukrembo)

[nicklor]

Nice video. I bought my Zune 80gb back in 2008, still use it from time to time.

[adrianromo]

Great video man! Came from tiktok & was super interested in this because I remember being a kid back when these were initially released and wanted one so bad. Might go on ebay & buy one for fun.

[edmondmurphy]

From the TikTok! One of my buddies had a Zune and loved it! But then 20 of my buddies had iPods!

[saurondp]

This is probably the best explanation for the Zune's failure that I've seen from anyone. In short, it was too little, too late, and had terrible marketing on top of it all.

[steelrose]

Great video. Love and still use my zune. I bought them second hand but still work.

[BitOfBusiness]

Thanks for watching! What are your thoughts on the Zune?

[mymarci]

How stupid i was back then!
I grew up in Europe and i've never heard of Zune, all we knew was Ipod and simple mp3players. After i got a very cheap offer for a trans-atlantic cruise i ended up in an AT&T store in Boston, MA, where i saw the Zune 80 for the first time. I asked the clerk what kind of device this is, and he told me that it's "Microsofts answer to the Ipod, that allows you to upload your own mp3 and mp4 files". At this time i used my Playstation Portable for mp3 but was dissapointed that the PSP couldn't run mp4s, even though it's huge, but weak screen. After i came back home to Europe, 2 weeks later, i was super excited for this device and couldn't wait to run it.

BUT HALT STOPP!!!!
Before plugging in it's US power supply, i've learned that the plug was only able to handle 110Volts. So first, i had to wait some weeks until i was able to buy a Power transformer, that seized our 220V to 110V, for the same price i payed for the cruise to the US itself! I was a bit irritated but still excited for my new mediaplayer.
So i went home, plugged it in to charge, while i started to read the quick guide how to run this device. First i needed to download a software, the same like apples Itunes, in order to load some media to the device.

And here the real trouble starts:
The Zune was only made for costumers within the US. Due to "geographical restrictions". I was not able to download the software from my region, so there was no possibility to copy any of my media or bought media to the Zune player. I still wanted this device to run, so i also bought an VPN acces that was super expensive at that time, to download the ZUNE software from Microsofts US Homepage. The download worked, but when i started the .exe itself, it detected the VPN/my region and it still denied to work.

Conclusion:
Was i able to buy music? -No
Was i able to upload my mp3s? -No
Was i able to upload my mp4s? -No
Was i able to connect the device to my computer? -No
Was i able to to spend around 800€ for an mp3 player that you couldn't load any simple mp3's with drag and drop? -Yes

So after all this trouble i found no possibility to run this device being within european borders, and packed this still valuable device, away in my cellar to rott. After some years i gave it away to a company that dismantles tech-stuff to resell the scrapped metals for a good reasons, since i had no use for it.

I really wanted to love this device, spent much money and time on it, but still with best effords, i couldn't run it.
I know it's not the reason why it failed, but as a Microsoft product i expected it would run on Windows as easy as any mp3player, where you could just drop any mp3/mp4 data via drag'n drop. It's a real shame, that Microsoft had such an valuable device and such a bad software for it.

[trenton]

I had one of these! Loved it. From tiktok btw

[turbo]

Came from TikTok 🙂! Love your videos and thanks again for doing the Blockbuster No Late Fees Marketing fail!

[dripsa]

Woah that reaction to scrolling! Mental when you think how "normal" it is now

[jackdough]

Honestly the 2nd gen zune and zune HD were probably better products when it comes to usability sans the iPod touch. It’s a shame they didn’t release it earlier

[theonus_]

Good story mate. Shoot for 10 min videos. Get in the routine now for when you can add ads

[kap]

I wish the zune would come back. I had the big brown one 😂. Miss it.

[jordanruzic]

here from tiktok. Dude i had a slider windows phone at one point. Dear lord the worst phone i ever owned. I am a PC guy since I do video, and music, and 3d but back in the dayi was an apple bro (pc just wasnt there, but now no thanks apple).