Zune Was a Beautiful Commercial Disaster

Diving into the history of Microsoft's Zune line of MP3 players, the reasons that they failed, and how they compared to Apple iPods. I also take a look at Zune in the modern era and the modding scene.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro
0:27 Microsoft vs Apple
1:28 First Generation (Zune 30)
3:54 Zune Music Pass
5:24 Zune New Year's Disaster
6:41 Second Generation (Zune 80, 120 and Zune 4, 8, 16)
7:47 Third Generation (Zune HD)
9:28 iPhone Destroys the MP3 Player Market
10:04 Star Lord Gets a Zune
10:50 Sponsor
11:25 Zune in the Modern Day
12:10 Why did Zune Fail?
12:31 Apple's Education Programs
13:49 Microsoft's Failure to Innovate
14:47 Was Zune Better Than iPod?

Attributions:

[DominicGo]

the UI on the zune was so cool, really ahead of its time

[havk]

The subscription for the Marketplace also allowed you to "keep" 10 songs per month. I loved my Zunes!

[Angelaaa]

Thank you for this deep dive into the Zune. I still have my 120g, and I listen to it all the time. It's connected to a pair of vintage computer speakers with a subwoofer that predate the Zune by at least 10 years.

I like my Zune so much that when it went south a couple of years ago, I made it my mission to find a place that could fix it.

Also: someone gave me a Windows 7 laptop so I could run the Zune software and sync to the device.

[iggybud]

Wow, can't believe a video like this or people that felt like me about Zunes even exists. My Zune HD was beloved and I thought so much better than anything 'i'. Couldn't understand why everyone didn't prefer its perfect touch screen and display. I think of her often and know she's still around here somewhere. So happy to hear an update was created!

[anubis]

I still have a black 120GB that I used to have hooked up to my car stereo. I haven't been able to synch it to anything in years, but it worked the last time I charged it. It was my third Zune! It's a paperweight now, but I still love it!

[wehavetogoback]

I had the original brick zune in white and used it a ton. Still have it, though it's broken now from a bad fall forever ago. Still held onto it in case I ever want to do a project like replacing the drive and changing the battery and getting it running. Replaced it with a Zune HD that I used happily for years until phones with microsd slots took over the role as the all in one device. Shame how that one turned out in the long run.

[jcpichuts]

zune hd was such an amazing device and frankly created unrealistic standards for the later windows phones that came after, the UI is still great and I miss it a lot

[kernelcaptinn]

I remember sharing songs on the bus with my friends with my zune

[briannacluck]

I know a couple people who are still ride or die for their zunes. I joined the class of people who had MP3 players a little late, getting one in 2010 when I was a junior in highschool and saved up the hundred bucks needed to buy myself a Sansa Fuze, which I immediately installed Rockbox on since I was a kind of protohipster who was just barely getting interested in open source software, resulting in me scouring the rockbox website on the school library computer looking for compatible mp3 players I could buy at the local circuit city.

Now, 14 years later, I'm still an mp3 player holdout, though I've upgraded from my sansa fuze through a couple other devices until landing on my current daily driver, the Shanling M3X. Using an mp3 player (or digital audio player or dap, if you want to get fancy with it) is almost anachronistic now when there's so many other options, but there's just something nice about having a device that does one or two things, and does them well.

[captain_sly-d]

I've always wanted a Zune HD. For me it was modern. The UI is great. Later they tried to remake it for the windows phone but it wasn't the same.

[SiincereARC]

Had Zune from day one, eventually the software ended up being garbage. I would use itunes to correct all of my metadata, then I would import all of the music into the software. I was in love with the Zune HD as I could find ways to download music videos and watch them on there, which was SUPER big prior to 2011. The quality was TOP NOTCH, no joke. I think the software was the biggest issue with the Zune. Getting the music properly onto your Zune with correct metadata was a massive problem.

[OrinSorinson]

I'm still looking for the day when I'll stumble upon a zune in my thrifting/car boot sale/fleamarket weekends. one day...

[Lazarev]

The interface was really nice, and the design was beautiful too.
The saddest part was losing Microsoft phones. Metro Interface design is amazing, better than android or ios.
Ohh lumia, nice cameras, good interface, and no apps.
I never used zune, I used creative zen. It was really reliable and good sounding.
I don't miss 3.5mm Jack, type c dongles sound amazing with iems.
I don't get people who buy ipod classic nowadays, I remember buying one for 35euro 😂 and now they are expensive again.
Metro Design, so elegant and simple😢
Lumia phone just felt right... but Microsoft screwed up big time.

[ApocalypticSoviets]

I had an original zune in black back in highschool that I used for my lengthy commutes, loved that thing

[nissimtrifonov]

I was sure he was going to say "bing vs bong" for some reason

[InvidiousIgnoramus]

Wait... that color was BROWN?! My friend had one when we were kids and I could have sworn it was burgundy red.

[chfgn]

Zune HD is still the coolest UI design *and* hardware industrial design ever released. It was so far ahead of the Apple-copying pack that it STILL feels like a device from the future in 2024.

[stinkyyyk]

Gosh their software really was so beautiful, i wish there was a way to bring it back as an app or something on Android

[postnick]

I loved the zune music pass!!! Was at university and piracy was more difficult at the time.

[LemonMango]

I'd gotten an iPod Nano from a friend and barely used it because I never liked Apple's UI.

I tried out a Zune at a FutureShop and thought it was great, but I just couldn't afford it. I was a poor college student at the time and went with a Sansa Clip instead. That thing was loaded with features; it even had an equalizer and supported FLAC! I was very happy with it, but still wished for that Zune.