Zune: The Failed iPod Killer - Krazy Ken’s Tech Talk
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- Опубліковано 25 тра 2023
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Former iPod user Krazy Ken is trying a Zune for the first time! He's going to tell you all about the product history, and he'll debunk some myths.
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Enjoy the new episode! And subscribe stay tuned for my next SCAM-BUSTER on June 20 where Krazy Ken travels to California to try and debunk a fake "hard drive recovery" product. 🔔
Is Windows Phone still available? Maybe you could do a video about them.
Brillant is basically a paywall youtube, but with less content lol
May segoe-like font be used on Sailfish OS? Well, an other Metro ideas....
@@zuzoscorner Brilliant has web apps though. I find it way more interactive than UA-cam, and learning by doing usually helps a subject stick in one's brain more than passively watching a lecture/tutorial video. To each their own! But I highly recommend you try it out : )
There's some big UA-camrs who have contributed content on there, too-like Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell.
@@ComputerClan oh yes, sorry forgot about the who interactivity part. my bad.
Years ago I asked my dad for an iPod for Christmas. The day came and I opened the package and saw a Zune. I was never one to throw fits or act like a brat, so even though I was disappointed I acted happy and excited. My dad works hard and is a great man, the last thing I want is to hurt him, you know? After using the Zune for a while I actually started to like it, I guess not getting an iPod wasn't the worst thing.
even then, a Zune wasn’t even that bad, at least it wasn’t a craig nugget
anything to avoid having to use itunes
I had a walkman whcih was compatible with zune software. It was much better than iPods technically
@@RBVJnt Craig nugget, I see you’re a person of culture
@@RBVJnt Craig nugget eh? The ones you blow up with the mojo? Or perhaps a Diablo?
Over 10 years ago, I was working in a small software team, and one of the guys had a Zune. He told us about the "squirt" song loaning feature. We were like, "Oh, neat, that work pretty well?" He said, "I dunno, I've never run into anybody else with a Zune."
Its wild. My highschool was full of Zunes. We were squirting all over.
@@ssjaken one of my first girlfriends was a squirter. I miss it.
All of this sounds so, so wrong
@@ssjaken Most people would be in the office for squirting in school.
That unfortunately was one of the problems with that social feature. The other problem people pointed out was how temporary the sharing was. 3 days or 3 plays whichever was first was very short. Also this limitation was on all audio/video media regardless of source or DRM. Sharing an audio recording of a child's first words with the grandparents would expire after 3 days max.
The Zune Player was by far my favorite Music player software ever. Really wish the interface took off on Windows Phone too, but oh well…
Metro was the CE skin we loved !
@Super Nostalgia Gods on UA-cam, how real !
I held onto my windows phone as long as I could
@@lucasRem-ku6eb To be fair, there is a UA-cam channel run by a Jesus cosplayer.
Based, I miss Windows Phone so much, it actually had personality compared to everything else available nowadays.
When’s Zune first came out, my girlfriend at that time got it for me for my birthday, and quite honestly, I loved it more than the iPod I used to have. The fact is, you can put your MP3s in there without having to convert or rely on iTunes was a big seller for me.
Why would you have to convert? Apple suggests AAC which is the successor to MP3 but iPods play MP3s fine.
@@minhduong1484 not back then, whenever I tried transferring mp3s to my iPod back then it wouldn’t play. And my ox then had issues running iTunes
@@wamrainc176 i had absolutely no troubles with iPods (Mini from 2003, a classic with b/w display and a first gen Nano)
@@harrison00xXx hmm I don’t know why I did then. But when you used to put them in your iPod, were you able to get the track information like you would normally do using iTunes?
@@wamrainc176 sure, not even troubles with a iPod Mini from 2003/2004 with 4 GB HDD upgraded to a 64GB CF card and 3000+ titles on it tho it ran a bit slower with that many tracks indexed
I begged my mom for a zune when i was like 12. I finally got it and it lasted me like 10 years with the original songs i out on it. I loved that thing.
Serena Maneesh - "Drain Cosmetics" AMIRITE???? (I played the hell out of that video!)
The Zune came out during the worst possible time which was ‘Peak iPod” and only a few months before Apple themselves decided to destroy the iPod market with the iPhone. Had the Zune came out in 02 or 03, it would’ve been a great competitor to the iPod. Nevertheless, I do have a used Zune HD I purchased on Mercari for $45 in 2020 before prices when up and well before GOTG Vol. 3
That seller is probably kicking themselves at the moment, lol. But as a Zune owner who got theirs in 2010, I still feel they undervalued their Zune if they sold it for only $45.
When you never invent but just copy, you're always too late aren't you?
@@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley I only use the Zune HD to listen to HD Radio stations. Do wish the radio industry had advertised HD Radio much better instead of being a languishing tech that no one cares about, yet is included in every new car that’s on the road (including electric vehicles).
HA! You think THIS is prices going up?
In 2015 in box Zunes had shot up to well into the 500 and 600 USD range
@@mojoblues66 not true at all. Apple doesn't really invent - what they are good at is identify a handful of essential core feature which they polish the crap out and makes the UX top notch, Samsung doesn't invent much either but they are the top dog of Android etc.
Innovation or "first to market" is highly overrated - if you drill it down many big business aren't first in their market.
I had a Zune and Microsoft phone. Zune was at that time was far superior to iTunes. The content in terms of music, images, videos and easy of use blew the rest away. Unfortunately Microsoft was “uncool” and did didn’t have the backing of celebrities. But damn it was a good product and so intuitive. Between iPhone and Google’s Android, the Microsoft phone and Zune died far too prematurely.
Well said comment
zune 4.8 desktop software UI is STILL better looking than Spotify imo!
@@bd604 yup spotify has horrible UI design, and their apps are buggy
I didn’t find out until much later that the problem was iTunes for PC sucked. At the time I was using Anapod by red chair software. I never saw iTunes actually work properly until I got a Mac.
Loved my zune. The zune service also let you keep some music for free, forever.
Man, I loved my Zune back in the day. The Zune pass was fantastic and the built in HD radio was a great feature.
I loved that hd radio with rds
Zune software/store was like an early Spotify. I discovered so much music with it that I still listen to today.
I still have my original Zune. The battery even still works.
Special thanks to Ken for (once again) having me onboard with the research for this episode! Here's a few other Zune facts that weren't brought up in the video:
1. The Zune Marketplace was originally codenamed "Alexandria".
2. The 2nd-gen Zune flash models were originally in development as early as 2006 under the codename "Pyxis". (Also, while we're on the topic of the 2nd-gen Zune, all of those models were manufactured by Flextronics.)
3. The Zune Social service predated Apple's attempt at a social network dedicated to music (iTunes Ping) by almost 4 years.
4. The Zune was sold exclusively in the US for its first 1.5 years on sale-the 2nd-gen Zune was the first to sell outside the US, beginning June 13th, 2008 in Canada.
5. A September 2008 firmware update brought in new features to existing Zune devices, most notably sample games (Hexic and Texas Hold' Em), a clock, a screen lock feature, and the ability to purchase songs directly onto the device through the Zune marketplace...exactly one year after the iTunes Music Store was brought over to the iPod Touch-ouch.
METRO!
You forgot the part where the Zune 2nd edition was actually what the original release was supposed to be but because Microsoft was in a crunch for time they decided to put out what became the first gen as it was going to take a while to get the parts and manufacturing down for the 2's much more advanced design.
Apple as always has never actually invented anything, they simply take something someone else has made and thrown millions in marketing at it to make it seem "sexy" and then they overprice it to make it seem "exclusive" to shallow people
I remember I had won an iPod Mini from a contest, and I was pretty happy with it. I didn't buy many songs from Apple... my library was mostly ripped songs from CDs. Then I accidentally dropped said Mini and ran it over backing out of a driverway for a trip. I ended up buying a Zune on that trip and loved that little player. I still have it to this day.
The Zune was AWESOME. I have a ton of them and I've made some neat videos about it. Also, I'M u/Emendo12 and THANKS for including me in the video!!!!!
When a friend brought over a chocolate-colored Zune 30 to our nearly-weekly LAN party, I immediately noticed it and the interface design, and asked what it was. It would be another couple years before I bought one used on eBay, but I used it until it would not stay turned on. (As I later learned, that was because the internal HDD died, and I have never bothered to have it replaced. It still worked if I kept it constantly plugged in to an electric outlet, but it never stayed on long enough to sync when plugged into my computer.) I used and used and used my Zune 30. I loved its matte finish, the gorgeous font, the directional pad, the big physical size, and the huge amount of storage. I loaded music, pictures, audio books, and even some video clips onto it. It was quite the enjoyable portable library for me before smartphones became omnipresent.
As someone who likes owning their music (and a LOT of it,) I miss dedicated music players. My ipod classic finally bit the dust a year or two ago and watching this just makes me miss the days of not having to stream music off my phone to listen on the go.
I still use my ipod classic (bought it in 2009). Battery is not so good right now, so I’m planning to replace it using an ifix kit.
I download my music and have backedup rips on a backup drive. Never used Spotify or UA-cam consistently to listen to music
The stand alone Plex music player is my Zune replacement.
@@MarcosRobertoDosSantosJF I still use my (formerly) 30gb iPod Video that I bought back in 2003 or 2004, whenever it was when it launched. I put in a new battery and an SD card mod years ago. It works great with a 128gb card - I’d put in a 256, but I don’t think it has the memory to index that many tracks.
i would recommend just loading the music to the phone…
Streaming sucks anyways, always internet needed
I had a first-gen Zune and it was awesome. Despite the DRM and other stupid crap, it was a fabulous device with a great UI and I remember using it as my primary dedicated music player. I still have it in my car and it plays music well!
The Linux Gardner had a zone omg 😮
I had mine on a phone mount that connected to my cassette player slot. Looked OEM. Totalled that car. Walked away with no major injury, but, when I went to the tow lot to get my stuff out of the car, the zune was gone. Went all-in to smartphone media at that point, bought a big SD card, loaded it into my phone with all my music, and.... well it was fine, but it wasn't the same.
I remember seeing the 1st gen Zune in stores and thinking "I'm perfectly happy with my Creative Zen" 😎 - I miss that little player 😊
I had various versions of the Creative Zen and three of them are still going although smartphones have relegated them to curiosity only. The Zen that were targeted against the iPod though🙄 I had three. All dead. Nothing wrong with the operating system or controls. It's the batteries. Just won't hold a charge.
@@tonygreenfield7820 Buy a new battery, you can literally buy new ones that will work just fine
The 30 pin dock connector for the iPod could plugin to the Zen. Too bad it didn’t do anything
Thanks for giving our beloved Zune a much needed & well put together retrospective without being too negative. You really hit it on the head with all the goods of what the Zune is for us. I love mine and love the community, and it'll always be better than the iPod to me.
When the Zunes came out, I owned an iPod, but I worked at Microsoft. You'd get stink-eye if other employees saw you with white earbuds, so I'd just use my over-the-ear headphones. The internal buzz about the Zune was intense in the beginning, but every month you could feel it die down to where there was more enthusiasm about a new flavor of seltzer water in the fridges then there was about a new model of Zune.
Did you ever meet the intern who didn't know the modulo operator and instead hacked the a while loop into the leap year code?
@@mojoblues66no
The only reason the zune failed was the apple fed microsoft their lunch when it came to marketing. They needed to hire in a young firm and cut them a blank check, it would have been very, very different. Like, all of the things that myself and others loved about the zune were... absent, like they were somehow coy about flat out advertising it as "the better ipod", and it was, by all measures better. Better UI, better feel in the hand, better screens, hell, even the DACs were lightyears better. None of that mattered -only- because nobody knew about it.
That’s wild, well not that wild but unless ya give me a zune can’t expect me to use it. Reminds me of a vid a saw going around a BMW dealership asking what they drive and out of maybe 11 employees only ~2 owned a BMW at all. And that was considering the fact a bunch owned 2 even 3 cars, so much worse than one Microsoft employee not having a zune.
Being in the Zune community for 3 years, making a fix to sync videos on Windows 10 builds higher than 1509, having my nickname onto a Zune tutorial onto the Microsoft official UA-cam channel and this video was still able to learn to me so much stuff about the Zune !
I was really happy because I watch every videos of Computer Clan for 2~3 years now to see Apple content a bit and I was very happy to learn about a video talking about the Zune. Thanks for your hard work and I'll see you in your next video. 😆😉
Oh shit hey codix!!
@@konstidog Hello random citizen !
Hi Codix! It's always nice to see a fellow Zune Goon in the comments
@@TheHatMan69 *ZUNE CREEEEW*
I didn’t know you could do that! I always wanted to play around with one. I’ll keep my eye out for a nice swamp water cello.
I still use my Zune. I upgraded the 30gig to 128gig SSD, and keep it on the dock (with a remote) for music on my bedroom stereo. Works great! The Zune software still works on windows and has a clean, intuitive interface. It helps that I got it on clearance from Woot for around 80 bucks. :)
I also bought my brown zune from woot. Used it in my car until one day I found my window broken and my zune gone.
@@paulv2411 :(
I love my Zune. I bought a refurbished one in like 2010 or something and still use it. It has died, but I've just been keeping it going with repairs. Thanks for the great video!
Always used iPod but I absolutely adored the Zune Desktop software. It was my go-to music player on Windows for years. The SmartDJ feature was absolutely insane. You'd pick a few songs to listen from your library, hit SmartDJ, and it would build you an amazing playlist based on your current one, similar to what UA-cam Music does nowadays. It was so cool.
The Zune software was the best podcast software for many years. Spotify eat your heart out.
I switched from the zune player back to winamp when zune was discontinued because there was absolutely nothing that was even close to as good besides winamp+skins. Eventually switched from winamp to google music, then spotify, but I do long for the zune days.
I remember using Windows phone with metro UI. I was shocked how beautiful their UI design was, and shocked again how little apps there were to download
Metro was designed on Macs by an outside design firm.
Ok.
man if I could get WinPho working today, I would be in heaven. wonder if we can skin android to behave like it 🤔
@@DavidRavenMoon okay and?
I’ve never heard of Metro as being beautiful.
Thanks for doing the Zune justice here, definitely one of Microsoft's more underrated products.
My pleasure! It was a lot of fun.
Fun fact, if you dig deep into modern versions of Windows (such as accessing the mysterious WindowsApps folder) then you'll find references to the Zune name still being used for some of Windows' software.
I didn't have a Zune, but I remember my dad getting me a Nokia Lumia 800 which I really liked. Then I lost it at a museum.
I hate how Wade from DankPods just made the Zune seem inferior to iPods in every possible way without actually trying to do research on Zunes. Thank you Ken for doing an amazing video on this device!
To give Wade some credit, he did praise some things of it. I don't think he was trying to be that brutal with it, he just saw wasted potential. But I can see why you'd feel that way, he does have some bias against Microsoft.
I feel like most of his point where well founded, especially being that the zune had a huge company backing it up and they still made mistakes launching it! Just inexcusable. But him getting the squirting part wrong and not digging deeper into it’s true features when the site was still active definitely disappointed. But he needs a zune 80!
@@12pagani It'd be interesting to see him tackle the Zune and address some issues of it, especially with his "semi-review" like format now.
I had a zune and good god was it a pos, actually it’s still bricked in my basement
ok
no apps, nobody b ought them ...
I loved my brown brick Zune. Durable, UI was great, and the syncing was simple. Will agree on it not getting much love especially from Microsoft. The social aspect was neat and used it a few times sharing songs and I imagine if adoption was better we would have had a whole different way of consuming music.
'brick' brown?
I like stacking brown bricks in Minecrapft.
When Xbox launched the XNA toolkit I built several games and apps for the Zune HD and 128. It's actually what got me into programming in C# & WPF (more like Silverlight).
Zunited was a huge forum that I helped moderate and manage, all centered around MS products specifically Zune and eventually Windows 7.
I had one of the original Zunes back in like 08-09, my ex threw it out the window of my car on the highway going 60mph having a meltdown, went back and found it on the shoulder and minus some scratches it was fine lol, absolute unit.
I liked mine a lot. It had a built in radio and the service for it was awesome you got to keep 10 songs permanently while being able to download as many other for use as you wanted every month
I’ve had my zune decades and still love it. I’ve got 4 films and quite a few albums on it and it’s never let me down.
I've still got my original Zune, I really liked it. Mine is the black/blue, looks awesome. Put it in a case right after I got it to protect the screen.
I always thought the bonus of the Zune was you were able to copy your own library of mp3's over to it.. .. It seemed ms let go of lots of projects.. I have a couple of land line cordless phones from m.s .. I absolutely loved them because back in the day it was pretty cool to have a layered answering machine with ms voice and Speech recognition ect.... Plus the funny bonus was when people called and were going through the process of pushing 1 ..pushing 2 . ect.. for different options, I could hear them. Same thing during the answering voice prompt.. Lots of people talk to them selves before they leave a message lol.
I had a brown original zune and loved it. The subscription to download all the music you wanted was way ahead of its time. It was a good product but I think Apple just has such a strong hold of the market. Maybe if there was also a smartphone it would have been better idk.
*Happy DankPods noises*
Nah bro got the goofy andoird personalised icon and his second comment is getting priority placement
Poop brown
@@sopvwastaken Mushy Peas
@@momjyandavit na-no
Frank!! Franky!! ..Wake up!! They're talking about the Zoooooonnne..
I worked in a big box store that sold electronics back when the Zune launched. We had a paid endcap in our department for the hardware and accessories. It had all kinds of signage and cool pictures all over it introducing the product. Despite all that "noise" people tended to ignore it. We also had a similar arrangement for the iPod, and it was always needing to be restocked! THE ONE AND ONLY Zune we sold was returned because the clueless older lady who bought it thought it was "The exact same thing as an iPod". I'm guessing maybe she thought she could use it with iTunes and found out it wasn't compatible? Not sure. All I know is we had that display for six months before M$ pulled the plug on it!
I had both a Zune 30 and a Zune HD, and I still contend they were exceptionally great media players, let down by the Zune software and music subscription model being ahead of its time in an era of very clunky music DRM), and having annoying incompatibilities with music codecs that even Windows Media Player natively supported just fine.
The Zune HD in particular had 3D gaming capabilities far superior to anything on the iPod and early iPhones thanks to the Tegra processor, and all Zunes felt like they were built to withstand the apocolypse.
I have an iPhone, and I'll readily admit the Zune was a failure, but I'm tempted to pick one up on eBay again.
I love the elegant minimalism of the Zune's Metro interface which was developed into that for in Windows Phone. Zunes never really made it here to the UK, but Windows Phone did arrive - although with very little hype. The user-configurable tiles that came in different sizes and the ability to put shortcuts right on the Home Screen were wonderful ideas. It was really easy to set up a Lumia for my Mum with all her necessary contacts right there rather than hidden behind cryptic icons. It's a shame Microsoft decided to abandon the OS as it had some terrific ideas and it ran smoothly even on the most basic of hardware.
Yes I like the window phone setup too. Got my android phone set up like that still
The best part of mp3 players and DAPs is they never went away. It's just the ipod was the entry level music player for everyone and the masses moved away from it. We've got tons of stuff like the Zune now if you're willing to look around.
I was glad I was part of the Zune social, all those years ago. I still have 2 Zunes, but haven't used them in more than a decade. It's just more convenient to use either a smartphone or tablet these days and stream media, without that blocky connector and wired headphones, but at the time, Zune was a viable piece of media. The Zune Marketplace at the time was vibrant and had users that liked to help people.
I'll have to see about hooking them up again to get some nostalgia.
I absolutely love my Zune. I still use it! It's a Zune 30 that now has a 120GB SSD in it 🙂
I need to look for a ssd for my old zune, thanks
A very balanced review and avthorough analysis of the Zune - good job, Ken!!!
I loved the Zune. I had the Zune 80 first, then got the Zune 120. In it's day it was a really solid device. Though the one thing I complained about from day one was the lack of a clock. By default you could not tell what time it was. To see the time you had to go into the apps section and launch a dedicated clock. Sad part was how many Zune users felt this was good enough. Poll after poll at the time reflected the vast majority did not feel adding a clock to the interface was a priority. Luckily Microsoft did eventually add one. Though a lot of people complained.
For me one of the biggest problems with the Zune was you HAD to use the software to add new songs. I was used to SanDisk players that you copied music to the device like a flash drive and it would just work. I expected the same from the Zune. Nope, user uploaded files just sat there in storage. I eventually gave up my Zune for a sandisk clip zip. I still have that clip zip and it's still running off the last charge I gave it back in about 2013. I power it up every year or two to check it.
I just wanted to say i was an early adopter of the Zune and absolutely loved it. I used it every day and even paid the subscription service so i can just download as much music as i wanted. Sadly my Zune broke and is just sitting as a brick in a drawer.
Props to you Ken. I'm a computer and technology history buff and subscribe to a butt ton of these types of YT channels. That said, this is the best balanced/objective presentation of the Zune I've seen yet. 👍👍
I used to love Zune Desktop. It just worked so much better than anythibg built in at the time. I really dont remember how I started using it, since I never had a Zune, but there we go.
I loved the theme because I was an XP and Mac user at the time, and I just wanted a BLACK taskbar. haha
I love the Metro tiles representing the myths. This channel is so great.
Can we get more episodes of KKTM? It's been a while since the last one.
I had the original Zune through my last years of high school. It was awesome. Especially with Zune pass.
I miss my Zune. Had one of the original blown/green ones.
I adored that thing, and that’s coming from someone who was at the time, and still is, a die-hard Apple dude.
The Zune just rocked for me.
I can’t get over how nice the software looks even today, shame it wasn’t a hit
you ever developed anything for it ?
why not ?
Love these videos ! 😊 I look forward to them like I did Nintendo Power issues when I was a kid
This was a surprisingly thoughtful video, to be honest I wasn't expecting it to have the have the focus that it did. It even had me looking at my own copy of the product materials and indeed no reference to Squirting for Zune-to-Zune sharing! Appreciate someone else adding something new to the legacy of Zune and maybe in looking back others will learn to appreciate it a little more, there's an amazing community out there and did my own small part when I had my own website for it back in the day and a couple of years ago even created a digital coffee table book dedicated the Zune!
I love my Zune I had the black one, had the screen replaced twice and when it failed the 3rd time I put it on the shelf. I still look at it today and would still use it if the screen worked. Sometimes it is nice to have a separate music player from my smartphone. Loved the FM radio feature, used it all the time!
I absolutely loved the Zune HD and hated how Microsoft slowly killed it. Everyone I showed it to loved the device. The Zune channels were also amazing, and Spotify and Apple Music now both have curated ever changing playlists to discover new music, exactly what Zune Channels were. Unfortunately, since I used the subscription service and "owned" very little music, once Zune Marketplace became Xbox Music and Groove, it was impossible to get any subscription music anymore on it and I switched to Spotify even though the devce even today still works :/
11:34 - hey, that's me!
Hameo Cameo!!! Yasss!
Yeap. That's definitely you!
i found a zune much more intuitive to use than my friend's ipod when she let me borrow hers back in the day. rip zune, im one of 5 people that miss you.
The battery life on the Zune HD was insane. Still got all my Zunes. They all still run.
Respect for the nod to TINA!
🙏
I think in the end the Zune was just late…. By the time it was released iPods were ubiquitous and was already a tech icon.
I had a Zune. Say what you want, but the UI was great. I finally got rid of mine a couple years ago and it's amazing how modern it still felt.
I wish that Metro never went away.
always liked the Zune software on the PC ... nice media player... there was even a Zune theme for WinXP! so as a result I went looking for it today and installed it on my win10 laptop.... still like it..... the players were never released here in Oz as far as I know...
0:43 is that default UA-cam profile pictures?
Hm??
Still got my ol' Zune HD here on my desk. It's gathered a lot of dust over the years but it still fires right up and works like the day I bought it, through to the day I finally, begrudgingly switched to my phone for music. I still remember hours of playing Audio Surf.
I loved my Zunes. Yes plural. I got 3 for free around Bings' launch. I probably used them until ~2012ish. Pretty sure I still have 2 around somewhere. I still remember walking into BestBuy and asking an employee if they had any Zune accessories.
I had a Zune back in the day. Was freaking great, and also a precurser to Spotify as well for monthly payment service to sync up with your Zune
At a glance, you're spending more per song, but you're also getting to try out those songs ahead of time, so you're never paying for something you're only going to listen to once *and* you've got unlimited rentals during the subscription months.
$15 a month for unlimited rentals and you get to keep 10 of those song each month was honestly a much better deal than anything else at the time.
when I was younger, I went back and forth between Zune and iPod Touch a few different times. I never could get into the iPod as much as I did the Zune. it just felt like it worked better for music. eventually, more apps started coming out and I migrated back to iPod/iPhone for the final time, but man do I miss my Zunes.
I had an iPod classic 160 gig and a Zune 60 gig. Man the zune was awesome. The fact that we could share share like music and audiobooks I think made it absolutely incredible and better than the competition It just wasn't considered cool sadly.
I got one of the big zunes as a xmas gift many years ago. The thing had surprisingly good sound, despite having no equalizer - it just worked which kind of blew my mind. Everything sounded right, and I'm a picky sort of listener. The only problem was that it was on the delicate side which I discovered when I accidentally dropped it. Busted the screen. I should mention that I still use the earbuds that came with it since they have a really nice balance with solid bass response. Zune was much better than the critical reviews at the time.
The Zune had one of the best DACs you could get in a portable device at the time, far better than that of the iPod.
@@redslate That makes a lot of sense. This is the first time I've heard that explanation, so thanks. That device had remarkable sound quality even when playing crappy 128k mp3s made by a friend who was inspired to buy one after hearing mine.
I had a Zune. It was an interesting little device. Held a lot of music I loved, and it worked great in keeping my papers from flying away due to my desk fan
OMG I remember my dad buying me a zune for my 17th birthday and i loved the thing. It was super easy to set up and it was a life saver that allowed me to watch Higurashi at school and listen to music.
I even had the 2nd slim model when i was serving in the Air Force. I miss that little thing
Great, thorough video! Thank you. I enjoyed having my brown Zune back in the day.
Market timing was definitely the bigger problem than developer adoption. Apple got out early and ahead of the pack to the point where they demolished their competition and started the Apple ecosystem. I still have my 5th Generation iPod somewhere - not entirely sure if it still works, but don't entirely care either. By the time the Zune hit the market, there had already been several competitors that had come and gone. One was the NOMAD Jukebox by Creative Labs, which was I owned before I got my iPod as a gift from my then-employer.
The 2nd gen Zune was the only ones released in Canada. I remember grabbing mine just after midnight at a local Wal-Mart when ut was open 24h. I loved my 80GB Zune!
I love my Zunes. I had them in all of my vehicles so I could push out downloads when the Zunes were sitting in the garage plugged in to the vehicles. I had a 30, Mini, and HD. Loved the HD.
Loved my 2nd gen Zune. Served me well on a 1 year world trip in 2008.
I'm happy to be one of the 3 people that got that reference.
I miss the Zune desktop software. The last versions were WAY better than iTunes and so clean and enjoyable. It also had this… visualizer? That showed the various albums in your library tinted various hues, from what I recall.
As as teenager at the time, a *huge* part of it was the coolness factor, and to a lesser and related degree, the price. Not only was Apple/iPod the cool option, but Microsoft had negative coolness. It was like having an Office Depot branded media player. I ended up with a Creative Zen because I couldn't afford an iPod, and I loved the thing to death.
Microsoft was plenty cool, they did a lot of things that SHOULD have been a success but the apple cult did everything it could to fight that, same thing happened to the Blackberry
Very informative, didn’t know much about the Zune until now! I use iPods and other “obsolete” devices pretty regularly and a Zune is something I’ll have to try out someday. The different models are interesting, just like with iPods, but like you mentioned the timing wasn’t the greatest. Great video!
I had a zune 2 and zune hd back in the day. Zune's desktop software and device software were truly ahead of their time, and I'm still disappointed the platform died
I absolutely loved my zune back in the day. My friends had ipods and wished they got one when they saw mine and saw I had my Playlist full because I paid for the subscription. One of my friends ended up getting one, and we shared songs all the time. I really wish Zune was more successful. Unfortunately I think it was too late.
I loved the Zune.
I had both iPod and Zune
Zune allowed you to share songs with other Zunes, landscape video, AND an FM radio tuner.
It was genuinely a great product in my opinion.
LOVE my Zune. Got the Halo 3 one for $20 on clearance at a K-Mart. It is an awesome device! I loved the monthly subscription plan! Used it at work, home, and in my car. It was/is a great device!
I loved my Zune. Pretty sure I chose it to avoid iTunes and it was probably cheaper. But about the time it failed, I changed my listening habits and didnt really need it anymore. It was great for it's time though. Remember it being easy to use and organize, but never used an iPod enough to make a fair comparison.
From "can you believe no one bought this" to a comeback. Incredible.
The Gen1 Zune is perfect. I loved the fact it had a physical control that I could use without putting eyes on it. I could reach over and skip a song in the car without taking my eyes off the road. That was the reason I returned my ZuneHD and continued to use the Gen1
I had a Zune 8 and absolutely loved it. I went to a couple high schools during the peak of the MP3 player wars and one of them had Zunes EVERYWHERE. I knew more people with them than iPods, it was wild. Everywhere else though it was iPod central. I never used the Squirt feature oddly enough, had plenty of chances to try it...
Phenomenal device for its time, glad it was a thing. Even if it didn't dethrone the iPod.
I've never had a Zune but I aways enjoyed what the app for windows phone came to be after all said and done with a spot on "radio" (more like a discover) feature that showed me many dubstep bangers that I still listen to this day.
Really enjoyed this and you should definitely do more. I’d love one about Palm and what happened there. Loved my Palm Pre Plus.
I'm on my 3rd Zune 1st Gen after the first two got water damage and stolen for the other one, and i still love it. My battery is completely shot and the thing won't work without constant power but I've switched to just my phone and spotify, but Zune was great to me and the eco system of being able to share music between friends got me introduced to music that i now love to this day! EVERYTHING BUT APPLE FOREVER! 😈😅
I loved the zune, it was so superior in literally every way. I was even there... The Day The Zune Stood Still! I even upgraded to the ZuneHD when it came out
Great video as always Ken. Thank you for the wave of nostalgia ❤
I still have my ZUNE HD, surprisingly it still works. Good video, Thank you
Really great video and thanks for making it for us to enjoy. It’s really cool to also learn Microsoft had an early version of Spotify. I mean yes there were similar providers but it’s cool to learn.
I loved my second gen zune and still have the media player on my desktop computer because I love it. I had the blue 8gb one. I don't have a reason to use it anymore but it was a lifesaver during college when I had a three hour wait between my morning and evening classes and the bus commute to and from campus. It definitely cost a lot more than the nokia cellphone I had at the time lol.
I loved my 2nd Gen Zune 80gb model. Before getting my first Smartphone, I used that thing so much. Dropped it a million times, and to this day I still own it. Don't really have a reason to use it, but last I checked it still works. Definitely can't say the thing wasn't well-made. The Zune is definitely a tank. Almost upgraded to the Zune HD, but I got the Samsung Galaxy S2 instead and never needed a separate music player since then.
I still have my old zune hd. Loved that thing. It even survived a house fire lol. I think I'm gonna pull it out of storage and play with it soon.
I love that you loaded this infamous U2 Album on the Zune which Steve so generously gifted EVERYBODY 😂
There's an app called Dopamine (by digimezzo) that mimics the Zune desktop software pretty well, minus the garish color scheme. I used the Zune desktop software for a long time after it'd been discontinued, as I loved its color scheme. I also liked how it incorporated your listening stats and whatnot into the visualizations when Zune was still active.