Pink and Orange Zunes Coming Soon?
Yesterday's official launch of the Microsoft Zune can be considered lukewarm at best. Sure, unboxing ceremonies and in-store photos of the device sprang up in virtual gadget neighborhoods (even though such footage had already been around for awhile), but we didn't exactly hear any "Ding Dong! The iPod is Dead" chants outside of Best Buy.
So why on earth is Microsoft already busting out pink and orange Zunes? Aren't colorful paint jobs usually reserved for rejuvenating waning excitement? In any case, it seems the company shipped the logo-colored DAPs to folks who played a hand in rolling 'em out. No word on whether these will ever join the current Zune lineup, but come on, we all know they will eventually.
[Engadget]
Comments
Penchum on November 15, 2006 5:30 PM
Kenn, what makes you think "Yesterday's official launch of the Microsoft Zune can be considered lukewarm at best". Was it because "we didn't exactly hear any "Ding Dong! The iPod is Dead" chants outside of Best Buy"? Did you expect to hear such a thing? From anyone?
Only iPod lovers have dubbed the Zune as an iPod killer and how it will never be one. It may very well be in a year or so, but please give the rest of us a break and drop the iPod killer stigma. It is old and unworthy of any kind news or comment from a "Anything but iPod" site.
Jenn on November 15, 2006 7:11 PM
Yesterday's launch WAS lukewarm, not according to the absence of silly "Wizard of Oz" chants (of course!) but according to the media and consumers. Here's just a sampling of articles:
"Zune moving at slow tempo"
"Zune sales slow in its first day"
"Zune sales no sellout"
"Zune opening sales good, but not great"
And it's not just iPod lovers who have referred to the Zune as a (potential) iPod killer. Everyone does. And in truth, it's a very logical thing to do. It would be ridiculous to talk about Microsoft's Zune without at least mentioning its most noteworthy competitor. It's Microsoft vs. Apple!
Microsoft may never have uttered the term themselves, of course, but the Zune exists at least partially to compete with the iPod, who controls something like 75% of the DAP market right now:
"Microsoft CEO sees wireless Zune challenging iPod"
As annoying, tired, old, and boring as it may be, the "iPod killer stigma" is one that will be around until the iPod is dethroned. And if it is, then it won't be long before people are complaining about the "Creative killer" or "SanDisk killer" comparisons. The "killer" stigma won't go away. I've seen the Sony mylo referred to as the "Sidekick killer" and the Nintendo DS Lite called the "PSP killer."
haha on November 17, 2006 5:46 PM
...since when is the psp bad. ds lite kills psp. hands down.
Josh on November 19, 2006 9:55 AM
i agree the ds totally outsells the psp in almost all countries, ds/lite beats the psp easy
Chris on January 28, 2007 6:26 PM
whatever, I like the PSP. I have one. DS Lite is rad too though.
harry on February 9, 2007 10:48 PM
i dont think m$ is gonna change colors just yet, i dont even know if they will. but i know when they had prototypes and pictures leeked they had to got taken in black and white
because MS had painted the zunes colors so they knew if pictures leeked that they would know "oh its johnson and his pink zune" so i think its just a microsoft insider who took a picture of it to show off his/her pink zune, and it got out.
Paul on August 11, 2007 1:39 AM
ds out sells psp cuz of price and meant for game play like wii, to be fun, not for the serious type to have all media capeablilties out of the box...