Zune MP3 in News and iPod MP3 Plays-on
Apple Sailed into 2009 but did Microsoft Miss the Boat?
Jan 1, 2009
Microsoft dog paddled through the 24 hours of 2008’s New Year’s Eve Day answering customers’ unanswerable questions. Folks owning 30GB Zunes (called the Zune 30, made in 2006) who planned on their New Year’s Eve party tunes blasting from a Zune stereo dock, heard nothing because all Zune 30's mysteriously froze-up.
Apple sailed through the transition between 2008 and 2009 on New Year's Eve with the joyful sound of their iPod MP3 players working just fine.
Throwing Customers a Rope at Zune.net
The Microsoft support page online at Zune.net showed on-going updates throughout the day of users’ various concerned reports of many Zune 30 suddenly turned off while in-play, and when the users turned the Zunes back-on the Zune remained stuck in loading mode. Other reports showed freezing occurring while these Zunes were in charging mode attached to computers.
Zunes Silent while iPods Play the Beat
All Apple iPod users and the 2007-08 Zune owners rocked and rolled their way through the New Year’s Eve parties. By about noon on New Year’s Eve, the Zune 30 users found their situation now dubbed the “Leap Year Freeze’ by Microsoft’s Zune.net support page. Yes, the year 2008 was a leap year, begging the question, “What will Microsoft do to correct this issue for the next leap year in 2012?”
Zune 30 FAQ
On the upside, Microsoft technical staff at Zune.net customer support online responded promptly as complaints and questions poured in on New Year’s Eve. Reassurances and clearly stated directional steps posted at the FAQ within a few hours of the first Zune 30 freeze reports on guiding Zunies to restarting their MP3 players without further problems.
Message Board and Forum Warning
In the end, it was also clear that advice is best taken from the source. That is, as tempting as it is to listen to peers, the technical department’s advice is better heeded over the unknown suggestions of random folks on message boards and forums.
One example stands out at the Zune. Net’s support page, titled: “Zune 30 FAQ,” warning against some forum and message board users’ suggestion of removing the Zune battery to fix Zune issues. Apparently, taking the battery out of any Zune voids the warranty! However bad taking the battery out really is, the support techs offer specific help steps to follow, should Zune users fall prey to such flawed forum advice.
iPod Sailing Smoothly, but will Zune Guide Their Own Boat better from Here on out?
If Microsoft intends to compete with Apple’s iPod MP3 market, they must address this “Leap Year Freeze” beyond the reactive stance they took thus far. Microsoft must save face and ensure customer loyalty. Why software updates to prevent the Leap Year Freeze were not made may never be known. Certainly, Microsoft is not so foolish as to assume such prevention software updates are not expected in short order by all.
Here's a suggestion: Generous coupons for free iTunes for Zune 30 users' inconvenience and loyalty would be a most appropriate apology to customers, especially if they don't insult their customer base with a meager $1-$5 iTune coupon. Microsoft can and should honor their customer base with a reasonable reward coupon value, if they expect to recover from their oversight which created this competition hiccup in the MP3 market.
Apple’s iPod MP3’s are more than ready to handle the next Leap Year Freeze with no software update required. All of Apple iPod MP3 players rocked, rolled, jazzed, and swooned to ring in the 2009 New Year, while Microsoft’s original Zune 30's made in 2006 missed the boat.
Will Zune catch the next one?
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