Microsoft's Zune Is Dead! Long Live Zune Music Pass!

While Apple heralded the post-Jobs era with the introduction of the iPhone 4S (aka the iPhone 5 in disguise), and created plenty of hubbub surrounding iOS 5 and iCloud, what about the latest updates regarding those MP3 players you still can’t live without?

We’re talking about the Zune, man! You know…that Microsoft product that was launched five years ago? To take on the iPod? Because not everyone is an Apple acolyte?

If your reaction to the idea of “Zune news” is “Wait, that thing is still around?,” don’t worry. After treating the Zune as if it were a MacBook that Steve Ballmer was asked to autograph, Microsoft officially killed the portable music player.

While the third-ranked Best Global Brand is putting the money-hemorrhaging device out of its misery, Microsoft will continue (for now, at least) to use the Zune brand name and assets, including the Zune Music Pass media download and streaming service.

More than two years ago, MarketWatch quoted an analyst who suggested Microsoft abandon the Zune hardware to focus on smartphones, and it appears that the company is finally – after a bit of defensive foreshadowing – going to do just that. The iPod launched in 2001 and served as a gateway drug to the iPhone that emerged just over five years later. Meanwhile, the Zune never enjoyed any kind of techie traction, so Microsoft will focus its mobile-music efforts on Windows Phone 7, which will be the de facto Zune hardware device going forward.  

The reasons for Zune’s failure range from the ubiquity of the iPod, already in its fifth generation on the Zune’s first day, and what seemed like tepid commitment from Microsoft itself.

Zune will likely thrive as a complement to the Windows Phone 7, which recently released its Mango OS, and as a PC user’s iTunes alternative. And eventually, even if Microsoft doesn’t abandon the Zune name, the idea of a Microsoft music device (one that doesn’t take phone calls) will be a distant memory even for the handful of people who owned one.

Need proof? Many of the news sources reporting on the Zune’s demise quoted a statement (with a link to the page) on the Zune support site that read:

"We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players. So what does this mean for our current Zune users? Absolutely nothing. Your device will continue to work with Zune services just as it does today. And we will continue to honor the warranties of all devices for both current owners and those who buy our very last devices. Customer service has been, and will remain a top priority for us."

But click the link now, and what do you get, at least as of this writing? Page not found.

It’s as if the Zune player never even existed. Amidst all the tech tumult these days, we’re sure Microsoft prefers it that way.