Users baffled as Zune MP3 players freeze up
CNN

(CNN) -- Baffled consumers are griping about a mysterious glitch that appeared to cause thousands of Zune music players to simultaneously stop working late Tuesday and early Wednesday.


Microsoft issued the first Zune portable music player in 2006 to compete with the iPod.

Internet message boards have been flooded with complaints about Zune's 30GB models freezing, prompting Y2K-like speculation about end-of-year hardware or software problems.

"It seems that every Zune on the planet has just frozen up and will not work," posted a Mountain Home, Idaho, user on CNN's iReport.com. "I have 3 and they all in the same night stopped working."

Another iReporter said he was working the night shift at a Toys R Us store in Puerto Rico when his Zune player and the Zunes of four co-workers all failed about 1:30 a.m. ET Wednesday. iReport.com: They all froze up

"It froze and there was no way to turn it off so you just have to wait until the batteries went dead. You can't push any buttons or anything," Carlos Colon told CNN. Colon said he owns a first-generation 30GB model.


Other users report their Zunes reboot but freeze when the startup status bar reaches 100 percent. A post on Zune.net titled "Help-frozen zune!!!!" had attracted more than 19,000 comments by Wednesday afternoon.

Some Zune users have dubbed the crisis "Y2K9" or "Z2K9," a reference to New Year's Eve and concerns over potential widespread computer failures on January 1, 2000 -- fears that proved unfounded.

Zune users were still trying to discover the cause of the problem Wednesday afternoon.

Microsoft Corp., maker of the Zune, posted this statement Wednesday morning on the Zune Web site: "Customers with 30gb Zune devices may experience issues when booting their Zune hardware. We're aware of the problem and are working to correct it. Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience!"

Contacted Wednesday morning by e-mail, a Zune spokeswoman said, "We are actively working now to isolate the issue and develop a solution to address it. We will keep customers informed on next steps via the support page on www.zune.net (zune.net/support)."

Microsoft released its first Zune 30GB music player, a competitor to Apple's popular iPod, in 2006. No widespread glitches have been reported this week in its second-generation 80GB or 120GB models.

I'm baffled that damned thing is still so so so ugly.

Microsoft, at this point, I am almost begging you guys to just go ahead and blatantly copy Apple, cause your design team sux arse. I mean, Sony's player looks decent--why can't MS make theirs look nice?

i was thinking zunes get BSODs or something.

Imago said:

Yuck, apple stuff is pretty ugly

Imago said:

It's not all about the look. It's mostly about the performance.

ThirdandFinal said:

ok, I guess it's a matter of persona preference.


But even though the new gen Zunes improved upon the original they still look and feel like nerd toys and not something with a bit more polish.... to me.
I'm not anti-microsoft, but I do think if they're going to enter the market, they certainly had the resources to do it with a better looking product.

Imago said:

Maybe Microsoft should hire Nate Berkus to design the next Zune.

daPrettyman said:

What performance difference would that be though?

If the Zune offered a dramatically better performance/value than the ipod, that would be great. It's how you enter a market dominated by another company--you provide a product that's noticeably better. At this time, I'm convinced folks buy the Zune cause they just want an alternative to the iPod--not because it actually is better. I had an opportunity to play with the original Zune player, and was stunned at how unfinished it seemed.
Honestly if somebody is so anti-Apple , they should consider the Creative Zen products--those are real alternatives.

a matter of preference.. I have both an iPod and a Zune and like them both for different reasons. Seems like this is isolated to only the gen 1 Zune 30 gb, made by Toshiba made in 2006. My 80gb works fine. The problem is related to leap year. Official word is it will fix itself tomorrow.

Imago said:

I agree with every point u made. My point (which I should have explained earlier, but my boss came to my desk) was that Microsoft files and tend to be easier to hack and duplicated where as the iTunes stuff is hard as hell to manipulate.

With that said, I do wish that Microsoft had put more thought into the earlier Zunes. I mean, the first Zunes were so damn big. They looked like a deck of cards. Apple has always thrived on a sleek design. Even the first iPods were pretty well designed....their batteries just died so fast. If Microsoft was smart, they would take the time to relaunch the Zune (in about a year or so) and try to market it as user friendly and "cool".

Holy moley, My new Zune froze this morning and has been frozen all day

Bboy87, just saved my sanity and told me what was going on

I was freaking out all day!

thekidsgirl said:

and @ iReport

syl said:

i hve a 120gb and mines is still going strong :crossedfingers:

Zunes

thekidsgirl said:

AlexdeParis said:

It came back to life!
I'm so happy

AlexdeParis said:

I knew you wadn't gonna let them live this one down

Ive had my Zune forever and I have had no glitches freeze ups or software malfunctions. Period

Cinnie said:

At least I didn't bring up "squirting"!