Zune Business Dev Executive Moves On 125
An anonymous reader slipped us a link to the Seattle PI article discussing Bryan Lee's departure from Microsoft. The former business development VP for the Zune has parted ways with the company for personal reasons now that 'Zune was launched and on track'. This means that J. Allard will be stepping up into fill the void. Allard was instrumental in bringing the first Xbox console to market, and was the VP in charge of technical matters for the Zune. An analyst with Gartner is quoted as saying this move means not all is well in the land of Zune, but a rumour on the CrunchGear site indicates that Microsoft is planning on stepping things up later this year with a Zune cellphone. A smartphone designed to compete with Apple in that market it would seem, despite whatever problems may be going on, the company is still rather fond of the strange little brown device.
On track all right... (Score:5, Funny)
"Oh, [UbuntuDupe], did you hear the story about this genius they have at Microsoft and all this brilliant ideas?"
"Like what?"
"Well, he was the mastermind behind the Xbox!"
"Um
"But
"I'm sure. Anything else?"
"Well, um, they say he was also the head of the Zune project."
"...? The Zune is a basically a butt of everyone's jokes now and has sold very poorly."
"Well, they also said he has a new brilliant idea for an upcoming product."
"But it hasn't been released yet?"
"No..."
***
Btw, for those of your unfamiliar with American business, leaving "for personal reasons" is code for "We're dumping you, you miserable failure, but we'll sugarcoat it to salvage your dignity."
Re:On track all right... (Score:5, Informative)
Btw, for those of your unfamiliar with American business, leaving "for personal reasons" is code for "We're dumping you, you miserable failure, but we'll sugarcoat it to salvage your dignity."
Usually that's the case, but sometimes it refers to a a situation in which the person leaving is so fed up with the organization that they simply must either leave in order to preserve their sanity. The company then uses the normal incantation to the press, to make it seem as though the person leaving was the failure, rather than the execs to whom he reported. I'm not saying that's the case here, but there's usually a lot more going on with these things than meets the eye.
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If he's leaving Microsoft, more likely that he would be an Autobot...
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And when Microsoft says they're releasing a Zune phone later this year, it most likely means, late NEXT year, sort of like when they announced that they were going to release an iPod killer "soon"... TWO YEARS AGO. iPhone may have a slow start, but once they're able to get out somethi
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Xbox is not losing money anymore. They make money on it!
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Re:On track all right... (Score:5, Informative)
Incorrect. MS's entertainment division (which includes both the Xbox and Zune, but not much more than that) lost $277 million in the most recently announced quarter, which was through December 2006. It lost $275 million in the same quarter last year, so this is not even an improvement, much less a turn from losing money to making money.
No doubt the Zune dragged on those numbers a bit, but it's not nearly as costly of a product as the 360. The 360 should be subsidizing the Zune at this point, and it clearly isn't. The entire entertainment division is still being subsidized by Office and Windows. MS has lost billions on the Xbox and Xbox 360 and will probably never make that investment back.
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With projects like the xbox and zune, lackluster software, and challenges keeping up revenue, it really puzzles me why people still hold MSFT stock.
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Exactly. And remember, that's just for them to make an *accounting* profit. It's still basically a loss until they can make *enough* of a profit to beat the return on a (essentially zero-
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Define "making money". As far as I know, they have lost at least 4 billion dollars ($4,000,000,000) developing and selling the XBox and XBox 360 to date. While they may finally have started to actually produce positive quarterly results (btw. do you have any source proving this statement?), they haven't "made" any money until they recoup at
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FTFY.
(would have used
Believe it or not.. (Score:2)
Me too (Score:3, Insightful)
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I haven't ever used a Blackjack, but because it runs Windows Mobile I can only imagine it is as equally awful as the Q.
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The thing now is that the iPhone looks to be a hell of a lot better than WinCE (or Win mobile or whatever). I'd love to see MS make a better phone - it could only be good to have two huge companies competing to make a decent high-end phone.
-WS
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I've really been somewhat on the lookout for a decently open phone with fair storage, music playing capabilities and wifi.
Do you really think Microsoft is going to produce an 'open' product in this area? Given that they agreed to a 'music tax' on the Zune, and the limits they place on DRM'd music, I can't imagine that it would be more open than the iPhone (or even close).
Of course, the iPhone isn't the be-all, end-all either, since it too has it's restrictions (e.g. 3rd party applications).
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It doesn't have to be open but if it runs Windows Mobile, that is open enough for what I intend to do with it. I expect their phone will be just like most Windows-based PDAs, only it can make phone calls as well.
Obviously my opinions are against group-think but I am just speaking my mind. I'm anxious to see wha
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While I won't ever buy an iPhone.(too many features for me I got an L2 for a reason) It's interface is a lot more novel than your giving them credit for. The touch screen which buttons disappear when you move the phone to your ear? the iPhone is filled with little features that you won't notice until you can compare it againist LG's Prada. Now that will be a good review.
Keyboards, and mice really aren't that great for all interfac
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Also if the phone is up to my ear why do I care about the buttons being displayed? Sure the screen real estate is useful for movies or whatever. I'm sure its much more intuitive for a PDA. The problem is that I, as well as many others, want our phone to perform as a phone before anything else.
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Bill Gates speaking to Newsweek [msn.com]:
I hate to retread the "old news" moniker... (Score:2, Interesting)
Or does the news on Slashdot have something to do with all the Slashdotters with their brand new Wiis? Hmmm....
Re:I hate to retread the "old news" moniker... (Score:4, Insightful)
Anyway, I see/hear about a lot of news on a variety of news channels like CNN, NPR, Google News, etc. and then see it on Slashdot later or the next day. I chalk it up to the format: Slashdot reports news that other sites have already published, as submitted by its readership. Nothing new, really. A lot of Slashdotters probably have Wiis given how 'cool' many
*shrug*
personal reasons ? (Score:5, Funny)
like ethics, morality and a sense of dignity
Re:personal reasons ? (Score:5, Funny)
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Brown device... (Score:2)
What's wrong with Brown? (Score:2)
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Resignation Letter? (Score:3, Funny)
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Zune cellphone? (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe my coffee just hasn't kicked in yet...
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Conglomerates? MS is nothing compared to conglomerates with disparate businesses. look at the Hyundai, Samsung, Siemens, BASF, 3M, Misubishi, Hitachi chæbol/keiretsu and where they have their grubby hands in.. their tenatcles ^Whands are not virtually in everything they really are in everything from software, snacks, cars, machinery, computers, 3C electronics, etc.
Compared to those and the likes of GE and such, MS is merely tip-toeing beyond it core business.
I mean, remember where HP was? Printe
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I see it lacking the features of the iPhone
I see an Apple fan
"ZunePhone '16 = iPhone '07"
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I don't think you understand:
It doesn't need a camera, dre. [youtube.com]
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> get its grubby little hands into? I don't really get why
> companies like Microsoft need to invade every single market
> they possibly can for no other reason than
> "because it's there". They're like some sort of cancer.
Yes. But cancer isn't a bad thing from the cancer's point of view
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It kills the host body eventually and thus destroys itself.
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I dunno, thats my theory.
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I wouldn't worry, though. They have failed to achieve leadership in every market they have entered where they couldn't leverage the Windows desktop monopoly.
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Specifically for Microsoft everyone knows that the OS and Office suite software can't bring in huge revenue forever. If they want to continue to make a profit and keep their stock in respectable territory they have to find other profitable revenue streams. Unfortunately for them they fail in every other department (defining failure as draining profit).
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Re:Zune cellphone? (Score:4, Insightful)
Shareholders (typically) expect that, if you've grown your revenues at a certain rate in the past, you'll continue to grow at that rate. If you exceed your past growth, your stock value goes up. If you fall short, your stock value goes down. Microsoft saturated the Operating System a long time ago. Most of Microsoft's OS revenue comes from people buying new computers. Well before Win2k, computer buying had slowed down to the point that the vast majority of people buying new computers were replacing old computers. Where do they have left to grow? Compared to the Win95/98 days, where many people bought new versions of Windows to install on old computers that didn't have it yet, and many more people were buying their first Windows powered PC, there isn't much room for Microsoft to grow in that department anymore. (At least in the U.S. which also explains their recent intense interest in developing countries) Likewise with Office suites. As Microsoft (or any company) saturates their current market(s), they have to grow (or buy) their way into new markets in order to continue growth.
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'Zune was launched and on track' (Score:2, Funny)
It's on track to be the hardware equivalent of Microsoft Bob.
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iPod then Zune then iPhone then Zone ? (Score:2)
What would be news would be MS innovating, not announcing vaporware everytime someone in the IT field is announcing a consumer product
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I think the debate here is the same of that of MP3 players before the iPod. Well, many players are technically superior to the iPod. The Nomad had more space than the iPod. It's not so much that the iPhone brings a lot of new functions to smart phones. It's that the implementation of these functions may be better. Will the iPhone have a better UI? Will their browser and emails
Zune cellphone? (Score:4, Insightful)
As for the feature set, streaming video from the Xbox? Huh? You mean on your local network? Gee, that's useful. Isn't the Xbox already hooked up to a TV? If they mean from outside the network, that would require either some killer cell phone bandwidth or some way for the Xbox to be available through the firewall... not sure how that would work as a practical matter, and would you really want to leave your Xbox on all the time and exposed to the internet?
Then there's the business aspect... you've just finished alienating all of your "Plays for Sure" licensees, now you're going to alienate all of your Windows Mobile licensees? Also from a business perspective, going up against Apple's iPhone without the development time and polish, only to be released to a skeptical press in love with anything Apple produces... no thanks.
I'm sorry, this rumor just doesn't seem plausible.
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Re:Yes, a Zune cellphone! (Score:2)
Yes indeed they are. The most recent example is "Plays for Sure." At some point, Microsoft PHB's decide their customers can't do a good enough job so they do it themselves. This thinking is front-loaded with so much hubris that it is downright funny.
Then again, humility is not a desirable trait for any PHB/executive.
A good move... (Score:3, Insightful)
By most accounts, the device had decent technology, but everyone thought it was crap?
Sounds like a failure of marketing...
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By all accounts, the hardware is pretty nice.
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When there is a such a well established market leader like the iPod out there, offering a device with less functionality, in the same form, is a losing proposition.
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I hear "Its BROWN LOLOLOL" or "The wireless is lame." Well, the iPod doesn't even have an option to wirelessly share, DRM or no.
Seriously, the OP is right. How is it any less technically capable than the iPod? How does it have less functionality? All I can
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Well, the Zune can't play music you've bought from the iTunes store.
I should say that I hate the iTunes lock-in and don't buy music from it, but you did ask.
(This wouldn't be so bad, of course, except that when it launched, the Zune couldn't play music you'd bought from Microsoft backed music stores, either...doh!)
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I own an iPod. Its not nearly as great, functional, and easy to use as people like to say. I could go out and buy players with more features, better interfaces, and no iTunes lock-in, for less money. iPod sells because they're "cool." Its all marketing.
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Thats a pretty weak complaint. It only means that you've allowed yourself to be locked into a certain music store.
Yeah, but that's most people. Possibly you've not been paying attention (I know that sounds condescending, but I'm just using it as a rhetorical device :-)), but the average user probably doesn't even realise that they are locked into iTMS until they look at buying a new mp3 player, and the true horror presents itself.
There is also the point that if you've bought a lot of your music from iTMS, then the fact that other players can't play that music is actually quite a strong complaint, given the purpose
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I mean come on, sending someone a song interupts what they are doing with a message.
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Yep, have you seen the TV ads? They suck in the sense they don't really tell you what is being sold. It could have been beer, clothing, or pharmaceuticals. MS tried to be edgy and cool for its own sake. To me it's like they copied Apple's tv ad idea and implemented it badly (again).
The concept: show off the product by playing cool music in the background. Maybe have some dancing in it.
Apple: Create a distinctive style so that the ads are as recognizable as the i
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John Kerry is so arrogantly sure of his superiority he feels he shouldn't have to explain himself. He expects it to be obvious to everyone. Whether or not this is true, it's a lousy way to convince anyone of anything.
Microsoft seems to think the Zune is self-evidently cool because of Microsoft's (self-delusional) reputation for innovation, or the fact that they often do make good hardware. Anyhow, I guess they figure their name should generate t
What would save the Zune (Score:2, Informative)
Think of the slobbering that would go on around here if you could easily use its wireless transfer on an open player.
One accidental "leak", and you know people would buy the heck out of these things.
I'm not suprised he left..... (Score:5, Funny)
Left hand vs right hand? (Score:3, Insightful)
loath to cooperate with Microsoft by easing the digital restrictions on music tracks
SO VIsta is focused on DRM while the Zune wants open exchange. Is this a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing? Is there a fundamental conflict here?
From a Zune insider? (Score:1)
If Apple made a Magic Pony, would Microsoft? (Score:5, Funny)
Steve Ballmer, 6 months later: "We've invented the ZunePony!" (pulls back sheet to reveal hideous brown zombie pony with mismatched eyes and visible stitching across its reanimated carcase and reeking of death and sulfer) "His name is Mordheim, and we made him from corpses, discarded auto parts and some leftover copies of Microsoft Bob. He can shamble nearly 20 feet in any direction, emit unearthly screams like a damned soul, and feast on the flesh of the living!" (At this point, the zombie pony stumbles toward the camera and starts eating the brain of an AP reporter. Thankfully, this doesn't seem to have any impact on the reporter's career.)
Newstory six months later: "Microsoft says it's quite happy to capture 2% of the Magic Pony market this year. 'Just wait for ZunePony 2.0!' said Ballmer. "We've added claws and horns!"
OMG PONIES!!!!!! (Score:2)
Its 2:30 in the morning, im shitfaced and that had me in stitches!
Re:If Apple made a Magic Pony, would Microsoft? (Score:5, Funny)
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Zuneponies can spread infectuous diseases! (Score:3, Funny)
Actually I think a zombie horse would be pretty cool, but that's not related to this...
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Steve Jobs, Macworld, 2008: "We've invented the iPony!" (pulls back sheet to reveal shining white magical pony prancing on stage) "His name is Starshine, and we made him from moonbeams, fairy dust, suger, spice, and a tiny bit of neatsfoot oil. He can sing, dance, do your algebra homework, and go from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds!"
Meanwhile, all the rest of the ponies outside who are slightly less shiny look shocked at Apple taking credit for their long-time existence.
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Applications on a Wireless phone [Crunch Gear] (Score:4, Informative)
Link to the Article on CrunchGear [crunchgear.com].
Its interesting to see that Microsoft was thinking about this a few years ago long before Apple announced their I-phone.
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Let see them release something people will use.
How long before they drop the Xbox360? (Score:1, Interesting)
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Which time-space continuum do you mean?
Give it time (Score:2, Insightful)
_Microsoft seriously commits to this product long enough
_After several incremental iterations
This would end up being a fair product. If not good.
Especially when you read that some of the biggest user complaints stem from 'political decisions' made by Microsoft/media companies and do not come from a technical standpoint.
Riiiight... (Score:1)
Don't tell! MS copying Apple? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Masters of the Zuniverse (Score:5, Interesting)
Lest we forget: the uninspiring launch of "the Zune" appears to have overshadowed the fact that Microsoft has consistently viewed (and presented) "Zune" as a brand that will cover an ecosystem of interrelated devices, not the specific PMP that was released a couple of months ago. I'm sure that the company would have loved to have an immediate hit, they're in this for the long term. Think XBox: Microsoft is willing to put cash into short-term life support if they believe that there's long-term potential.
Remember also that even before anyone outside of Microsoft had heard the word "Zune," Steve Ballmer was hinting at a communications/music convergence device as one of the iPod-killing-project's outputs. In the March 2006 interview that gained attention for the "Ballmer has brainwashed his children" comments, Ballmer had this to say in response to the question "think you can crack the iPod market?"
This is not to say that I see very rosy prospects in the short (or medium, or long) term for the Zune, but simply that Microsoft's direction has been pretty clear for a while; unfortunately for them, it appears that this direction has been pretty clear to Apple, as well.
I've written about recent Zune-related happenings in more detail here [blackmailr.com], but the short version is that if I were Bryan Lee I'd be taking some personal time, too -- Microsoft isn't out of this game by any means, but despite their (apparently) best efforts, hardly a week goes by without something popping up that puts Microsoft in the position of playing catch-up on yet another front: weak Zune launch, disconnect between the marketing and the reality of "the social," the development of public "music download stations," the iPhone...it's getting to be a pretty long list.
It's going to be a brutal couple of years for the Masters of the Zuniverse, no matter what happens.
Gaining Zune Marketshare (Score:4, Insightful)
Unrelated to Zune's performance (Score:2)
It was just a few weeks ago Bill Gates patted him on the back and said "Bry, you're doing a heckuva job." A
And Brian Valentine Jim Allchin Ray Ozzie said he was "behind him 1000%."
And the chair Ballmer threw at him was a top-of-the-line Aeron chair, the kind Ballmer throws only at people for whom he has the highest esteem.
I smell politics (Score:2)
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This microsfot stuff reads like a soap tragedy (Score:2)