Zune gets a Jobs-esque price cut

Deal-a-day Web site Woot.com is offering Microsoft's Zune player for $129, just a month after it offered the same Zune for $20 more.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Having learned a thing from Apple's iPhone mess, the folks at Woot are taking no chances (or rather, seizing a chance to poke great fun at the turtlenecked one), the company is reaching out to those who paid the higher price.

The site posted an "emergency open letter" and is offering a coupon to all those who bought the Zune last month for $149.

"Being in technology for 1+years, give or take a year, I can attest to the fact that the technology road is bumpy," Woot "CYA Officer" Larry Stalin said in the faux-pology. "There is always some idiot changing lanes without signaling, and the potholes never seem to get fixed. If you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product. I mean, why should you? Truth is, you don't really need any of this junk. We're afraid you'll catch on to that fact and overpaid frauds like me will have to go back into fields like telemarketing and burrito construction."

Customers who bought the Zune the last time around can get $10 off their next $40 purchase.

"We want to convincingly pretend to do the right thing for our valued Zune customers," the site said. "We'd apologize for disappointing some of you, but we long ago lost the capacity for sincere remorse. We will continue to do our best to trick you into having high expectations of Woot."

The company highlighted its rationale behind the price cut.

"It benefits both Woot and every Zune user (but especially Woot) to drag as many new victims as possible into the Zune 'dungeon,'" it said. "We strongly believe that misery loves company this holiday season."

It's a brilliant read, slamming both Microsoft and Jobs, while at the same time probably racking up more than a few sales.

[okbdc]

Zune?

I thought the Zune had been discontinued.

[NickH]

Not yet.

<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.zune.net/en-US/meetzune/" target="_newWindow">http://www.zune.net/en-US/meetzune/</a><br /><br />In a very astute move, they made a brown one. It exudes cool from every socket. If only they'd just made the brown one, thus preventing the ignorant massed from making a hideous fashion mistake, iPod would be all but history by now.

[oxtail01]

It is being discontinued

At least this version. MS is clearing remaining inventory at a fire sale price to make room for what they hope will be a better received new version. You'll see the new version go the same route within 2 years. So, if you're not hung up about brand name, you could get a decent player at tremendously cheap price every two years.

[microsoft slayer]

Piece of Junk Zune

Don't waste your money...this thing is junk! It's bulky and un-intuitive...

[DraconumPB]

...Be specific

That was a rather subjective statement.<br /><br />It's roughly the same size as most hard-drive MP3 players, has a nice screen, and does pretty much what you expect it to do. Sure, the wifi included is pretty useless - that's basically a fact. However, it's actually quite competent compared to most MP3 players. Obviously iPods are 'nice' and all that, but I still hold that they have their share of gimmicks (hype being one of them).<br /><br />And it's being offered at a reasonable price.<br /><br />I know that Zune/MS-bashing and owning an iPod makes you look cool, but to some it also makes you look stupid :)

[shycelticwitch]

Bulky and unintuitive...

Hit the nail right on the head with that statement. But you can <br />go further, because it also describes the entire Windows <br />expderience. In 1990 I bought an IBM PC with Windows. After <br />spending 65% of my time troubleshooting and reinstalling after <br />virus attacks, I decided to try an Apple computer. I now own 7 <br />of them, including an original Mac Classic Color, that I use for <br />word processing. That Mac is 16 years old, and my newest, a <br />Mac Pro, is 4 months old. I have NEVER had to reinstall any <br />software on any of these machines, nor have I ever had a virus <br />or hardware breakdown.<br /><br />Beautiful, functional, secure and reasonably priced are words I <br />would use to describe Apple products.<br /><br />Bulky and unintuitive are perfect for Windows and it's <br />corresponding non-Mac PCs.

[flewis99]

Ya gut that right, piece of junk

I bought 2 at once for kids graduation. One screen cracked in one week and the mfg said, sorry not their problem and offered no assistance, $225.00 down the drain.

[m.meister]

do the right thing

&gt;&gt; We want to convincingly pretend to do the right thing for our <br />valued Zune customers.<br /><br />You can do the right thing by telling folks to find a better device.

[DraconumPB]

...Again

Why is there the perception that anybody who owns a Zune is going to be miserable and hate their lives or something? I mean, heck, I've had MP3 players before that were passable or decent, and they couldn't do half of what the Zune does. Sure, it's not groundbreaking or incredible, but it's an MP3 player. It DOES what it's supposed to do. How it is that the very existance of the iPod makes people loathe every other product is a mystery to me.<br /><br />I'm a happy Zen Vison:M owner, which is very similar to the Zune. I don't gouge my eyes out every time I go to use it. People need to get over themselves with this ridiculous anti-everything crap.

[csg7]

You name says it all ... Mr. microsoft slayer !

I bet you have never even lay your hand on any Zune player but just because you want to bash any microsoft related product to sound cool you posted you comment. I don't have a Zune either and own a iPod but i don't blindly comment on it.<br /> Comparing Zune with iPod and PC to Mac is like comparing Ford fusion to BMW (couldn't recall any other vehicle). BMW is much better with cool features but you pay so much more for that. So why complain when you paid less for Ford fusion. You get what you pay for. Nobody is focing anyone to buy PC, or Mac for that matter.<br /> Grow up !

[SkippyDM]

Contextually

When speaking about virus proliferation, no, no one really uses a Mac. Why would a virus programmer make a virus to affect only 5% of the market share?<br /><br />Of course people drive BMWs and people buy and use Macs. But, when reading the context of my original post, 5% of the market share is nothing when talking about viruses.<br /><br />People complain about viruses on Windows machines. Well, virus programmers TARGET Windows machines because they are on 90% of the computers in the world. The fact that viruses don't exist on Macs is not Apple superiority. It's because virus programmers don't want to waste their time.

[liven2]

YOU ARE SOO WRONG!!

As someone who was in the hacking/cracking world for many years now working for a security <br />firm I can tell you that there is plenty of fame for the first person who successfully exploits and <br />proliferates Mac based virus. Just like the guy who recently cracked the iPhone (way less than 5% <br />market share), there is fame to be had!! Macs are not inferior but they are very challenging to have <br />a exploit proliferate and spawn. They are a beast to code exploites for in a real world <br />environments on a mass scale. Perfect? NO!! But tougher than Windows? YES yes YES!!! <br /><br />The first person in the very tight underground world of hacking will find great fame when they <br />generate the first mass exploit for the Mac. With a company that is selling over 8 million plus <br />macs a year we are looking a very substantial impact and I can tell you now that this will be front <br />page news on all channels when it does happen. Ignorance is bliss my friend so wake up and get <br />over you bias. The market share debate is bogus as there is plenty of fame for the first successful <br />exploit!!! In fact it will be huge and Mac heads will be humbled.

[nmcphers]

Take That!

Referring to liven2's comment :p

[Penguinisto]

If I had a nickel for every time...

...for every time I've heard the 'security through obscurity' canard, I'd be a very wealthy man by now.<br /><br />In OSX' five years of existence, there have been zero successful worms or viruses for it. None. Even the somewhat competent attention-***** of a 'researcher' who ran the "Month of Apple Bugs" couldn't find more than a short handful of vulnerabilities for the OS - and most of what he did report belonged to 3rd-party or ancillary apps, not the kernel. These evaporated in very short order, when Apple released patches for them... and a 3rd-party programmer was happily patching each one almost within hours of discovery. Could MSFT do that?<br /><br />Not that OSX flaws don't exist, but that they are by and large either obscure, unusable, or do little to nothing. <br /><br />To top that off, a gent at the University of Wisconsin (in 2006, I believe) challenged anyone to break a Mac Mini, which plugged in to the Internet in a standard configuration with no real attention paid to securing it beyond the defaults. The university finally stopped it because their bandwidth was soaked by the number of people doing their level best to try. As it turned out, the Mini stood unbroken. This alone blows away your argument that popularity determines targeting.<br /><br />I'm not saying that OSX is invulnerable... far from it. What I am saying is that it will take a whole hell of a lot more work to find and exploit one than it currently does with Windows. The bar is high enough to put a serious dent in the number of people who could pull it off. If OSX suddenly shot up to 90% of the desktop market, the pool of script kiddies would almost vanish due to the lack of skills required to pop an OSX box remotely. Bots and Zombie networks would be almost unheard of.<br /><br />Until then, we got... Windows and its coterie of bots, zombies, stealth updates, and swiss-cheese security.<br /><br />/P

[maxink]

What a novel idea!

Maybe microsuck will actually sell one

[DaiMac]

Microsoft Defense Force

So, when do you change your domain the <br />www.microsoftdefenseforce.com cNet? I'm just curious, looks like <br />GoDaddy has it available.

[kcar27]

I demand an apology from Steve Ballmer

This Zune price cut is an outrageous outrage and a slap in the <br />face to all loyal Zune customers of good standing for the last <br />three months. I paid good money for this mediocre machine and <br />now you're cutting the price because people STILL aren't buying <br />it. <br /><br />I feel like a sucker for buying a Zune. Now you make me feel <br />even MORE like a loser by showing everyone that I paid too <br />much money for it. Is there no end to Microsoft's ability to <br />humiliate me? <br /><br />Maybe I'll just upgrade from Vista to XP to calm down...

[vmlenigma]

Zune?

is the iPod® Killer, did anyone actually buy one, Rumors are that even Bill Gate's Kids were trying to flush those ugly brown things because just like all the othe people with a sense of taste, thought it was a piece of S@%T

[dotmike]

Forget the Zune (not hard) - that open letter was FUNNY!

Pretty near perfect parody of the Jobs one.<br /><br />If you don't start laughing at the first paragraph, then I suspect <br />you've recently woken up in a bath of ice cubes with your sense <br />of humor removed.<br /><br />"I have received more than three emails from Zune buyers who <br />are upset ... After reading every one of these emails, or at least <br />scanning their subject lines, I have some observations and <br />conclusions.<br /><br />"First, I need to make a better effort to hide my email address."<br /><br />LOL.