*Too long; didn’t read notation below
“The Zune brand is dead! Off with Microsoft’s head! The end is where we’ve been lead!”
In the news today is that Microsoft is trying to slowly, but very surely, kill of the Zune brand name. They want to take all of the elements from Zune and move it to other services, like Xbox and Live and maybe even Xbox LIVE. The result: outrage from Zune users all over the Internet clamoring away that their favorite music service has gone the way of the DoDo.
Our friend, Travis Pope, posted an editorial earlier today on ZuneSpring that stated the exact reason most of this is just a lot of bull… droppings. A statement by Paul Thurrot ignited into an Internet phenomenon and has taken over. And while that in of itself isn’t enough credibility that Microsoft is, in fact, killing off the Zune brand (regardless of how much they didn’t say “Zune” instead of “music app” at MWC this week during their keynote) it’s important to note one thing.
Thurrot said that Microsoft wants to kill of the Zune branding.
We could argue forever about how much we love the “brand” that is Zune or how much Microsoft is in need of one brand for their media. Seriously, we could. Apple has mastered this so perfectly. You want music from Apple, you go to iTunes. You want movies? iTunes. TV? iTunes. Consolidating Zune into other areas of Microsoft could get messy. Fast. How do you know where to go for what media? If they’re moving everything into “Windows Live” and Xbox, does that mean I get music from Live and videos from Xbox? And who’s to say I don’t want video on my PC? And what makes them even think that Live is a household name? Most people I know still say MSN Messenger.
At least there are some people that actually know Zune. And many more, I’m sure if they… you know… advertised it. But that’s beside the point.
If Microsoft were to strip out the Zune name from everything at least that’s the only thing that they’d be stripping out. All of your favorite features would still be there–all of your music, videos, pictures, and more. The experience would (hopefully) still be there. You would still use the same (cursed) Microsoft Points. You would still be able to use your Zune hardware and your Windows Phone devices. And you’d still be able to stream media to your Xbox console. And while that’s not exactly the Zune HD 2, it still counts for something. (I know how much people with Zune HDs want a second generation!)
But what the heck is Windows Live? It’s so many things in one, I’m not even sure that Microsoft knows! Their Windows Live ads redirect people to Windows.com/Cloud, which attempts to explain that Live (without ever using that nomenclature except for stating “Windows 7 + Windows Live”) helps you make, connect, and share stuff with friends. So they’re essentially telling you it’s some sort of Internet service… but that never makes its way to where it should be. Live.com. Live.com, by the way, attempts to explain what it is by saying it’s Hotmail, it’s SkyDrive, it’s Messenger, it’s even software that has nothing to do with the Internet like Movie Maker. What? And where does Zune fit in that!?
What makes sense: Zune. It’s where you go to get Music, Videos, and Podcasts. People know that. (Whether or not Microsoft should have Media Player and Zune is questionable…). They do. Or at least they’re using it. In fact, recently it was reported that Zune has gained on Apple in the video market.
But here’s where things get crazier. Zune already is a part of Windows Live. You can’t do anything without having a Windows Live ID. You sign up with a Social account through your Live ID. Deleting a Zune account is a torture and a half, just like anything else with Windows Live (trust me, I know). There’s nothing you can do with Zune that you can do before signing up for Windows Live.
Therein lies the problem. Microsoft keeps marketing Windows Live as if it’s a hub for all these different venues, and it is, but more importantly it’s just a gateway to the best features from Microsoft. It’s just a way for Microsoft to take your ID and combine it to all of its services so that you only experience smooth sailing when you’re using something else. It’s like having a Google Account and going from Gmail to YouTube to Docs. But Google doesn’t call all of those things Google Account, they call them what they are.
And that’s what Zune is. A part of Windows Live. It never will, or rather it never should, be Windows Live. It’s a department within Windows Live. And there’s nothing to fear because it already is that. And if the brand goes away, hopefully the experience will remain.
*TL;DR
Zune already is a part of Windows Live. Don’t fret. It’s okay.
Update: Something that needs to be said: there’s been some confusion; this is an opinion article. I know that Zune is part of Microsoft’s E&D and not Windows Live. What I am trying to say is that it practically feels like it’s already a part of Windows Live so there would be no difference. Arguments have no weight if the words are wishy washy. Though if that didn’t communicate, I guess I failed.
