Hey, remember Steven Smith, the obsessive Zune fan who went so far as to decorate his body with not one but three Zune tattoos? Well, the thrill is gone. On Wednesday, he announced that he was trying to get his Zune tattoos removed, claiming that Microsoft pulled back on a deal to bring him up to Redmond as an honored guest (a claim MS denies). Now, he’s moved onto the iPod way. First, he bought an iPod classic, then he swapped it out for a 16GB iPod touch. As he told iPhone Savior:
“It’s super thin and does some really neat stuff like tilting to go into cover flow,” Smith said. “I also like watching movies on it. I can go anywhere to get iPod accessories, that’s not the case with Zune stuff in Iowa.”
I am shocked — SHOCKED — to learn that Zune accessories are tough to find in Iowa. After all, they’re, um, also impossible to find in San Francisco. The writing was on the wall with Zune, long ago, of course. If not after it took nine months to sell the first million, then certainly after it took another year to sell the next million, even with multiple product lines available. But this is just insult to injury. When Zune Guy leaves, it’s time to kill the platform.
Pete Mortensen is a design strategist for consulting firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete’s particular Apple avocations are both around design–interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!
