Why did Microsoft discontinue the Zune HD?

I think every body here is forgetting 1 important thing. Microsoft is a giant corporation. They dont give a sh*t about customers and what they want. All Zune users could completely disappear tomorrow and it wouldn't effect Microsoft one bit. They make so much other stuff that losing one group of customers wouldn't matter, they could still sell their OS's for PC's, Xbox's, Games, Apps, Keyboards, Mice, Phones and all the other stuff they sell and not even notice the entire Zune music community went away.

Plus never underestimate the laziness of Americans. Though I agree and love my Zune HD and prefer to have my music on a separate device most people are lazy and want to carry only 1 device. "But then I would have to carry a bunch of stuff". Lazy. Fattest country in the world, remember. Also, Microsoft relies on the fact that their is really only a couple of options other than them, and chances are if you don't like those other options, you'll settle with them. Once a company is as big as MS, they aren't really in the business to make the best product they can, their just trying to make a product people will be willing to pay to try. Welcome to corporate America. The bottom line is money, and they have so much they can chose what they want to do regardless of how customers feel.

I dont really think you can blame MS for doing what they do. We as Americans have allowed things to be the way they are. I like to point out Americans mentality, with the Bush elections. He cheated the first election (I don't think anyone would argue that), but he legitimately won the second one, mind you, with what was one of the lowest approval ratings a president has ever had. You can't expect a company to care what the customers want if they b*tch while still BUYING the products. The only way that MS would notice is if as a MS customer you were outraged enough to stop purchasing MS products all together. That means ANY of their products. If you complain that MS is mistreating you buy discontinuing support and manufacturing of their Zune hardware and software, yet continue to buy their computer OS's and Xbox's and games then your essentially telling them, "you can push me around but it's ok, I'll still give you money", then why would they care.

Excuse the analogy, but its like a battered women who keeps getting beat up by her abusive husband, but keeps going back. As far as the husband is concerned, he can pop her in the mouth whenever he wants and she may stay at a friends or a family members that night but she always comes back in the morning. Do you think he'll ever learn his lesson?

Bottom line is, stop purchasing MS products and continue to spread the word that MS mistreats loyal customers and you will see how quick they'll start to listen to consumers, but until that actually happens, MS and other big corporations will continue to abandon their "customers" when it serves them best....

PS. I bought a Zune HD and love it. The software is easy to use, the player itself is well setup and the UI is pretty simple. I dont get how people cant figure out the background art. It's so damn easy sometimes I change it on accident (and it only takes a second to change back). I will admit the screen is kinda weak when using it in the light, but it's really not that big a deal, usually I'm doing something active while using it so its just playing music not videos. At night however the screen F**KING ROCKS. Maybe people should actually read the users guide before they start complaining about stupid things that are A. mentioned in the guide and B.actually quite simple if you have logic at all. Being out smarted by a device with 3 buttons is pretty sad. Also you can make your own apps for it, if you would shut up and figure out how to use the software as well as third party software.

PPS. Please check out my other question and see if you can help me out, http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/zune/forum/music-player/why-cant-i-use-the-videos-i-paid-for/41ab1e2a-fb31-4407-b4e5-33e25db55e6c . Thanks.

Prof Julie,

the person who you are responding to is one of those idiots who does not have a clue what they are talking about nor how to use a computer, little less a simple mp3 player.  Technology eats them away.

@4Kenneth -- I have no idea what rock you crawled out of, but you are completely wrong in everything you have just wrote.  The Zune HD software is by far the best player which is a definitely and not only by opionion by many creditable critics (unlike yourself) to be a game changer.  From what I have read I can see that you really have no clue on how to use the Zune desktop software nor the Zune HD itself.  You are clueless dude.  Anyone who reads your post, please nobody believe this person.  It is clueless

I have over 16,000 mp3s and I am able to create multiple playlist within the Zune software with a breeze and I can use the software to recover lost album art or even add my own to it.  As a finaly note, any device you fully turn off/on will not restart where you left off.

All i have to say is that you are an idiot.

In hardware terms the Zune HD is a great product, but as much of the feedback suggests, the software sucks. It would be a nice gesture from Microsoft to release a driver so that superior application software like MediaMonkey could interact with it. Right now I use MediaMonkey to create playlists, export them to an M3U file, import this into Windows Media Player, open the Zune application which picks up the playlist. It's impossible to use the Zune application to create playlists from 2000 odd titles. Even the firmware is rather limited as it's the only media player I know that does not continue from the last played position when turned off. Also, not having the ability to transfer one's own background image is a pain, why does anyone want to view some picture of an aging fart rather than an original image of the artist. Microsoft's downfall is their strategy of listening to ????? users that are not proficient in much of anything. They certainly need a few real inovators. Seems that Microsoft likes being on the "road to Abilene"