Zune Failure: Frightening on too many levels...

Microsoft Blames Leap Year For Zune Glitch

Early on Wednesday, thousands of Zune users found they could not use the 30-gigabyte model digital music player.

By Reuters
InformationWeek
January 2, 2009 08:00 AM

NEW YORK - A malfunction of some Microsoft Zune music players was caused by an error in the way the device accounts for leap years, Microsoft said.

In a statement on the Zune website posted late Wednesday, the company blamed "a bug in the internal clock driver related to the way the device handles a leap year," adding: "The issue should be resolved over the next 24 hours as the time change moves to January 1, 2009."

FIRST AND FOREMOST: How do I explain that her bought-with-her-own-hard-earned-money Zune just stopped working. It wasn't dropped or electrocuted or otherwise abused - it just stopped working. Look in to the eyes of a beautiful young daughter and just try to explain. Now you know why this is first and foremost.

Second: These are the same people who want us to trust them with our most important (expensive) information technology? These MicroFOOLS who neglected to accommodate something so basic as leap year? Well, I suppose it might be an easy thing to miss IF we weren't reminded every four years by a little social event called the PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION!!! Oh, oh, isn't there something about the Olympics in there too?

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To my daughter's credit she handled the 'event' very well. Perhaps it was because last Wednesday wasn't a Zune intensive day. Or, perhaps she didn't try for hours and hours to access a help line. Or, perhaps my daughter has never had the misfortune to reach a 'Helpline Specialist' who is clueless and can only parrot back the flipbook rote responses. (Bonus: My daughter has never encountered the megalithic business concern who really doesn't give a crap about individual users - even though the megalith is more than willing to exact a pound of flesh for such an obviously questionable product.)