The Last Word On Zune—From Zune Owners.

How many iPod killers have come and gone over the past three or four years? Creative? iRiver? Sandisk? Any others?

How many iTunes music store killers have died during the same time?

What about the Zune; Microsoft’s latest iPod killer (made by Toshiba?)?

Maybe this will be the last we have to say about yet another iPod wannabe or iPod killer, but I doubt it.

What struck me most wasn’t the Zune’s odd feature set or lack of compatibility with anything.

It was how quickly the Zune seemed to fall off the radar screen. But what a flash while it was around.

While Apple’s ubiquitous iPod family got another round of rave reviews, most Zune reviews and previews were bad.

Amazon’s top seller list is always loaded with various iPod models. The Zune cracked the Top 10 List, too, at #5.

That was it. Day after day since the Zune’s introduction just a few weeks ago, Microsoft’s iPod killer began to die.

Amazon’s top seller list changes regularly so I’m not expecting the Zune to show up any higher than where it was yesterday.

The Zune was #71, but not with a bullet indicating rapid movement upwards on the list. It was #71 with a lead sinker weight; going down.

What was striking about Zune’s position when compared to Apple’s iPod models were the user reviews:

That’s not getting things off to a great start, though not everyone had such bad luck.

I dug through some of the comments and reviews on Amazon and found a few Zune buyers who had good luck.

So noted. And those were quips from the Spotlight Reviews. Other reviews repeated Microsoft’s web site facts, including the item about Zune’s “bigger screen.“

The iPod with video and the Zune have the same resolution screen. The iPod’s screen lookers sharper, the Zune’s looks grainier. Maybe it was the lighting at Best Buy.

That reviewer gave the Zune a single star out of five possible. Another guy gave the Zune five stars.

In all, Amazon had well over 100 reviews and hundreds more comments from buyers. Reviews ranged from one extreme to the other, not many in between.

It’s not surprising that most Amazon reviews were negative, given the Zune’s shortcomings and bad press to date.

What is surprising is why it took Microsoft so long to come out with a media player, and why they didn’t just copy everything else Apple did right with the iPod, iTunes, and iTunes Store.

Have you seen the Zune? Did you buy one? What was your first impression? Would you leave an iPod to own a Zune? What did Microsoft do wrong and what do they need to do next to improve on the Zune?

Off Topic Note: Are you ready for a new web site that’s all about Apple? AppleHits covers the Mac, iPhone, iPod, and everything else that’s a hit at Apple. Click here for AppleHits. I’ve updated the Mac360 Store with over 100 new categories—More Macs, more iPods, more Mac books, more software. Click Here and select any category for more detail, or use the handy search function. Whenever you buy from Amazon through the Mac360 Store you help support Mac360. Click Here to save almost $10 on the new version of Photoshop Elements, and almost $20 on the latest version of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, available now from the Mac360 Store (it’s really Amazon). Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage and more—barely $50 more than Apple’s iWork ‘08. Save money and support Mac360 at the same time.