It may be New Years Eve, but according for Microsoft/Zune it’s Y2k9. Zune users may have woken up to find that their Zune had froze.  It’s been the water cooler talk of the morning in offices. Well, that and Viacom cutting off channels on Time Warner. Since I am in the office today, I decided to talk to two of my co-workers who were affected.

NIECEE: When did you find out that your Zune was hit by Y2k9?

BRIAN: I actually woke up this morning and did my daily engadget.com check and noticed an article about it. Went over to my Zune thinking, no way mine’s locked up. Sure enough when I hit the play button it froze at the loading screen.

ASHLEY: This morning I heard that Brian’s Zune stopped working and I read online that it was happening to a lot of other people too. I left mine at home so I called my boyfriend to check it out and see if it was ok.

NIECEE: What did you think happened?

BRIAN: Well after reading the story I knew the problem had to do something with the software on the Zune.

ASHLEY: I read that it was something to do with the software or that crazy leap second everyone is talking about.

NIECEE: What steps or maneuvers did you try to unfreeze it?

ASHLEY: I haven’t been home to try to fix or anything yet. Hopefully my boyfriend hasn’t taken the whole thing apart by now.

BRIAN: I actually read that pulling it apart and unplugging the battery fixes the problem. But before I was going to try that I tried a hard restart, plugging it into the computer, smacking it against the wall. Nothing worked.

NIECEE: Did you call Microsoft or Zune’s customer service?

ASHLEY: I think that would just be a waste of time. It’s easier to keep watching blogs and forums for someone to post a DIY or something.

BRIAN: They have customer service? No never tried that, I figured with my past experience with Customer Service from big companies (flickR) I would just figure it out myself.

NIECEE: Did you go online to see if any other users were experiencing the same problem?  If so what sources (forums, blogs, social networks)?

BRIAN: I did check out Zune.net and a couple of other sites just to see what the latest news on the problem was. But everything seems to be the same, nothing yet…still waiting.

ASHLEY: Yes, I think the first post I saw about was on G4’s Attack of the Show Blog. They’re all pretty much saying the same thing.

NIECEE: What will you do with your Zune now?

BRIAN: Well after dismantling the Zune i’ve fixed the problem (removing the battery worked). But now I have it in pieces and I’m kind of tired of only having a 30GB hard drive so I’ll be buying a new 120GB hard drive and slapping it in there. I might also try some sort of custom paint job, but I’m not sure yet.

ASHLEY: If it doesn’t start working soon it might be fun to make a Youtube video of me smashing it into little pieces.

NIECEE: Do you think Apple would ever have this problem and would you consider switching over to an iPod now?

ASHLEY: I’m sure iPods have had plenty of problems too, but if I do end up smashing my Zune I would consider getting an iPod. A hot pink one.

BRIAN: To be honest Apple has had their own problems in the past but nothing this simple and on such a large scale. I mean it’s a date issue, after Y2k you think they would have figured it out by now. I do have an older iPod at home but I got the Zune because of the unlimited song plan. If this one dies after my modifications I’ll be on the lookout for a new iPod.

NIECEE: Some media sources are speculating that you should be compensated for what happened.  Do you think you should?

ASHLEY: I don’t think they should. I’d rather have them just fix the problem. But if they want to compensate me, I’m not going to turn it away. Bring on the microsoft points!

BRIAN: I don’t think I should get some sort of cash reimbursement. But I do think they should fix the problem no matter what it takes. You pay for a product and then the service. If your product dies due to poor design, it should be fixed. I think something a lot of people miss is good customer service.

Thanks Brian & Ashley! May your Zunes RIP.

Photo: Brian’s Zune

NIECEE’s TAKE AWAYS:

OOoooPse! Those fancy with Common, Afrika Bambaataa, and a Zune user may not get get Zune out of this one. People who work for Zune if you’re on your Holiday vacation you might have been spared the chaos that happened today at your office, if you were in the office.  Take it easy, 2009 will hopefully be a better year for you.