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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: She hasn’t used the machine yet, so the true test has yet to be performed.
If she's like my wife, she'll find 10 ways to break it that you never thought possible.
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"Hello from Seattle". That's what it says on the back of all earlier generations of Zune devices. Much derided at the time, Microsoft's very late answer in 2006 to the iPod still to this day remains the punchline of many jokes.
I don't care. I just tracked back my original purchase transaction (September 2009), and after some reminiscing and googling, I can establish that in 2009, the Zune HD had just come out, was overpriced, and was not going to be available in Canada anyway, so I settled for the prior generation when Future Shop--now taken over and shut down by Best Buy--cleared out their remaining inventory. I got mine for $99.99, and they threw in the car adapter, itself usually overpriced, for free.
I'm not an Apple fan, and at the time, had already gone through many of the cheaper MP3 players, ranging from $20 to perhaps $75. They all died rather quickly or, because of their own infuriating quirks, met an early demise by my own hand. I found the Zune to be the best alternative and stopped looking elsewhere.
So I've been using it for over 9 years now, and I can confidently say nearly every day. I hardly listen to music, but it's been a great podcast player all this time, and it simply behaves exactly like the ideal podcast player ought to behave. It's been dropped more times than I care to count from considerable height on hardwood floors, concrete slabs, gravel driveways, and even found its way half-buried in dirt in a flowerbed, and somehow always managed to survive unscathed. Even the battery still lasts a lot longer than I need it to.
But 2018 has been a rough year for my Zune. I dropped it on the floor once too many times, and the screen finally cracked at the beginning of the year. Not a big deal, as the cracked area was restricted to a corner and didn't even cover any viewable area of the display. I noticed a problem with static electricity last winter, when the air tends to be drier than it is during summer. It seemed like every time I reached for it, I would hear (and feel) a tiny spark, and almost invariably, the Zune would immediately reset itself. But it kept going, until one day a spark seemed to have fried the firmware (it actually showed a message indicating it needed to be re-flashed). I managed to re-apply the latest firmware through some nasty hacks I won't get into, which brought it back to life. It survived the remainder of winter, then the static electricity problem disappeared as we went through spring, summer and fall, although by then it did get dropped on the floor a few more times, and I guess because it'd already been weakened, it developed another, much larger crack. Now with winter back, static electricity still causes the occasional reset when I pick it up.
Then a few weeks ago, after leaving it in the car for a few hours when the temperature dropped to -30C, the Back button stopped working. Nothing gets it working again, so if I'm navigating the menus and need to go back up one level, I have to force it to power off, and then power it back on to get to the root menu--very impractical.
To finish it off, now the backlight may or may not turn on anymore. This is pretty much the last straw.
In hindsight, never have I owned an electronic device work for so many hours and take such a beating for such a long time. I knew the day would come, so a few years ago I went trawling (not trolling) a local eBay equivalent and purchased two spare Zune HD players for a lot less money than they originally went for. What few competitors still existed at the time still sucked. I'm finally putting the "new" players to good use, but it's clear that by the time the Zune HD had come out, the touchscreen craze had already taken over, and I'm finding it to be a lot less user-friendly. For one thing, I could count the clicks as I pressed the original Zune's big fat round button so I could perform most functions in the car by feel and not take my eyes off the road, which is not possible with touchscreens.
Is there a point to this? Other than saying the Zune got a lot more crap than it should have, probably not. Like most underdog stories, this one deserved a lot more praise than any of its competitors ever got.
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I'm not an Apple fan too, but I have to admit that the Ipod Touch 1st generation that I once got as a gift in 2008, is still in use as an mp3 player today !
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Quote: One person in the Netherlands had just watched the film Braveheart and called to ask questions about the plot.
What's so odd about that, it's a film that raises a lot of questions !
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It's the "blood group" one that would worry me: count your kidneys on the way out ... 
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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The FO should spend more time answering stupid questions; they'll do less harm that way. 
(This also applies to all other government offices, in all other governments)
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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A weird year from the sound of the questions!
I may not be that good looking, or athletic, or funny, or talented, or smart
I forgot where I was going with this but I do know I love bacon!
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16 years on Code Project!
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Congratulations! ![Jig | [Dance]](https://www.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/jig.gif)
It's changed a bit, hasn't it?
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Thanks!
We have all changed, I used to "borrow" code from here, now I'm putting code in more.
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That's good - shows you are still learning and improving. 
I think I contribute more than I take, but the stuff I do get from here is top-notch!
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Congrats, and keep on trucking (preferably on the right side of the road)
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RickZeeland wrote: preferably on the right side of the road
Left.
You'll cause an accident, driving on the wrong side.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Best wishes for the new year, and enjoy your holiday in Europe
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England is moving over to the "European side" in the new year, starting next week.
But they are doing it in EU approved stages - to make it less of a "wrench" for people, and to fit in with Brexit.
Monday is trucks and busses.
Tuesday is vans.
Wednesday is petrol and diesel cars.
Thursday is electric and hybrid cars.
And Friday is bicycles.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640
Never throw anything away, Griff
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Having a proper scheduling is the alpha and the Omega 
It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question
modified 19-Jan-21 21:04pm.
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And Saturday is total carnage.
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That will surely help with the overpopulation problem too
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Funny all discussions lead to "brexit", it would appear to follow the "hitler" pattern 
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I went 18 years on 12/22...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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I was going to give a toast, but legally we can't drink! 
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Congrats, and keep on blasting away 
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Only two more years and you will be allowed access to The SoapBox! 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.
Mark Twain
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