I think we all knew it was coming. After all, the new interface, while aesthetically similar to the old Zune UI, is totally incompatible with the old hardware. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, unfortunately — though I would add, that doesn’t mean you have to throw away the dog.
Unfortunately, that’s what Microsoft has to do in order to run with Apple and Samsung and the rest; slick little touchscreen players are the future, and as we’ve seen, you can make the screen bigger (or the whole device smaller, as with the Zune HD) if you remove those bulky controls.
So, farewell, pal Zune. We’ll post a proper retrospective at a later time. Anyway, I’ll continue to use you because you’re good and I don’t want to buy anything from Apple.
On the plus side, this means there will be some crazy prices on Zunes within a few weeks. For those of you out there like me who buy their tech one generation behind (lovin’ my PS2), it’ll be a bonanza.
[via Zune Spring and Engadget]
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