By JENNA WORTHAM -- Published: December 31, 2008
It has been nine years since the Y2K computer glitch inspired apocalyptic fears. On Wednesday, another time-related bug created its own small-scale panic. For some owners of the Zune, the portable media player that is Microsoft’s answer to the Apple iPod, it was a day without Kanye West and Girl Talk.
Owners of 30-gigabyte Zunes began flooding Zune-related Web sites with complaints early Wednesday morning. They said their players had suddenly stopped working, displaying only a frozen start-up screen.
After spending much of the day digging into the problem, Microsoft said that it had traced it to a software bug “related to the way the device handles a leap year.” Apparently the Zune was expecting 2008 to have 365 days, not 366.
The fix for the glitch? Patience. The company said the internal clock on the players should reset itself at 7 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday. Microsoft advised Zune owners to drain the battery and then turn the players back on after that time. Those who were hoping to provide the soundtrack to New Year’s Eve parties had no choice but to find a friend with an iPod.
Some Zune owners, like Geoffry Houze, a 53-year-old entrepreneur in Las Vegas, were frustrated by the breakdown. “It’s inexcusable,” Mr. Houze said. “It’s surprising that Microsoft wouldn’t have been aware of something like this. They’re fortunate the problem will resolve itself. They dodged a very large truck here.”
Perspective, Geoffry, perspective. It's better than being in Gaza.
For more on the saga, The Day the Zunes Died; NY Times, plus here. There's more on the web. But should we care?