While Microsoft stopped making Zune devices back in 2011, the brand name limped along for a few years as a streaming service which in turn was folded into the company’s “Groove Music” in 2015. Now it sounds like Microsoft is giving up on offering its own music platforms, announcing that it’s killing off Groove Music Pass in favor of expanding a Spotify partnership. [More]
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Microsoft Killing Off “Groove Music Pass,” The Zune Streaming Successor You Never Knew Existed
By 10.2.17
Microsoft May Soon Kill Off Paint Program After 32 Years Of Pixelated Art
By 7.24.17
Anyone who used a PC in the ’80s or ’90s surely knows the feeling of triumph that came with creating art using Microsoft Paint. Though, of course, calling it “art” when you doodle your brother’s face and scrawl the words “poop 4 brains” on it is somewhat debatable. Prepare then, to feel the sting of loss over the news that Microsoft will likely be killing off Paint after 32 years. [More]
RIP: Arcade Pioneer & “Father Of Pac-Man” Masaya Nakamura
By 1.30.17
The man responsible for millions of people spending millions of hours glued to video games has gone to that glowing maze in the sky: Masaya Nakamura, founder of the Japanese video game company behind Pac-Man, passed away last week at the age of 91. [More]
Your Pebble’s Warranty Is Void Now, Even If It’s New
By 12.8.16
The way that smart watch company Pebble is going out of business isn’t what we’re used to seeing: instead of officially filing for bankruptcy first or being fully acquired by another firm, Pebble sold only its software assets to Fitbit. The end of Pebble as a company means that the warranties on its devices are now done, too: even new devices that you might have just purchased. [More]
Zune Is Officially Dead After Microsoft Pulls The Plug On Streaming Service
By 11.16.15
Microsoft officially pulled the plug on its Zune streaming music service on Sunday, shoveling dirt on the final remnants of its digital media venture that began to unravel in 2011 when the company discontinued the media player. Users will no longer be able to stream or download content from Zune, but those who subscribed to Zune Music Pass will automatically be moved to Microsoft’s Groove service, which is compatible with Xbox One, Windows 10, Android and iOS. The Zune was Microsoft’s failed attempt at taking on the Apple iPod in 2006, and immediately received negative feedback. [PCWorld] [More]
Microsoft To Kill Off Zune Streaming Music Service You Probably Didn’t Realize Still Existed
By 9.16.15
While Microsoft stopped making Zune devices in 2011 and ditched its Zune music store in favor of Xbox Music in 2012, its Zune streaming music service was still hanging in there… until now: the company says it’ll kill off that service on November 15. [More]
Co-Founder And CEO Of Subway Fred DeLuca Dies At Age 67
By 9.15.15
Fifty years ago, Fred DeLuca was an entrepreneurial Connecticut teenager who wanted to earn money for college, and didn’t actually know anything about restaurants or about sandwiches. He asked a family friend, Peter Buck to loan him $1,000, and opened up a sandwich shop called Pete’s Super Submarines. (Co-founder Buck came up with the concept.) Nine years later, the first franchise opened, and 50 years later there are more than 44,000 restaurants worldwide. [More]
Longtime L.L. Bean President And Founder’s Grandson Dies At Age 80
By 9.4.15
The flagship L.L. Bean store in Freeport, Maine doesn’t close. It literally does not have locks on its doors. Yet it’s going to close next weekend during the funeral of the company’s former longtime president and the grandson of founder L.L. Bean himself, Leon Gorman, who died yesterday at age 80. [More]
Creator Of Pink Flamingo Lawn Ornaments Passes Away At 79
By 6.23.15
Your lawn might look a bit sadder today: The man who created those unmistakable bright pink flamingo garden adornments has died at 79. Donald Featherstone was a trained sculptor who came up with the flashy bird design in 1957 for plastics company Union Products, based on a bird he saw in National Geographic. Millions of the lawn ornaments have been sold since then. [via Associated Press] [More]
Walmart Is Now The Rightful Owner Of Walmart.Horse
By 5.19.15
You’ll have to excuse us if we’re not in the greatest spirits today, as we’re in mourning for the loss of Walmart.horse, the nonsense website that Walmart spent actual time and money to shut down and acquire. [More]
Amazon Shuts Down Service That Let Users Test Apps Before Buying Them Because No One Was Really Using It
By 4.17.15
If you haven’t used — much less heard of — Amazon’s TestDrive service, designed to let customers check out how an app works before buying it, you’re not alone. The company says it’s shutting the program down due to “a significant decline” in usage, among other factors. [More]
Twitpic Shutting Down Over Trademark Spat With Twitter
By 9.5.14
While Twitter has allowed users to upload photos directly to their feeds for quite some time, some users still prefer Twitpic for hosting and sharing their images. But Twitter apparently has an issue with the “Twit” part of Twitpic’s name, so the service will soon cease operations instead of getting caught up in a drawn-out legal fight over a name. [More]
EA Cutting Prices, Eliminating Online Passes For Existing Games
By 5.30.13
Reigning two-time Worst Company In America Electronic Arts recently announced that its future game releases would not include the much-hated Online Pass program, which charges a fee to owners of used games to access online content, but there were still questions about whether it would keep the program alive for existing games. Now we have an answer. [More]
EA Killing Off Its Much-Hated “Online Pass” Program
By 5.16.13
Last month, Consumerist voters chose video game publisher Electronic Arts as the Worst Company In America for the second year in a row. Whether the company listened or not, we have no idea, but it is doing something that will make some gamers happier. [More]
The Death Of The Great American Automotive Bench Seat
By 10.1.12
Many of my earliest memories are sitting three or four abreast in the front seat of the family’s powder blue Chevy Nova. Years later, I remember packing friends onto the bench seats of my ’71 Malibu (a lovely hand-painted pickle green) for hours of terrorizing the streets of suburban Philadelphia. So it’s with a tear in my eye that I hear today about the disappearance of this American icon. [More]
Self-Described "King Of Infomercials" Found Dead In Jail Cell
By 10.3.11
If, like me, you’re not a stranger to scanning through the meager offerings on late-night TV, you will more than likely recognize TV pitchman Don Lapre, whose numerous get-rich-quick ads became so infamous he was spoofed on Saturday Night Live. They also landed Lapre in an Arizona jail on charges of, among other things, mail fraud and promotional money laundering. And this is where the 47-year-old was found yesterday morning, dead of an apparent suicide. [More]
Report: Microsoft Finally Letting Zune Give Up The Ghost
By 3.15.11
After half a decade of fruitless attempts to compete with the iPod, Microsoft is said to be phasing out the Zune, apparently no longer planning to release updated versions due to low demand. [More]
Is The Walkman Really Dead Or Not?
By 10.26.10
Yesterday the Internet seemed to be stepping over itself to break the news that the Sony Walkman — the handheld icon of the mix-tape era — had finally died a quiet death. Only problem is… that’s not exactly true. [More]
