Well, if Microsoft was hoping that people would be camping outside stores waiting to get their hands on the new Zune media player, that hope soon faded. Microsoft has tried to hit Apple hard by adding features that the iPod doesn’t have: an FM tuner, a larger LCD display, and WiFi Connectivity.

Microsoft even launched their own music service: Zune Marketplace. All this buzz and yet it hasn’t spilled over into the minds and hearts of the general public. Maybe it was only geeks like me who got excited (now don’t get me wrong I’m neither a Zune or iPod backer).

The American Free Press reported just how pathetic that situation has gotten:

In one store the clerk wasn’t even aware that the store had received the Zune until a customer pointed it out. That store only managed to sell one and had another customer inquire about them.

In another store in San Francisco, the manager stated how Microsoft had made an error and had accidentally not shipped the Zunes to the store - however all was good because no one bothered to even ask about them.

A Best Buy store nearby did manage to sell “a lot” of Zune’s. Microsoft has long stated that defeated Apple will not be quick but will take time and investement by Microsoft. And if anything that story proves that well.

Micrsoft needs to start to do some better marketing, but it will be tough to take down a now culture icon like the iPod.