I had talked myself into buying one of the new Microsoft Zune 80 media players.
It just so happens I'm in the Detroit area this week and figured I'd try to find one since they were launching during my trip. Well, nobody has them. I've seen the 4 and 8GB models, but not the 80. I tried a few stores like Best Buy and Circuit City. At Best Buy they told me you had to order it online, they didn't get them in the store. The online store says they are backordered. The folks at Circuit City were even less clued in. They seemed puzzled by what I was asking for, looked around for awhile, then confirmed that they didn't have them. Both locations had the 4GB Zune and Best Buy even had the 8GB model.
My question is this... why launch a product that you don't even have enough supply of to generate a buzz. I can understand the marketing ploy of generating demand by having 'limited' supply. But having 'no' supply just pisses people off. The whole new Zune launch seems to have been a big anti-climax as the only folks that seem to have gotten their hands on them are the gadget reviewers and even most of them didn't get them until launch time.
I'm really trying hard to like Microsoft's foray into the PMP market, but bonehead moves like this aren't going to help them knock Apple down from their mountain.