I’m guessing there’s an employee somewhere in the depths of Microsoft who can’t program for toffee, has no inkling of what makes a good UI, thinks Ballmer is a brand of cider and struggles to even turn a PC on. (But that’s all Microsoft employees, ho ho ho).

No, this employee is only on the books for one reason, and one reason alone: because he knows what’s cool.

That’s the only possible explanation I can come up with for this:

It’s a special edition Zune, decorated with an adaptation of legendary Factory Records artist Peter Saville’s artwork for Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures. Only 500 of the 80GB players will be sold, at $399 each, in honour of the DVD release of an eponymous documentary about the band. The players will come pre-loaded with a copy of the film.

So where those trendy Apple folk lost credibility by teaming the iPod with the smug blandness of U2, Microsoft’s tie-in with Joy Division almost – almost – makes the Zune worth buying.

But not quite.

[original story: Spin]