Several years ago, Palm founder Jeff Hawkins was at a news event, and in meeting with another business executive, he held in his hand a mysterious device: what appeared to be a sleek looking phone and what was thought to be the successor to the original Treo. Blogs were on fire with speculation, rumors, and hideously blown-up screenshots of this supposed next-generation Treo. In the end, the rumors were true, and Palm wound up with success built in part upon the buzz from the "accidental" appearance. As was planned all along by Palm.

Microsoft had no such revelation with the Zune. Microsoft being Microsoft, there was naturally some buzz beforehand regarding the Zune, but nothing to the extent of the classic Treo. And, Microsoft being Microsoft, the first-generation Zune was not going to set the world on fire with its looks. And subsequent models have garned increased but still-lackluster buzz. Do you know why there isn't more commotion being made over the Zune?

Answer me this: when was the last time you saw a Zune commercial on the television?

Followed by: when was the last time you saw an iPod commercial on the television?

It would almost make sense. The biggest player in the market, with millions and millions of iPods sold and the largest piece of the MP3 player pie, still needs to generate interest and put out artsy, vibrantly colored commercials with catchy tunes. Microsoft? I think I saw a Zune commercial once, a couple of years ago. Once. It's almost like an urban legend, like fearing cars riding around at night with their lights off and Lee Marin and Captain Kangaroo fighting together at the battle of Iwo Jima. For real, folks.

How does that even make sense?

Now, perhaps with the advent of the Zune HD, and since there appears to be a significant buzz growing around the product, Microsoft will now jump on the advertising bandwagon. Because, you know, that's a trick most companies have up their sleeves.

Is this a non-issue? Is the word-of-mouth buzz enough to sustain the Zune? Promotion and coverage from online sites such as Engadget, Gizmodo, and Zune fan sites is great, but only a fraction of the potential audience visits these sites. The Zune needs to be out there, in the public eye in a very positive way. It already has a certain air of cool about it, being an extremely capable iPod alternative with its Wi-Fi and Zune Marketplace features. Microsoft needs to make an advertising leap, and soon.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Disagree? Sound off in the comments section, Zune horde.