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I've had a boingboing article about the theft of Ian Curtis's tombstone open in a tab since yesterday morning, and only now did I figure out why. The purloining of the Joy Division singer's memorial is old news that's been flittering about the blogs for sometime now, but this, this is both apparently not newsworthy and, IMHO, a much more egregious offense. Behold, the Joy Division Zune*:



Not only is the branding patently offensive, but it appears that the sole "sponsor" is Peter Saville, famed graphic designer for Factory Records who did the album art for Unknown Pleasures (the primary, and admittedly awesome, motif appears in altered, laser-etched form on the device, as seen above) and for several of New Order's releases. Also, it retails for $150 more than a regular Zune. Also, it contains now Joy Division tracks whatsoever. Also, it's a Zune. That last one stings the hardest.

*image and info taken from an engadget article, worth a read primarily for when a commenter posits that since the Zune exists it means that Ian Curtis doesn't object, ignoring the fact that he, oh, I don't know, HAS BEEN DEAD FOR 28 YEARS