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Bill Gates on Microsoft's iPod Competitors
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Bill Gates on Microsoft's iPod Competitors
Oops. Apple has always more iPod stuff in the works. Just wait and see. Apple doesn't rest on its laurels.
MP3 is old technology and why Mr. Bill wants to do MP3 players is completely brain dead, just like people that buy MP3 players instead of iPods. 🙂
Actually, Mr. Bill should get in the business of giving his money away to people that would actually put it to good use.
Close Shop Mr. Bill, you're done. Put a fork in him. 🙂
Oops. Apple has always more iPod stuff in the works. Just wait and see. Apple doesn't rest on its laurels.
MP3 is old technology and why Mr. Bill wants to do MP3 players is completely brain dead, just like people that buy MP3 players instead of iPods. 🙂
Actually, Mr. Bill should get in the business of giving his money away to people that would actually put it to good use.
Close Shop Mr. Bill, you're done. Put a fork in him. 🙂
drblank said:
Say what you will about microsoft, but Bill Gates is a hell of a philanthropist. The guy IS giving away boatloads of money to very deserving causes.
Forget about Microsoft, they will never make an mp3 player of their own. The real competition will be Sony. They make the best phones right now. If I could get a phone that stored >30gb of music and pictures (not really interested in video, I have a laptop) I'd doubt I'd ever use an iPod again. Why carries 2 devices in your pocket when one can suffice? If Apple make that phone so much the better.
I currently carry a Blackberry, a Sony K750i phone, an iPod and sometimes even my Nintendo DS. Whilst I like them all it does seem ridiculous that I have to carry so many devices around with me when it should be so simple to have one that covers all that functionality.
I currently carry a Blackberry, a Sony K750i phone, an iPod and sometimes even my Nintendo DS. Whilst I like them all it does seem ridiculous that I have to carry so many devices around with me when it should be so simple to have one that covers all that functionality.
This is why the mac policy of keeping everything secret works well. Now apple will just have to ask itself, what do we have to do to bet this product before it comes out. Then when Microsoft comes out with their device apple will already have a better product out because apple is fast when it comes to developing things.
shadowmoses
macrumors 68000
Its not only iTunes and the iPod that Microsoft have to fight against if they are to release a new MP3 player, they will need to make it really damn cool, like the iPod is.....The iPod is a status symbol now, it is considered cool and trendy with youth, classy and stylish by other's...Its design is faultless it appeals to everyone....
If Microsoft is to follow suit they will neeed to make one hell of an MP3 player with a great windows app that is a hell of alot better than WMP is for music,
Shadow
If Microsoft is to follow suit they will neeed to make one hell of an MP3 player with a great windows app that is a hell of alot better than WMP is for music,
Shadow
kugino
macrumors 65816
you really want media player? it's possibly the worst mac app ever...and this was when microsoft was actively developing it. glad they laid it to rest. flip4mac is so much better.thejadedmonkey said:
why are you comparing a whole operating system to itunes? of course there are things that itunes can't do that XP does...if you sorely miss XP and media player, go back to windows. 🙄
jbernie
macrumors 6502a
Just like everything else in this consumer market, iPod is the latest greatest best thing and nothing will ever touch it....until suddenly the next latest greatest thing comes along and the iPod looks so yesterday and everyone rushes out to buy the next thing.
Granted Apple has a very good position as it controls the hardware and the software, and has it integrated quite well. All MS or anyone else needs is a convertor to port the iPod songs over to the next device and then a large portion of the current iPod users wouldn't care, they just want to move their songs over easy. That, and some deep pockets and patience!
Although, if you ignore history you set yourself up for failure. IBM controlled the PC market, over time the clones came along and then just over 20 years later IBM sold its PC division as it wasn't a core asset/wasnt making enough $$/wasn't worth the effort or whatever. Right now I don't see this happening to Apple with iPod/iTunes, but being the first big player doesn't necessarily guarantee much these days.
If player A has x features with their device, and player B has x features PLUS killer feature Y, and customers view feature Y as the must have feature, they will change. Sell feature Y right and you shall succeed.
Granted Apple has a very good position as it controls the hardware and the software, and has it integrated quite well. All MS or anyone else needs is a convertor to port the iPod songs over to the next device and then a large portion of the current iPod users wouldn't care, they just want to move their songs over easy. That, and some deep pockets and patience!
Although, if you ignore history you set yourself up for failure. IBM controlled the PC market, over time the clones came along and then just over 20 years later IBM sold its PC division as it wasn't a core asset/wasnt making enough $$/wasn't worth the effort or whatever. Right now I don't see this happening to Apple with iPod/iTunes, but being the first big player doesn't necessarily guarantee much these days.
If player A has x features with their device, and player B has x features PLUS killer feature Y, and customers view feature Y as the must have feature, they will change. Sell feature Y right and you shall succeed.
steve_hill4
macrumors 68000
iTunes works so well because it was solely designed for music and is now adding more and more in the way of features. They nearly perfected one and then moved onto the others.jrk07 said:
WMP has always been an all singing, all dancing media player and so people I speak to hold it in greater regard than iTunes. When I ask them how easy it is to use comapred to iTunes though, they are stuffed. I'm not saying Apple's offering is perfect by any means, but it's much better organised and cleaner than anything else out there. iPod integration is also a breeze and pain free, unlike other media players and media devices.
I would love to see a Microsoft branded mp3 player on the market, because I think it will show them up big time. Someone I work with is by far the biggest MS fanboy around. He eventually for some reason bit the bullet and bought a 5G iPod, now he rates nothign else. Previously he berated any offering by Apple, slagging off the iBook he owned for a short time, now he mainly restricts his rants to Macs and not all Apple products.
The same can be said for lots who want to be different and buy a Sony or Creative attempt. When they buy one, they are often disappointed with it's UI, have problems, or both. They switch to an iPod and never look back. If they speak to me first, they often don't even get as far as buying the other brand.
Microsoft have a lot to go against.
eric_n_dfw
macrumors 68000
Are you trying to say that Apple developed the original Mac OS in 1984 and MS helped them out (which is probably true, since Excel and Word were on Mac first) or that MS helped with OS X?zap2 said:
Then, why would Apple help Creative - the guy/gal you quoted was saying that MS might help them - which would make sense. Apple is their competition, MS is their partner.
Mainyehc
macrumors 6502a
jbernie said:
No they won't, because Apple's "killer feature Y" is the combination of great software and gorgeous, functional hardware... History tells us, up until now, people didn't realise that computers and consumer electronics should be designed like cars, appliances or furniture: with a sense of style, attention for detail, and with ease of use in mind throghout the design process!
Up until now... I think the huge success of the iPod is the turning point here, people. The halo effect IS taking place, as we speak, and it will be broader than you may think. Anyway, perhaps there will be another subsequent "iPod halo effect", as in Apple's competitors LEARNING something from the iPod's success, but SO FAR, we haven't seen that happening. There are great players out there already, but the software/hardware combo hasn't been achieved, not even by those SONY dumb*sses...
My point is: I think people *may* be opening their eyes to good quality design, just as here in Europe everyone is buying IKEA wares, just like they bought Mini Coopers and VW Beetles by the millions before... You can hardly call those items "fads", and they surely changed the history of design on those industries. Now, both the iPod + iTunes/Mac + Mac OS X combos will revolutionize the history of consumer electronics and IT, mark my words (Yeah, I feel a lot like the "Nostradamus of IT", since I've spent the last two years telling people to wait until approximately... er, MWSF '06, before making the switch - not exactly a great service for Apple, oh well - and telling other people they would eventually *want* to make the switch/buy iPods/whatever, whether they believed me or not, and it seems I nailed it!).
eric_n_dfw
macrumors 68000
While I commend the Gates' and their philanthropy, I hasten to say he is any more charitable than many other people who give anonymously/quietly.DTphonehome said:
It is cool that he has created that much wealth to direct to charity though.
I think the only way Microsoft would have any possible advantage at all over Apple would be how this device integrates with their DVR capabilities of Windows Media Center. WMC is going to support the next generation of CableCards once Vista is released. If this means you can record your own television shows off of cable you already payed for and be able to put them on your player, instead of having to buy it again at some crappy resolution and wait while it downloads according to Apple's current plan, then this Microsoft player would actually have something going for it.
I think where Microsoft will inevitably fail is when they make this device a gaming device as well. Devices that can do everything usually fail at doing any one thing remarkably well. That's why the iPod has been successful as it has, because it is a freaking good product that does what it does extremely well. This is also why they've really taken their time at making a true portable video player, adding video capabilities to the current generation of iPods really just to build their TV store and tide the complaining masses that have to have the ability to do video. The current iPod is still primarily an audio player. It just so happens to do a little video as well. I'll be curious to see what Apple comes up with their "Gesture" patents, and the possibility of adding DVR to FrontRow.
I think where Microsoft will inevitably fail is when they make this device a gaming device as well. Devices that can do everything usually fail at doing any one thing remarkably well. That's why the iPod has been successful as it has, because it is a freaking good product that does what it does extremely well. This is also why they've really taken their time at making a true portable video player, adding video capabilities to the current generation of iPods really just to build their TV store and tide the complaining masses that have to have the ability to do video. The current iPod is still primarily an audio player. It just so happens to do a little video as well. I'll be curious to see what Apple comes up with their "Gesture" patents, and the possibility of adding DVR to FrontRow.
drblank said:
I have read this entire thread and must say that drblank's post are some of the stupidest comments I have read lately on this site. Do you actually think before you try to formulate an opinion or just start rambling? You called the Microsoft XBOX a failure, thats hillarious. I guess you will say the same thing about the 360 as well, or Windows for that matter. How wrong could you be?
I am a new user of Apple, and like everything about them but the mentality of other users. (not all, just what I hope is a minority) I have learned that people like to criticize what they don't understand. I believe that every Apple user that attacks Microsoft is a hippocrit because they get mad when a PC user does the same thing. My Windows computer has a place, as well as my Apple. I understand what each machine does better, and appreciate them for that.
Bill Gates is as intelligent and business minded as Steve Jobs, and maybe even better at what he does, but we could debate that all day. If Microsoft wanted to target Apple and take them head on in Ipod sales, simply put, they could. They have the capital and resources to do whatever they want. But I don't believe that is their intention. I believe that Apple has to have the ipod to survive. I don't know the figures, but according to Steve's Macworld speach it is a vital thing for Apple to have. At this point, Apple isn't a big enough threat to Microsoft for them to act decisively. Once they feel they should, they will. Microsoft has it's hand in so many things that give it the ability to control what they want. Do some of their past offerings suck? You bet. But the amount of good products outweigh the bad. The same could be said for Apple, and moves that they have made. People just need to wise up and realize what both companies are capable of.
thewhitehart said:
hiya. "ripping" into itunes is the correct terminology, just FYI. it's "burning" when you write files to a CD. you can choose which encoder to use in the preferences. it is a little sneaky that it's set to aac by default, but aac is a newer and better codec than mp3. it's always been my opinion that mp3 cds are only slightly less kludgy than carrying a bunch of regular cds around with you. i think an aux input to your car stereo (so you can hook up an ipod [or other mp3 player, if one chooses]) is a better solution.
i think ripping all (or even most) of your cds into itunes is ultimately worth the effort. i used to have my favorite classical cds in one of those big 200 disc cd changers. it took me forever to get them all into itunes (getting all the tags the way i wanted them was a pain), but it's so much better. i can easily search them and group them and there's no CD switching delay between tracks when randomized. 🙂 (and they're all on my ipod, too)
it would be nice to have a single standard, but since that's not going to happen i think you're in the right camp by using itunes. it's a huge market that 3rd parties can't ignore. apple's standards aren't going away anytime soon.
-k
techster82 said:
I agree with most of your post, but not that last part. MS has definitely tried to take on Apple in the MP3 market. Not by building hardware, but by partnering with companies who take care of the hardware, while MS sticks to software and DRM. That obviously hasn't worked, as the tight integration between hardware and software is one of the major things that makes the iPod such a success, and is why Apple products in general are so easy to use and elegant. Apple doesn't have to make sure that OS X works with every possible permutation of hardware that can make up a PC.
The reason MS hasn't been able to beat Apple in the MP3 game is not for want of trying...it's just that brute force wasn't able to accomplish what it was in the desktop market. MS doesn't have to come up with a beautiful product, it just has to come up with one that works OK, and blanket the world with it. They have been formally accused of shady behavior (by the US and EU justice depts) to get their products into every PC they can. Does IE work better than Netscape Navigator? Not really, but every PC has IE on it, and you have to actually go out and get NNav, so people take the path of least resistance and IE becomes, by far, the browser leader.
Creative and Napster have both said that the reason the iPod dominates was because of marketing, and they both retaliated with masive ad campaigns, and have both failed. MS realizes that the success of the iPod is not something you can easily replicate, and they won't try to force dominance of the market.
If they want to compete, yeah, they have to come out with some "hot new products" that replicate the iPod experience. Realistically, though, even if they made a carbon copy of the iPod, it wouldn't work. The iPod has become far more than just a great MP3 player...it's a cultural icon that can't be taken down by force. They have to wait for the iPod's star to fade, and then intro something better and cooler. Not easy.
thewhitehart said:
you know you can import/exoprt in itunes to whatever format you want right? there proly even codecs for wmv😱
amateurmacfreak
macrumors 6502a
Yeah. My teenage friend who has a father who is completely freaking crazy. 🙁Yvan256 said:
He won't let her download iTunes or Firefox ("full of bugs," the idiot says).
About iTunes: "It won't work right with our computers." (which are, of course Windows)
Well, duh it will, b/c the Windows version is used by millions and it's proven to be the best and most liked software for music out there for Windows.
Also, his stupid comments on AAC: "It's not right for our computer. It's like trying to have a Chinese person speaking French."
Well, if the freaking "person" can speak Chinese and French, why not utilize both?!?!?!!?!?
So for now, she has Music Match and no iPod.
I personally think it is a part of her father's evil plan to keep her miserable b/c she can't have an iPod even though her family is swimming in money. XP😱
