Wired News and Scoble: Point/counterpoint on iPods at Microsoft
posted Feb 2nd 2005 11:37AM
Wired News is claiming in an article that Microsoft's internal management have been wringing their hands anxiously at the droves of iPod users who work there—their source estimates somewhere in the range of 64% of all MSFT employees own one (which might explain why it's been selling so well lately). So much so that Microsoft's management is stressing, Wired News claims, that it's become impolitic and relatively tactless to take your iPod to work, apparently because it doesn't use WMA, PlaysForSure, or work with the MSN Music store. Microsoft blogger Robert Scoble sez: no dice! He apparently hasn't seen anything which scolds iPod use on campus or off—but it does sound like there are a few higher-ups in the Windows Media division who might be getting a little twitchy. We can understand the people charged with killing the iPod feeling put out, but for as much smack as people talk on Microsoft, we have a hard time believing that the boys at the long rosewood table are troubling themselves over something as silly as this.
You'd better bet that the execs at Microsoft are concerned about this. A collossal failure is staring them in the face every day, mocking them. And there isn't a damned thing they can do about it. No, they won't go as far as banning iPods on campus, but I'm sure that seeing them around gives them ulcers. :)
Are you kidding-- they are absolutely sweating this! The MS culture is one of dominance and numbers, yet they can't seem to get a latch onto anything here and it's killing them. This is a "look who's coming to dinner" moment for them. They are being "infiltrated," but don't really seem to understand why or exactly by what. They deem their tech as a commodity, but the iPod is much more than that right now. It's funny to watch this happen. Goliath, meet David.
I have a pretty good idea of what the Microsoft culture is all about and there is no question that iPod users are getting looked at by their bosses. The Microsoft hammer might be covered in velvet and it is sometimes hidden out of site, but the hammer exists.
hahahaha, nice. It's about time
Bill does seem to be nervous about something, lol:
http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000167029877/
maybe bill gates is worried about the billions upon billions of dollars his company makes over apple. BILLIONS.
i heard he's really sweating that. because, you know. apple sure has been doing great at snatching up their profits.
or not.
This doesn't surprise me at all. This kind of thing exists in plenty of other corporate cultures. Drive by a GM Auto plant sometime and notice that there are no Nissans, Hondas, or VW's within a half mile of the parking lot.
actually i had an interview at ford and had just bought a vw a week earlier and was surprised how many non-ford (jag, land rover, etc) cars were in the parking lot. needless to say i had nothing to worry about with no offer
Remember, Scoble works for MS and is "their" evangelist. He is paid to put forth the MS agenda. If he says he doesn't see it happen, he is most likely spinning it, so that the people who pay him are happy. He has drank the koolaid, and he is not coming up for air. ;)
gt - Ford owns Jag and Land Rover. (And Volvo and Aston Martin, and Mazda). Did you do a little reserach before the interview? It might help.
Ford owns Jaguar, moron.
FYI.. Jag, Land-Rover, et al. ARE Ford products now..
No, Bill's not sweating the money. What Bill is worried about is what the iPod/iTMS means moving forward. Will Microsoft be able to counter Apple's music dominance when it comes to video and prevent a repeat in that much more lucrative space? Microsoft wants to dominate media as the next "frontier", and the iPod/iTMS are (and should be) very troubling for them as evidence that in this round, they failed. Lessons need to be learned.
So far, I'd say they actually have a good shot at it, given Steve Jobs single-mindedness against video. Microsoft has a whole product portfolio out there with Media Center, portable video players, WMV9, etc.
At the same time, Apple somehow keeps people saying "all that is nice, but imagine if Apple made a _____" (PVR, iPod Video, iMovie Film Store, you-name-it). Why?
I'll admit, I can't figure out Apple here. They have this huge momentum going. The Mac Mini is *almost* perfect to base a PVR on. The iPod Photo could be tweaked to be an iPod Video so simply. Jobs has contacts and some relations with the various movie studios. All they'd need to pull everything together is:
1) PVR add-on with software for the Mac Mini
2) Updated chipset for iPod Photo to play video
3) DRM system so studios would allow ripping of DVD's to a smaller, controlled format (provides legal content source, which Jobs has said is vital)
Those pieces right there would do a lot, with a relatively small amount of effort. I'm just sort of incredulous as to why Apple is ignoring it. Finally, to supplement the DVD-ripping Apple could create an iMovie store (probably very hard, but might be easier once Apple gets off the ground with the first three - after all, the iPod and iTunes both predated the Music Store).
Actually Ford does own Jag, Land Rover, etc.
http://www.ford.com
Hey assholes. I think he knows that Ford owns Jag and Land Rover, and could have worded it better. As in " how many non-Ford (including it's sub-divisions) cars were in the parking lot"
So shove your insults up your pooper. Or did you really think that of all the car companies in the world, he happened to name 2 such small brands not realizing they were Ford owned.
Then again, if I am defending this guy for no reason, and he really is a moron, then I'm gonna get hammered
i disagree - GT had no clue about what ford owns and what they don't. and it's not an issue of semantics. his post showed absolutely no understanding that ford owns all of those car companies and more. it's not about being an asshole, it's about being intelligent.
no wonder he didn't get the job - he doesn't know anything about the company he was interviewing for.
I agree with the poster about Apple having a distinct advantage, yet sometimes I feel that Steve Jobs isn't as visionary as some people think. They could make a push into the media center market with their brand and hardware that they have. I think the sticky part will be for them to sign deals with the movie industry and come up with a DRM solution that the studios would n't mind using...
P.S. Didn't Bill Gates invest in Apple when Steve Jobs returned as Apple CEO?
This BW article makes one think Microsoft is not completely out of it as others would predict.
As someone who expects to be hooked up to Verizon Fios within the next few months (the fiber is in the ground twenty feet from my house), I may be sampling the Microsoft TV as early as the end of this year via Verizon.
http://www.businessweek.com/premium/content/05_06/b3919124_mz063.htm
Microsoft May Be A TV Star Yet
After a decade of stumbles, the giant is winning over cable and telecom players
History will remember Microsoft Corp. (MSFT ) as one of the greatest business success stories. But the company has suffered its share of ignominious failures, too. There has been no business where Microsoft has spent so much for so long and achieved so little as its foray into television technology.
Until now. After more than a decade of trying to crack the TV software business, Microsoft's persistence is starting to pay off. The first sign came last November, when cable-TV industry leader Comcast Corp. (CMCSA ) rolled out set-top boxes running Microsoft's TV software to its Seattle customers. Since then, Microsoft has landed deals with two Bells -- BellSouth (BLS ) and SBC Communications (SBC ) -- as they charge into competition with cable operators. And BusinessWeek has learned that Verizon Communications (VZ ) Inc., the Bell that's making the most aggressive foray into television, plans to use Microsoft's technology for its TV service, beginning with its initial rollout in the second quarter. "We have a shared vision of how the world is evolving," says Shawn Strickland, director of Verizon's new service, FiOS TV.
The Microsoft-Apple investment angle was summarized well on Slashdot today. Rumor mill says it was because Steve (newly returned to Apple at the time) had dirt on Microsoft's theft of Quicktime code and secrets. Whatever. Apple had plenty of cash, but what they needed was a public display of support for the platform (which was still "beleaguered" in the press in 1997). The stock purchase and commitment of Office and IE for the Mac gave Apple what it needed.
The facts are (from a slashdot post):
"They also paid an "undisclosed" amount of money under the table to settle any remaining possibility of litigation over stolen technologies, and agreed on a plan which would allow MS to make future purchases of Apple's OS breakthroughs.
However, in their haste to hype a "Microsoft buys Apple" story, the press often ignores three important facts about the purchase:
1. They were non-voting shares.
2. $150 Million is a very tiny percentage of Apple's publicly-traded shares.
3. Microsoft has already sold them off, and made a huge profit doing so."
Guy's, does anybody see that uncle Bill is holding a Iriver H10 HD-based MP3 player.. the next 'Ipod killer'.. (m:robe mr-100 for me that is)
:)
Regarding Apple not doing video: BS. Jobs always said flash-based players were crap. Then 'poof'. It'll be the same with this. He just doesn't tip his hand. At all. Ever.
You will see a video iPod.
Dale, I certainly hope you're right. I'm hoping this will be like CD-RW, and Apple will all of a sudden pull an about-face and embrace it fully.
And in my dream world, they'll buy Tivo and assure its longevity! ;-)
Not only will Apple do a videoiPod, but they will do a video iTunes store, and the mini will add tivo-like functions. Just because it has not been announced means nothing.
Apple may not win, but they will do their damndest to try, just like MS.
I agree, with Tivo floundering, I think an Apple Tive device would be amazing. I hope this is part of their strategy, because Microsoft Media Center is way too complicated and untrustworthy, plus I do not need a full fledged computer running my home theater. But something like Tivo plus Apple features and interface would be amazing. I hope Apple thinks this way.
The reason Apple hasn't done video yet is because it ain't READY yet. #13 points out some things... And here are the hurdles:
1) has to work with everything (including satellite and digital cable)
2) I'm sorry, but for the geeks among us (and there are plenty) the average consumer doesn't really want to watch Titanic (or Joe Dirt for that matter) on a teensy tinsy screen. I asked my wife, a "normie", and she says no thanks. TV is another matter though. See #1
3) DRM issues are HUGE. We'll have to see how that pans out.
The fundamental difference between Apple and MS is that MS is willing to just jump into a market early, and just keep treading water until something clicks. How many iterations of their Media Center PC have been born? How long has Windows CE been around?
Apple doesn't want to do diddly until they feel they have the KILLER app, or something like it.
Still doesn't explain the Pippin over the Xbox though, huh?
Is it just me or does it Gates look really sickly in that picture?
i *love* that picture. i saw it on google news a few months back. to me, it paints a perfect picture of microsoft goofily holding up a knock off.
Whats the penalty if your iPod is running linux?
(Taken from my Blog... link below)
The article basically talks about how many Microsoft Employees are walking around campus with an i-Pod and how it may be frowned upon by upper management. I have not experienced any negative feedback from anyone at Microsoft while walking around with my white headphones on my ears. Thus, I question the some of validity of much of what is written in the article. I guess it would be pretty accurate to assume that the folks in the Windows Media group may not be too pleased to see fellow employees grooving to the sounds eminating from the i-Pod.
A lot of what is mentioned in the article may or may not be true but my thoughts are this, If Microsoft comes up with a product as cool and functional as the i-Pod in the form of an MP3 player, let me know because as soon as Microsoft does, I will dump my i-Pod and switch in a heartbeat.
The bottom line is the product is the coolest product of its kind in the market. MS executives can frown all they want but my message to them is don't hate the i-Pod because it's beautiful, Make a better product or find a way to cut a deal with Apple to license the WMA format on to the i-Pod. I think the WMA format is superior and could and become the de-facto standard down the road.
I say learn from what Apple has done and use it as motivation to innovate and dominate. "Build a Better Mousetrap and the world will beat a pathway to your door" Nothing motivates a competitor more than competing against a worthy opponent that brings out the best in the individual.
Remember Larry Bird and Magic Johnson? They made the NBA what it was in the 80's. You could not find two different personalities and paying philosophies. They competed intensely and brought out the best in each other. At the end of their playing careers, they credited each other for making each other great. In my humble opinion Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are the Magic and Bird of the high tech arena. Guess who benefits from this competition? The fans! AKA the customer! (Hello! Hello!)
http://g.msn.com/0US!s9.91441_302695/42.a3024/2??cm=SponsoredFeed-S
Speaking as a Microsoft employee, I can say that if 64% of us really are iPod owners, we hide it pretty well. I know of two co-workers (out of 100) who are visible iPod users.
And Bill Gates Microsoft’s injected $150 million to Apple Stock back in the 90’s.