Microsoft planning WiFi-enabled portable media player, working on MVNO for next year
By Peter Rojas 
posted July 6th 2006 9:58AM
posted July 6th 2006 9:58AM
Ok, by now it's more or less an open secret that Microsoft is going to shift away from its current model and go straight after the iPod with a portable media player of its own, but we've landed some exclusive details about the new player courtesy of a trusted insider who is party to some of the discussions Microsoft is having with potential content partners.
Here's what we've learned:
Microsoft's new portable audio and video player will have a screen that's "bigger than that of the iPod video" (which isn't really saying much) and built-in WiFi so you can not only download content directly to the player (sort of like with the MusicGremlin), but actually participate in an Xbox Live-like social network that will help you connect with other people with similar taste and interests. Whether that's going to be the Live Anywhere service they introduced at E3 we don't yet know. But we do know the tag line they're pitching for the device combined with this new network is "Connected Entertainment."
But it gets better. To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you've already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They'll actually scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to your account. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they believe it'll be worth it to acquire converts to their new player.
Right now the new player is schedule to launch in November, but our source also tells us that Microsoft isn't stopping with a WiFi-enabled PMP, they're actually going to launch an MVNO next year using all Windows Mobile-powered HTC handsets. These handsets will let users connect to the same social network you'll be able to access over WiFi using the portable media player.
P.S. - Yes, we're still trying to get our hands on a non-blurry pic.
I've owned an HTC Windows Mobile device. The last thing those dogs need is more features. It was slow, bloated, had a horrible UI, and was crashy...a horrible combination for a phone and worse for a music player. I'll pass.
There's one major factor that all the M$ fanboys seem to be forgetting here. The iPod has generated a major ecosystem around it. So Microsoft will re-download all your iTunes music for free but what happens to all your iPod accessories? Is Microsoft going to replace all your iPod accessories for you as well at no extra cost to you?
I don't have an iPod but I can assure you that if I've invested in iPod accessories the last thing I'm going to do is throw them all away so I can start all over again with new accessories for the Microsoft media player.
How many people have invested in iPod speakers with the iPod connector? And are all the accessory manufacturers suddenly going to jump ship after the major investments they have made in marketing their iPod accessories? I doubt that very much.
The iPod has gone way beyond just the music it holds. I can't see NIKE suddenly saying, "To hell with the iPod and all the R&D we did with Apple". And I'm sure Apple already has several deals along those lines in the pipeline.
This is the real hurdle that Microsoft faces. Not the music that people have on the iPod but the investment that people have made in the iPod system. Just about every iPod owner I know has made such an investment in the extras and I really can't see them dumping all that for a totally new system.
Apple has achieved with the iPod what Microsoft achieved with Windows and have reached the point where a lot of people will choose it over the competition just because everyone else has one and there are so many extras you can get for it.
That whole ecosystem rather than the ITMS is becoming the real lock-in to the iPod.
Another point. A big deal is being made of this purported Wi-Fi sharing feature. Does anyone really believe that the RIAA's paymasters will seriously allow this? Take the college dorm for example. One person buys a song and the whole dorm has access to it via Wi-Fi. Everyone can chip in a few cents to have just one player be the buying centre and we can all share the tunes and listen to the ones we like. That will really generate a lot of sales for the music industry.
And then we have the Microsoft factor. How many features have so far been dropped from Vista not to mention when exactly the release date will be. Anyone's guess.
People say that the XBOX is a shining example of how Microsoft is getting it right. The problem with that argument is that the XBOX doesn't make any money and is actually a loss leader for the money Microsoft makes off the games. But with the iPod Apple makes its profits off the iPod and the greed of the music industry ensures that there isn't much profit to be made in actually selling songs.
With the big fuss that the record execs made about raising prices on the ITMS it means that Microsoft will either have to sell its music at higher prices or the record companies will have to take a smaller cut of the sale price. I can't see either happening.
Lastly, if Microsoft wants to have a killer flash memory based player where are they going to get their supplies. It seems that Apple have been diligent in buying up as much spare capacity as they can in flash memory production as the suppliers ramp up for several years to come. I think we can all agree that HD based players will rapidly become a thing of the past. Who isn't getting fed up with all that skipping.
So Microsoft will be paying a higher price for their supplies and paying to replace their customers' music collections. Sure they have a big pile of cash they can throw at the project but at some stage the buck stops at the bottom line.
Ok, this sounds generally like a Microsoft-centric board. But that's ok I guess.
Apple has created a vertical market in which they control the hardware and the software, and most of the time the content (unless the record companies feel the need to do their ungodly stepping in). The iPod and iTunes, the iTunes Store, and FairPlay have all worked together-seamlessly- to provide the user with a friendly, easy to use system of managing, syncing, and playing music and other stuff.
I recall someone saying that the Walkman was Sony's, but CD players were made by all companies, and said companies made money off of it. The difference (for the time being, at least) is keeping iTunes and the iPod tightly bound together, and the use of FairPlay, which would keep other companies players out of the game, thus keeping Apple in the number one spot, as the most relevant.
WiFi. Yeah. Okay. What purpose would it serve? Ill give you a scenario:
John Doe: "Oh my god! I better rush to a Starbucks fast and download this song I've been thinking of!!!"
How do you search for the music you want? a keypad? Lame. How is that supposed to offer a more simple alternative to the Click Wheel? And how many WiFi hotspots are around you when you're jogging down the street, at the beach, or in your car?
This smells like Microsoft trying to create one of their "standards" that they gradually introduce with something that isn't going to actually utilize it, then ram it down the consumer's throat once they have enough of the product sold. Same old song and dance.
If it had WiFi, wouldn't it be more favorable to listen to INTERNET radio instead of FM?
The whole thing runs on Windows, making it substantially unstable, because MS would naturally be too stubborn to purchase licenses from one of the System On a Chip makers, like PortalPlayer.
When you download a song when you're on the road, what happens when you plug it into your computer? There is no way to organize your music on the go like that, you would be balancing more than one library, until you synced up and manually moved the song to your computer's library.
Apple is so infatuated with the image of their products because people like nice looking things. I can't say every design was great, but they always were ambitious and innovative- unlike anything else out there.
The other funny thing is that many people who use Microsoft products-hate Microsoft! That means that people will not be swayed just because the same company that makes it's OS make [yet another] mediocre and buggy product.
Windows media player has never been good, and just because it gets a new number added onto the end of it, and a facelift, doesn't mean it's suddenly better. I'm not going to say iTunes is an angel though, but it- combined with QuickTime- is a far better combination than WMP.
FYI, there actually are people who benefit from the video thing. And a lot of people are ripping DVDs to iPod format, so you can't say that nobody uses/does video. Apple offers the format too, in QuickTime 7.
I think Microsoft should stop BSing around, and actually DO SOMETHING. Like release Vista. Or Origami (haha). Then they can go back to their normal BSing about how they're going to do this and that, eventually not do it (after wasting millions of dollars and thousands of hours doing nothing but marketing), and after all those years have gone by, start makeing a service pack 1 for Vista.
Is this stupid or what? As far as I know there is no authentication that any iTunes file is real. How long before people start to create fake iTunes files in their iTunes library? With all the right MP3 tags you could fool the M$FT software into downloading all your favorite songs and let M$FT pay for it!
I can imagine websites springing up offering fake iTunes files without violating any copyrights!
Sounds like an idea only M$FT could think of!
I don't think that M$ will come out with a player themselves, and it doesn't make any sense for them to do so. The screen, playing video and music, WiFi, chatting... all of that can be done using PocketPC (or whatever it's called these days). Add maybe a better music application, and the rest is already done. Now, why would they make their own and alienate the phone and PDA vendors that are paying them today? Selling software and a reference design is much more profitable and less risky and won't eat into any existing profit from the 3rd party hardware vendors.
That being said, it'll probably suck. The Microsoft management geeks that approve things tend to have a terrible sense of design and wouldn't know elegant or simple if it bit 'em on the nose. Like the UMPC/Origami, it'll be a hodgepodge hack of existing software components, with no sense of a completely thought out targeted product. Like the PocketPC, it'll be tethered to a specific PC, in order to leverage Windows sales. It will sort of work, but only after you learn to live with it's quirks and shortcomings. You'll forget to charge it every night and in the morning, it will have to sync it's world all over again, even if it has storage.
Best of all, people will buy it, there will be great fanfare, and within a year, they'll come out with the next generation and drop support for the previous model like it never existed. "Oh, you what *this* feature? It's only supported on mPod 2007! Here's a list of vendors that support mPod 2007 -Plays this year- technology."
And the WiFi thing is kinda dumb too. How many people are gonna want to poke at a connect and verification screen at Starbucks, and pay a connect charge, to download a song or two? Unless they can make it an easy "buy with one click" impulse buy, with no extra charges, there will be few takers.
--
To the guy that wants his music player and phone combined...
IMHO, a very bad plan. If the constant load of the music player flattens the battery, what good is the phone?
I prefer divergence, one device, one function. If the device breaks, I loose only that function and have to replace only that function. If a convergent devices looses a function, I need to replace the whole thing.
I've found iPods to be stone reliable. Small sample to be sure, we only have 7 of them in this family.
I guess I don't understand why some folks hate iTunes. It works fine for me, does exactly what I want, doesn't hassle me and never crashes. I don't particularly clear about the codec, AAC sounds fine. MP3 only sounds as good at 150% of the bit rate.
MS knows that they won't have to spend much on songs for "switchers." Only a few that have a significant music collection from iTunes will bother to switch because most, like me, will be happy with what they have and wouldn't consider changing horses even for "free" tunes. MS has to assume that the iPod user base is frustrated and wants and alternative. However, those alternatives are widely available now and are not selling like hot cakes.
Besides, I could be pretty sure that the MS player won't work with my iMac unless I booted Windows. However I have no desire to waste disk space.
- gws
And I wonder just how long your battery will last running a WiFi link? If it's an issue with a phone, it'll be just as big an issue with a DAP.
itunes scanning=awesomely aggressive!!!
Seriously, up till now if you had a purchased collection of songs from either side of this format war you pretty much had to stick with it forever. Even now I'm pretty annoyed that I have some songs I bought from Real that won't transfer correctly to my ipod. So I just don't listen to those songs anymore.
So, super yay for Microsoft's plan. But it's going to be some pretty expensive conversions if you bump into some hardcore person who had bought thousands worth from iTunes
Apple will kill Microsoft in this field.
Would be really nice if the device is compatible with Yahoo Unlimited. I would think it would be if its using WMP as I think all the devices that are compatible with it are those. Personally I like the service yahoo gives. It would be nice to see someone like Microsoft come along and offer something similar. Paying per song ala Itunes is gay IMO. I like the subscription based service. I think I pay 10$ per month from Yahoo and I get to download ALL the songs they have. What more could you want?
Altho, wifi I don't really like as a solution, it would be much more convenient if someone they could add a cellular connection to the device, by partnering with a cell phone provider. This would be kickass.
Sorry to see that MS is up to it's old tricks again - after realising that it can't win the fight fair, by developing a better product, then plan to pull their usual trick of just buying up the market.
Remember the MS motto ? :
Embrace...Extend...Extinguish.
With a warchest the size of Microsoft's. Even just a little flex of their muscles is enough to send jitters down the competitors.
if apple releases that rumored "full-face screen" ipod with the software-based scrollwheel that appears when you touch the face, then microsoft's "bigger screen" might be one-upped just before it launches. bold move to buy everyone all the music they purchased already, though.
So can you browse the intrernet with the wi-fi or just download songs or whatever that article said?
So how long before Apple pushes an iTunes 'update' that screws up the supposed scanning ability so M$ can offer you all the songs you already purchased from Apple for free?
My guess is that this si an easy change for Apple (just like when they plugged the Real hack of Fairplay in one fell swoop!)
Nothing says DESPERATE like providing massive amounts of music for free!
I think people should back up their iTunes library, use WMP to then get all the free music from MS... Then erase it & restore their iTunes library... let the Redmond giant bleed! Under someone like Ballmer, they deserve to!
OK, MS will 'give' you free copies of songs you've purchased on iTunes. This means you'll have two proprietary copies of the same song than cannot be played on anything but one piece of equipment!
How is this a good thing?
Replying to fifi...
Its a good thing for many reasons. While iTMS music can only be played on iPods, WMA music can be played on hundreds of different players. In my house there are about 4 different types of music players, all supporting WMA. Granted, only the newest two (the others were before the time of licensed WMA music) will play licensed music, but they have perfect integration with Windows Media Player. Not only that, but with the arrival of WMP11, I would be able to walk to a friends house, plug my player in, hit a button, and my player could upload all of my non DRM music to their computer. Back to WMA... Janus DRM is a licensable standard. Microsoft will license it to any willing to pay. Apple will license theirs to no one simply because they know that they would lose money if they gave their users a choice of music store.
@ primetime: "This is going to be the ugliest and least user friendly player on the market. Microsoft does not have the same reputation for high end hardware or design that Apple (or Sony) have."
Looks like MS's digital entertainment division is doing just fine with the Xbox 360 as far as well thought-out looks & easy to use functionality (). (Wasn't this player also one of those projects under J Allard's supervision?)
I wouldn't be surprised if they added a type of 'music store' to the 360's Live Marketplace to counter Sony's upcoming service as well while keeping their product lines tied.
In the end, I really couldn't care so much about who is uppting the ante or who is running the game, as long as some good competition is in place to make sure the game runs along with even more hype tech...
@ webdog: You know why this is complete BS?
Because how long do you think it will take someone to hack the code that scans iTunes for purchased tracks so you can just add in whatever you want? A week? And what about video? Do I get to scan iTunes for purchased video as well?
Hack? What, you mean scan a folder for any files with a "m4p" extension and read their ID3's for the track info? How is that hacking? That doens't take a week to figure out.
Remember, this rumor never said anything about stripping any DRM off a song or even reencoding the file. It simply states that 'somehow' (read the simple method above) they'll get a list of your purchased songs and offer you new downloads of the same songs (assuming they're in their catalog) under their proprietary format, most possibly WMA, so you could use with their player (they never said their player would support iTunes protected content, either!)
Brad: "Apple will license theirs to no one simply because they know that they would lose money if they gave their users a choice of music store."
Excuse me but I don't see Apple holding a gun to anybody's head forcing them to buy from ITMS. Users already have the choice to buy from any store they wish and are voting in very large numbers with their wallets.
Rhino: "Looks like MS's digital entertainment division is doing just fine with the Xbox 360. . ."
I'm always really amazed how a company can be said to be doing just fine with a product when they are selling it at a loss. Apple makes money on each iPod sold while MS loses money on each XBOX as a loss leader for profits from the games. That model just won't work in the music game. The XBOX division haven't shown they can deliver a hardware product for profit. Music content will only make reasonable money for the record industry and the artists but provide razor thin margins for the distributor.
"I see this MS player doing well. I for one will not buy an iPOD because it won't play songs from MY music store ... Goto www.BurnLounge.com/CoolCatLounge and watch the commercial, you'll see what I mean..."
Posted at 11:23AM on Jul 7th 2006 by T.C.
Awesome!
According to the site's FAQ, users need Internet Explorer and WMP10 on their WINDOWS PC...
Way to be cross-platform!...
So the reason you see this player doing well is because it works with YOUR music store?! How many people are going to be using your music store or even make their own?
People use existing stores because they don't want to make one themselves.
We, the consumers, like things done by somebody else.
=/
'Way back in the day, CmdrTaco listed the lack of wifi as one of the deficiencies that made the 1st gen iPod 'lame' in a /. posting that has joined Gates' 640KB quip in the history of tech misprognostications.
My gut feeling is that even current wifi hardware is going to drain batteries too fast to be worth the gain in player connectivity. Download via cell could be a reasonable alternative if the phone companies would allow other music stores over their network. Ain't gonna happen soon.
That photo has got to be one of the lamest market research teasers I've ever seen. Who were the idiots in the marketing meeting that signed off on that public release?
Now I don't have time to read through 150 mostly baseless comments, much less the 75 I read through. But based on what I've just heard, there are some good points made, very good points actually, but then again there are some pointless and absolutely biased opinions on this new product comaired to the iPod. Now I'll admit that I do love my iPods (4G 20GB and 5G 30GB) but that doesn't mean that I'm going to completely bash this new MP3 player by Microsoft, that nobody knows ANYTHING about. The iPod is the iPod because of it's design, portability (yes, even without Wi-Fi), interface (mainly the ease of use), and the ability to change what you have.
Design: I dare you to ask anybody what they think of the iPod's look, because they won't say it's ugly or they'd prefer something else. It's slim, shiny, small, yet it still boasts either 7,500 or 15,000 songs, which is something almost no other mp3 player can match or top, or else you're getting into the mini-PC scene, which is not consumer-like.
Portability: Sure, the iPod isn't Wi-Fi, but who cares? You think of a song and you remember it, get home from wherever you were, and get on your computer and get the song. It's that simple. If you can't remember the song then either you must not care much or you didn't try to remember it. OR, if you like to take what you have and make it better, then you can modify the firmware to run the Linux OS on it, aka iPod Linux, open it up, create a text document, and write down the name of the song(s) you want, and save it! Streaming audio is not what the iPod is about, and that's why you have a cell phone.
Interface: The iPod is one of the most easiest things you will ever learn how to control. There's no way you won't learn and understand how to operate it. You spin your thumb in a circle to easily navigate your way through a menu that can't get any simpler. If you're in the mood for an episode of the Simpsons, click on Videos and pick your category.
Now I also said above that with the iPod, you have the ability to change what you have. This means that if you want to customize your iPod, you buy accessories for it, for example you can buy an FM Tuner, a microphone, or other various things to make it perform the way you want it to. But then again with the iPod you have the ability to change the way you control it. In other words, unlike other mp3 players, you have a choice. You can either use your regular Apple Firmware, or you go beyond with iPod Linux or Rockbox. Those both run on the iPod without any problems and let you do things that you would never be able to do with some little Sandisk 256MB flash player with a little monochrome screen. For example, what other mp3 player can you mod to play Doom? There's people out there who buy the iPod just for this purpose. Write documents, play games, and do other things. Some even experiment with it and build their own modules to add on to it and can do what they want with it. You can't do that with any other player.
But then again, there are other faults with newer players on the market. Like the ones with the built in FM tuner. Who really listens to the radio anymore? More and more people are switching to digital, commercial-free radio: satalite radio. XM and Sirius radio both came out with their own portable tuners, which are very popular. Now if somebody like Apple or Microsoft teamed up with one of these comanies (like Apple and Nike), then you'd really have something that the average consumer wants. A music player with satelite radio. Since the makers of these products aren't really coming out with any new features, the music player market will fall, unless they do something like this and combine with another popular company to create the ultimate player. If Microsoft brings support for Xbox live with their new mp3 player then you can be sure it will be popular, otherwise it's just another player, and it will fall through just like Sony did.
Ok, this may be off topic, but I've noticed: WHAT DO YOU SEE IN WINAMP??? That thing is as old as my graandmother!!! I've tried using it for a while and it pissed me off sooooooo much that I formated my hard drive because of it! iTunes i perfect, so is the iPod. Yes, some competition for Apple will be good, but Microsoft have NO chance in beating the iPod. I'm a happy iPod Mini 2G owner, a happy iTunes user and nothing can change my mind. I tried WMP 11. It's a little better than 10, but It is still not enough to beat QuickTime!
It seems this topic became very popular but none noticed some interesting facts:
1) Such type of dumping, the 0$ sold songs I mean, should be world-wide forbidden even for Bill Gates
2) The music-download price will increase at least for two reasons:
- Jobs is actually facing majors appetite because Apple is the leader of music digital-distribution
- As Gates loses money from X-box cashing royalties on games, he will cash from music royalties
3) A “wider screen” probably means MS could not design same dimension or smaller players
4) Will an iPod user pay 300$ to change his player for a bigger one? I don't think
I am taken by supprise that Microsoft is not taking the "iPod/iTunes Revolution" lying down. It seem that the fact that iPod/iTunes introduces people to Apple and Microsoft it trying to regain that market they are lossing. So they are taking it into there own hands it seems. I was and an Microsoft man until i finally used Mac OS X after that I realized how much more time is put into a product over at Apple. I would love to see how Microsoft is going to make me change my mind.
And the little girl said, "No mama, get an iPod not that thing." I was in Best Buy and the kids mom was looking at a some type of mp3 player. The point? iPod is itself an icon. It's the Cadilac. It's what you buy. Year before last, I got my three teenagers Sony mini disk players for Christmas, they all ended up in the garbage. Last Christmas, I got them iPods, which are used daily. Was is the player, or iTms verses Sony's music store (Sonic Stage?). Guess we will have to wait and see what the marketing geniuses come up with. How do you out iPod the iPod?
I doubt this new MS player will even make a dent in Apple's share. The majority of people who own iPods don't know much about them, they just want one. It's about the image the ipod presents and the fact that "hip" people have one, and then the masses follow along. There are plenty other mp3 players out there that have a lot more features than the ipod but don't do well because people want an ipod, not an mp3 player. Believe it or not, some people out there think mp3 players and ipods are two different things. It's all about image, not features or anything else.
The only way any mp3 player will ever become more popular than the iPod is if, for some reason, the interest and fanbase of the iPod is seriously decreased, and people are buying any mp3 player, without any brand loyalty, then someone like microsoft, if they have good musicstore/managing software that works well with a DAP with a good UI, then they could reign over the mp3 market.
BTW, think it will have video?
Sorry for the double post, but the iPod didn't get popular because it had a lot of accesories, because when it started out, it was only for Mac, therefore there were much fewer potentail users, and mostly tech -savvy music liking people (couldnt think up a better word)wanted a good drive based player, and they got one with the iPod. I dont know which came first, the "trendiness" or the torrent of shiny white accesories, but when iPod was made available with to windows the 3g (i dont consider musicmatch a "real" windows iPod software because it was sans music store), it got popular and trendy. Also the dock connector and accesories port next to the headphone jack helped 3rd party companies easily make accessories.
Oops i guess i kind of got off topic, but anyway, i dont see what everyone is so excited about anyway, how do we know that just because M$ is going to buy some people like $5 worth of iTMS music (i dont really ever buy much except the free downloads on iTMS anyway),their DAP will be amazing.
Having mediocre WMP 10 (or 11)and Urge (dont know if thats good or not) arent going to help much for M$, either.
-Spil
PS: what was i thinking? Of course it will have Video, its main quirck is that its screen will be bigger than the iPods.
I think ms may have a chance to gain a piece of the market ,it may even knock ipod out of the number one spot. You can't hate on something when its not even in your hands yet. Everybody was talking shit about apple for awhile but they blew yalls minds with the ipod. You can't count someone out. MS might just bring it back to the days when snes and genesis were half and half in the consumer market.
Ipods, mp3 players they are all tripe. Why a single purpose device? Are folks all too narrow-minded to do more than listen to music or an occasional video? I'm listening to Rage Against the Machine (Evil Empire) on my PocketPC as I write this on it too. I do most of my web surfing on it using NetFront. I can listen to any music file format I want with various software of my choice. I can watch video on a 4 inch VGA screen. I have an external speaker that works in a pinch or to share with folks sans sharing earbuds. Whats up with earbuds anyway? Lose the wires and get a BT headset. I listen to Engadget and TWIT podcasts Daily @ work and folks don't even know it. My PocketPC rocks as it is my most awesome GPS with USGS topo maps, I download Geocaching info right into it for paperless Geocaching, (team geocach database is on it too!) as a portable photo shower (4 inches again!) and photo editor (Resco) universal TV remote(Not just turn off but control TV'
at bars & resturants) Game player i.e. Sudoku, Madden 2006. I use it for wardriving/walking with Ministumbler. As an Adobe pdf reader, phone with Skype, RSS feeds & podcasts, in the field data recording into Excel Handybase and even text documents in Word or Textmaker Pro. I use PDA Stats and a graphing calc for engineering stuff at work and I could go on. Text entry & item selection are super easy with my ThinkOutside BT keyboard and mouse that work as well on my seldomly used laptop as on my PocketPC. So why would anyone over the age of 10 want an Ipod or any plain mp3 player? Seems that they should be prize gimicks in boxes of high sugar cereal and that is about it. Oh yes, I have Wi-Fi and I have downloaded purchased music direct from the net and played it right there...like 2 years ago. If you can't shake the thought of an Ipod or other mp3 player, at least lose the wires to the headsets/earbuds, those are so 1980's. I laugh everytime I see someone with them on their heads.
THEY WILL HAVE TO COME IN AT A PRICE REASONABLY LOW $200.00 ENOUGH WITH ALL THOSE FEATURES TO MAKE SOMEONE SWITCH.
BUT THEIR WHOLE TARGET MARKET IS BUILT AROUND THE FEATURES AND XBOX FACTOR ( WHICH RAISES THE LONG TERM PRICE TO $300++ $400 )
THUS THIS A LONG TERM GOAL UNLESS THEY JUMP IN WITH 6 TO 12 MONTH PRICE BUSTER FOR ALL
I think that many of the postings here operate under two different
paradigms. Those who either like microsoft and support their
business model or those who support Apple business model and the
iPod. The quote of Protagoras comes to mind: "there are two
contradictory arguments about everthing, and he used them to develop
the consequences to contradictory premisses". The point is that there
are justifications for both sides of the argument. By posting
obviously bias arguments as to which side of the argument you belong does not help to provide our culture with any wealth of knowledge;
It is just an opinion. I am a fan of Apple. They, in my opinion, do
a great job with the end to end user experience. Having used the
Microsoft OS for many years I found the Mac operating system a
welcome change. Many of my good friends do not feel this way, but it is best to realize that there is no changing their minds. In a way there is no real reason to feel obligated to change their mind as long as you yourself are happy. But when it comes down to it. I think we all need
to step back, stop being so greedy and focused on our consumer culture,
and realize that music is all around us. It is in the trees where birds
chirp and crickets sing. Movies are all around us as we see the
leaves change and the animals play. No matter what - we will be
entertained in life. It should not be so much the concern as to
what it is that physically entertains us, but instead that we enjoy
our lives. You are welcome to disagree.
I love my iTunes and iPod but cannot transfer my music to Microsoft Mediaplayer or a memory stick to play through my Hi Fi's USB. So what is the point? I copied all my music from my CD's to iTunes in South Africa before I came to Saudi Arabia and now I cannot convert it to play on my memory stick. And all my CD's stayed behind in South Africa to save weight... I am very dissapointed!!!
Anybody that thinks iTunes is a workable piece of software is completely dillusional. I could care less who makes the crap I buy as long as it works. iTunes sucks, and my iPod locks up daily. Lately I have had to switch the "hold" button on and off just to get my jog dial to start working again. So, if MS wants to buy all my iTunes purchased songs, I'll convert b/c the iPod is just as big a piece of poop as every other electronic gadget in our throw away society. Now all I need is an adapter for my Bose unit.
Microsoft Sucks!
I don't care how much crap they stick in this thing, it will never add up to anything near the iPod and its sucess. With everything they are saying they are going to make this do, I bet it will have horrible battery life and will have lots of bugs. Nothing like taking your viruses with you when you leave the house!
They should leave the multimedia industry and let apple do its thing. Microsoft will never catch up with apple because it is so unreliable.
I hate companies that try to make one device that attemps to do everything. The more they make this mp3 player do, the more likely the chance will be that something will go wrong with it and it will suck!
All I'm syaing is that microsoft should stick to their corner of the computing industry and stay out of apple teritory by trying to come out with stuff like this.
>>>APPLE RULES!
My 4th gen iPod is the worst cosumer electronics device I've ever owned. The hard drive has been replaced TWICE, for $50 a pop, in less than 2 years. It's currently out-of-order yet again and Apple wants $250 to replace it now that the warranty has expired. Hey Apple, you suck!!! I'll be one of the first Zune buyers.
iPod reliability? Laffing out loud.
I've bought three, so far. First one, 4g 20GB. Failed after 13 months (one month out of warranty). Screen showed sad face, said to contact Apple. Did that (genius bar my foot), was told that I had to contact HP. Huh? Made by Apple (I looked inside), programmed by Apple (www.apple.com/support) but clearly not supported by apple. Thank you sir, may I have another? (shaft, that is)
Ok, I'm a sucka. Bought a Nano for my son (still haven't replaced my $300 paperweight yet). This one works, but who knows for how long. 5 months left on the warranty--my guess is it's good for another 6 months.
Bought another Nano for my daughter. 1 month later, it's dead. The display flashes white, then black, etc. Another lengthy wait for the genius bar (doh), and this one they replaced, because I ordered it from apple.com. But now it doesn't have the "happy birthday" engraving on the back, which is why I ordered the thing from Apple.com in the first place. Oh well, at least this time they honored the warranty, but replaced it with what's obviously a re-furb.
So, 66% of the iPods I've bought have failed. And the Microsoft wireless optical mouse I bought *years* ago works as flawlessly as ever. I don't even have the same computer that I first used it on.
Don't try to tell me that an MS piece of hardware is necessarily poorer than an Apple piece of hardware. I'll bet that Microsoft supports their player no matter what. I already know what Apple does: --> shaft me.
Lol. I don't believe you people have not figured it out by now. The whole itunes free music thing is just like how u can keep creating trail accounts on URGE to download as much music as you want. They are doing it on purpose. As some of you know Micro$oft has been boasting about its WMA format over MP3. This is their big change to shake MP3 out of the picture and replace it with WMA. Thats what the whole big deal is about the music with iTunes.
To the man that was "holding off on getting an iPod", its time to purchase that horseless carriage you've been thinking about!
While I am all for competition and I think that will benefit us all. I am opposed to allowing Microsoft to barge its way into a market developed by others, not just apple, and become the dominant player overnight by effectively stealing others business. This download of tracks purchased somewhere else is anti-competitive and should be stomped upon now, not in 3 years.
This is all part of microsoft's new kill apple strategy. they don't care if they only turn $1 in profits as long as they cut down on apples profits. And Microsoft is probably getting everything cheaper than apple with some of the alliances that they have made.
I also think that this is what they are doing with windows. Apple is saying that they are better than windows when Tiger came out atleast 3-4 yrs after windows did. and with microsoft already codenaming the next os after vista, i think that the have confidence that windows can be much better that a mac and are going to try and go head to head.
i think this is very very good..and im gonna camp- outside pc world for 4 day be4 its realesed so that i can get 1 for me!and im gonna listen to it alday and love like a child!i think they look very sexy and i like the way they shine.
PS..i-pods rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For current Ipod Apple users you may already know that you can download songs for free off of Limewire and directly put them into your Itunes library and put them on ur Ipods.
But the Question is will you be able to do this for the Zune Library for free still?
Some people will go broke after buying all these songs. So to attract people you should allow that.
Or you wont attract many "CHEAP" people such as myself.