Slashdot Mirror
Apple Music Store Coming to Europe & iTunes in China
frankie writes "As reported everywhere, Apple is holding a press conference in London on Tuesday June 15. The entirely un-subtle official sound bite is "the biggest story in music is about to get even bigger", not what we've come to expect from Lord Steve." Or read through the Reuters report. In other news, it appears that Apple has struck a deal with China's second larger computer manufacturer to preinstall iTunes.
The big issue, stated time and again, is that Microsoft has a desktop monopoly, so they can't bundle the same things that others can. If Apple were in a monopoly position, you can bet your bottom dollar that the Slashdot crowd would be hollering just as loud as they do against Microsoft (which isn't, incidentally, that loud).
It doesn't have anything to do with the mysterious anti-Microsoft pro-Apple conspiracy. People just like rooting for the underdog, even if the underdog would be just as Evile as the top dog if/when given the chance.
Dlugar
Computer Go: Writing Software to Play the Ancient Game of Go
I click on that Google News link, and lo and behold: this story on Slashdot is the first article in the list. So naturally, I click on that...
Because "One of several pretty good music experiences" sounded kind of lame to their PR people.
Well really, what _is_ the difference?
Microsoft has a monopoly. Apple doesn't.
That's it. Different rules apply if you have a monopoly. Microsoft may consider this "unfair", but there are good reasons for it.
Your numbers are a bit off.
This report suggests that 80 million of China's 1.5 billion citizens live below the poverty line. I've read reports that the Chinese Middle Class extends to numbers equalling the population of the United States.
On a recent trip to China, I observed a LOT of technology-obsessed youth - the exact target market for new computers and iPods. And in a country where you don't usually have the expense of a car, flashy goods like the iPod go a long way to showing off your social standing.
Understand that your vision of poverty-stricken China holds true for a large expanse of rural China, the urban population in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong live a lot like the rest of us (albeit in slightly more cramped spaces).
In a society like that, where large purchases (houses and cars) are unusual, they're left with things like Rolexes and iPods to show off their wealth.
Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.
How do you figure? Isn't Apple leveraging the enormous popularity of Windows and cheap PC prices (as opposed to Apple hardware prices, which I'm guessing don't fly so well in China) to get iTunes installed on as many Chinese computers as possible?
Your logic is still incredibly faulty.
Hopefully these questions will help clarify the matter:
Does the fact that Microsoft has a monopoly in the OS guarantee that Apple will be able to install iTunes on all PCs sold with Windows?
Does the fact that Microsoft has a monopoly in the OS guarantee that Microsoft will be able to install WMP on all PCs sold with Windows?
For the record, I am not advocating forcing Microsoft to remove WMP from Windows (I would much rather see them forced to open the codecs). I am just explaining how they are leveraging the OS and why the same argument does not apply to others.
If you can't see the difference you're obviously beyond help.