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Ballmer Says iPod Users are Thieves

A 'music thief' (apparently) writes "According to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft: "The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'." He appears convinced Microsoft will lead the way in Digital Rights Management and also believes Microsoft will steal a march on Apple in making the digital home a reality because Apple "doesn't have the volumes". "There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device," he said."

23 of 1,108 comments (clear)

  1. Filty thieves by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    They stolds it frums us.

  2. Pot... by mikeophile · · Score: 5, Funny

    meet kettle.

    1. Re:Pot... by rseuhs · · Score: 4, Funny
      Ballmer: "We are going to continue to improve our DRM, to make it harder to crack, and easier, easier, easier, easier, to use."

      I guess that will be done by developers, developers, developers, developers...

  3. Mad? by Peridriga · · Score: 5, Funny

    I really don't know why Balmer is so mad at Ipod?

    He really seems to love his...

  4. All I have on my iPod... by Realistic_Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...is 74.8 stolen copies of Windows XP Professional.

    --
    Beep beep.
    1. Re:All I have on my iPod... by LaCosaNostradamus · · Score: 4, Funny

      Once the US finds another "Cybersecurity Chief", you are soooooo busted!

      --
      [You have a stable society when some nut guns down a schoolyard and the law doesn't change.]
  5. Must come from where? by gr8_phk · · Score: 4, Funny
    "The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device," he said."

    I think he means: 'the critical mass has to come from windows'. Why? No technical reason, it's just because people at MS will have a temper tamtrum if this doesn't go their way.

  6. The "stolen" format by BlueTooth · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes, the "stolen" music format...aka MP3 ... when those Franhofenzeigen guys invented MP3 compression, I don't even know why they went with the .MP3 extension. It would have been a lot clearer if they had just gone with the .stolen extension.

    type: audio-x/stolen

    --
    SPAM
  7. Nice quote... by VFVTHUNTER · · Score: 5, Funny

    from Ballmer:

    "My 12-year-old at home doesn't want to hear that he can't put all the music that he wants in all of the places that he would like it," he joked.

    Translation:
    "When I tried to use my kid's iPod on a recent family trip, my son told me to shove my Barry Manilow CD up my ass."

  8. hmm...? by DeusExMalex · · Score: 4, Funny

    under the induce act, wouldn't this hold balmer liable for inducing his customers to steal music?

  9. Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! by mahdi13 · · Score: 5, Funny
    "There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device,"
    I want what he's smoking!
    --
    "Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
  10. Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! by jaavaaguru · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just like they can insure that all installations of their software are perfectly legagl. I'll believe it when I see it.

  11. Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! by KilobyteKnight · · Score: 4, Funny
    Seriously, unless it's a corporate computer, have you really seen one where the user would have paid a single red cent for any of the soft/data, other than the kids' games?

    A single red cent, no. Many thousands of red cents, yes.
    --
    When will Windows be ready for the desktop?
  12. Wait for longhorn by number6x · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, yeah right now most iPod users have pcs. Of course when Longhorn arrives, there will be a little problem uploading your music, and every now and then the entire iPod memory will be wiped.

    You know that MS will be working hard for a solution...

    From MS marketing, 2006:

    "It's probably due to Apple's implementation of some standard."

    "You could get a solution quicker if you switch to our new win-Pod(TM) that implements Microsoft standards. It uses a new version of Embedded Windows Media Player(TM). Here's a coupon for %75 off your purchase price, and we have a $20.oo rebate as well."

    "But we'll keep working on that i-pod 'fix', don't you worry. When the 'fix' is in, you'll know it!"

    Microsoft, The job isn't done until Lotus, Novell, Netscape, iPod won't run

    1. Re:Wait for longhorn by john82 · · Score: 4, Funny

      "At Microsoft, we're not satisfied until you're not satisfied. And that's a promise."

  13. Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... by halowolf · · Score: 4, Funny
    (and what am I missing?)

    What operating system does most of this stealing happen on?

    Oh my!

  14. Who are the REAL thieves here? by RichardX · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Microsoft will steal a march.."
    Sure, it starts with stealing a march.. then it's an April, followed by May and June, and before you know it you're wandering around with half an ill-gotten year bulging beneath your jacket.. after that it's down the slippery slope to stealing days of the week, and even whole decades if the habit goes unchecked.

    Now what's worse? Grabbing a few little MP3s for listening on the go, or depriving the whole world of entire chunks of history. I think we know who the REAL criminals are here.

    --
    Curiosity was framed. Ignorance killed the cat.
  15. monkeyboy dance! by pdxguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    dance monkeyboy dance! Microsoft complaining about Apple users?! Oh, and of course, they and their users are lily-white and never steal a single thing. Snort! I have to remember not to drink a new cup of coffee when reading /. lest I blow it out my nose reading comments like this from the Ballmer B-boy Monkeyboy.

  16. ...and this week on "How to Win Friends.. by Bill_Mische · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and Influence People the Microsoft Way" we show you how to insult everyone under 25.

    --
    Boring Old Fart (40, married, 3 kids...er no...make that 49, married, 3 grown up kids...it's been a long time)
  17. Damn straight... by mbourgon · · Score: 5, Funny

    The critical mass has to come from the PC,

    Yup. Just like USB. Oh, wait...

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  18. Re:Ballmer and FUD? Who would have thought?! by arose · · Score: 4, Funny

    Who wouldn't want 100 dollar bils?

    --
    Analogies don't equal equalities, they are merely somewhat analogous.
  19. Thomas Edison is to blame!!!! by Thud457 · · Score: 5, Funny
    For the greater part of history, music was entirely live performance and freely shared with everybody. Then, one dreary Monday, that evil Thomas Alva Edison invented a way to capture the music, trapping it in small wax cylinders. (You don't see the sainted Tesla inventing such deviant "recording" devices, now do you? I tell you, that Edison is a morally diseased mind.) Thence was born the record industry, and industry of vile middlemen who interrupted the free flow of music by imprisioning it in vinyl discs.

    So you see, children, much like the mythical "copyright" the whole concept of "recorded" "music" is a mental fiction and at odds with the natural order of things. Kill your iPod now!

    or something.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  20. Re:Quickie Slashdot Poll... by ReelOddeeo · · Score: 4, Funny

    How do you and your friends manage to keep your songs original and not accidentally copied?

    May I suggest a solution to this problem? Purely in the interest of protecting copyrights, of course.

    If you think that you might ever write any music, then first, download every possible mp3 you can get from the internet. Listen to them regularly. This way, you can be sure that when or if you write your own music, you aren't infringing anyone else's music copyright.

    But please, download all these mp3s only in the interest of protecting the RIAA members' copyrights. Think of the poor record labels.

    --

    Those who would give up liberty in exchange for security and DRM should switch to Microsoft Palladium!