Slashdot Mirror


Bill Gates: Cellphone will Beat iPod

93,000 writes "CNN is running an article featuring Gates' prediction that the iPod is on the way out. From the article: 'As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run.' His prediction for a successor? Mobile phones-- powered by none other than Windows Mobile 5.0, of course."

6 of 1,017 comments (clear)

  1. He might be right... by HuffMeister · · Score: 5, Informative

    If my windows mobile phone didn't continually crash. Every couple of days the Windows Mobile OS crashes and it won't recognize any button presses. This is particularly annoying as it usually happens when answering calls, and requires pulling the battery out to hard resetting the phone. I originally got the phone because everybody in my office was getting them, and so I didn't have much of a choice. I was skeptical about running Microsoft anything, but I thought, "Hey: Different OS, Different Codebase, maybe it won't be filled with bugs!" Boy, was I wrong!

  2. MS are desperately looking for a niche by Colin+Smith · · Score: 5, Informative

    They can see the end of Windows and Office steaming towards them from a mile off and they want to be able to step aside before it hits them hard.

    --
    Deleted
  3. Re:40 Gigs of Ring Tones by ericdano · · Score: 4, Informative

    Um, had one. It's too big and bulky.

    --
    It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
    I moderate therefore I rule!
    --
  4. Cell phones beating the iPod? No problem! by 8127972 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apple and Motorola are working on a cell phone/iPod hybrid. However they're having a hard time getting carriers to sign on. Read about it here.

    --
    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
  5. Re:40 Gigs of Ring Tones by Chicane-UK · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is a shameless cut and paste from a previous post I made, but I feel its applicable here!


    You know I used to be of the same opinion, but my mind is changing on such things.

    I recently sold my Samsung E700 phone and upgraded to a Microsoft / Orange SPV C500. Its the size of a quite compact, regular phone, does all the regular phone stuff, but is powered by PocketPC - so I have access to Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, and all kinds of other wonderful things.

    I'll get the Microsoft bash out of the way first.. it crashes. As hilarious as it sounds, its the only phone i've ever had that crashes. I've had mobile phones for about 6 or 7 years now, and none of them have been as unreliable as this.. not even the very first Motorola 'brick' I had! It must crash on average once a month, which I feel is pretty poor..

    But onto the positive side. I genuinely feel that this is the swiss army knife of phones. Firstly it takes minisd cards.. so I can stick a nice 512MB minisd card in the phone, compress a DivX movie down to fit on the card, and then take a train and have a portable movie player with me. The screen is large compared to the rest of the size of the phone and is very clear. The phone comes with a handsfree kit which is also a pair of stereo headphones, so no annoying of my fellow passengers as I watch a film. I could also put MP3's on there and use it as an alternative to the iPod shuffle I recently bought...

    Secondly.. I never thought I would find having mobile internet access so helpful, but it is. Internet Explorer on this phone works surprisingly well, and renders most sites without too much trouble. Again, I never thought I would need such a frivolous feature but as I sat in Schipol airport with a girlfriend, late one Sunday night a few weeks back I wondered if I would be able to get a train back from Birmingham airport back in the UK or if the trains had all finished. No worry.. just whip out my phone, and check the train timetable online.. saved me a lot of hassle and time just having access to that. In the end we had to get a taxi ;)

    The camera is good too, and has come in handy so many times.. like getting a picture of the map of the maze at a country house before going into it so we can find our way back out if we get stuck or taking a quick snap of a note that you don't want to forget! :)

    Wonderful phone.. I don't think i'd change it for anything right now.. well.. maybe one with a bit more reliable firmware on it ;)

    Don't be so quick to gloss over the seemingly frivolous features. They are more useful than you realise sometimes!

    --
    "Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
  6. Re:Anyone else... by Princeofcups · · Score: 5, Informative

    > Gates' prediction that the Internet would be huge business was not wrong at all.

    Um, no. Gates thought that the internet was a joke, not for the business user. M$ was very late coming out with a browser, because they had no interest until it was almost too late. They scrambled like mad to warp and mutate Mosaic into the non-standards complient bastard IE when it was obvious that the internet was not going away.

    jfs

    --
    The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.