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Can Open Source Outdo the IPod?
CHaN_316 writes "Wired is running an article entitled, "Can Open Source Outdo the IPod?" Asking the open source community to help them compete with the iPod. From the article: 'Consumer electronics manufacturer Neuros Audio is tapping the open-source community to convert its upcoming portable media player from iPod road kill into a contender [...] To get the ball rolling, Neuros recently opened up the firmware code for its Neuros 442 portable media player, which is set to launch in January [...] Neuros' hardware design is complete, comprising a Texas Instruments dual-core digital signal processor, a 3.6-inch, 65,000-color TFT display and a 40-GB hard drive for recording video from a TV or home entertainment system. But the company has left a little something -- mostly user interface tweaks -- for the volunteers.' Is this a good idea or a mere publicity stunt?"
"They design their own hardware, write their own OS (*), develop their own apps, do their own marketing (the 'reality distortion field' effect :-). They do it all, just to make the whole experience as unified and simple for the end-user as possible. They grok synergy."
Yet when Microsoft does it, its called abusing a monopoly.
Last time I checked, AAC was a superior, free codec. Ah yes, but I forget, it wasn't written by GNU hippies, so it must be bad, right?
Also, get your fat ugly head out of your ass. If the only thing iPods had going for them was 'flashing multicoloured adverts', then 'Joe Public' (you condescending fucking cunt) wouldn't be buying them in droves, at least not 4 years later.