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Microsoft To Release 'iPod Killer' at Christmas?
ShellFish writes "According to a report from Engadget, Microsoft is poised to finally take on the Apple iPod this holiday season. Tired of uninspiring offerings from its hardware partners, Microsoft is getting into the ring itself. The new media player from Microsoft will feature a bigger screen than the iPod Video, have built-in WiFi for downloading music without a PC, and Microsoft will work with music and TV content providers to build an iTunes Music Store competitor. In what may be the crucial competitive stroke, Microsoft will also allow you to download from its store any song that you've purchased from Apple, unlocking users from iPod's vendor lock-in."
I'll take a wait and see attitude before totally slamming it, but if history is a judge, ...
unlocking users from iPod's vendor lock-in
... and locking them right back in again in to Micrsoft's vendor lock-in.
Brilliant.
Next, I hope they'll let me "upgrade" all my paperbacks to MSReader encrypted format too!
Easy: they'll do the same thing they've done with the x-box (subsidize the music at their cost, to win market share)....
I'll assume the summary leaves out the crucial word "free" in there. If so, that's pretty damn clever. I just wonder how/if MS will get the music cartels to agree to it, other than wholescale bombing of their headquarters' into submission by the Windows Air Force.
Forget that, how will they enforce it?
Violate the DMCA and try decrypting the songs?
Hack Apple's servers for information?
...I'd have enough money to buy a newer iPod.
The next Cmdr Taco duplicate will be ready soon, but subscribers can beat the rush and see it early!
There's no guarantee that Microsoft will be able to negotiate the same rates with the recording labels that Apple has. In fact from previous stories we know that the labels are aching to raise online prices and introduce differentiation, but were overpowered by Apple's market share. Microsoft will have a market share of 0% as they negotiate their deals--expect them to pay more per song than Apple for recent "hit" music. So the RIAA is laughing because not only are they going to get paid twice for one consumer purchase, but the second payment might actually be bigger than the first.
Apple is laughing because Microsoft seems to have no profit foothold anywhere in the business plan. As new entrants their players will most likely have to compete on price, reducing the profit margin there. And by re-paying labels for music already purchases, they are in essence subsidizing their customers' libraries--a huge expense. Compare to Apple who commands a healthy profit on the players AND a small profit on every song sold. The only thing better than beating a competitor is making them lose a lot money and STILL get beaten.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Since when is mp3 a lock-in format? (the bulk of what is on my Pod is ripped from my own collection). Nothing is stopping you from from doing that or buying from online vendors that sell albums in mp3 format. Don't be dense.
YOu may be right on points 1 and 3, but not 2. It will be using a proprieatary vendor lock in format called WMA, just as chock full of DRM as the ipod.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Nothing on that list is what iPod owners care about, so this'll be another money bleeding mistake, not an "iPod killer" (besides, didn't we already have an iPod killer this week? I thought they're scheduled every two weeks).
The iPod is a) simple, b) reliable, c) user-friendly, d) cool, e) well designed and f) ties in well with iTunes. That's what sells it, not bigger screens or WiFi. Nobody who owns an iPod wants to fiddle around for 5 minutes to get the WiFi to work.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
Good point about the battery, but 1) AAC is not proprietary and 2) the iPod also plays MP3s, WAVs and AIFFs (IIRC).
Microsoft will also allow you to download from its store any song that you've purchased from Apple, unlocking users from iPod's vendor lock-in.
;-)
The iTunes Music Store (iTMS) lock-in is exaggerated. I think Jobs mentioned that the average iTMS customer purchased US$70 worth of music. That's not much of a lock-in, especially given that we're talking about folks with the resources to buy an iPod - a digital player at the expensive end of the spectrum.
Now if only Microsoft would expand the policy to include music I purchased on LPs, 8 tracks, and casettes.
Which will increase the size.
AAC isn't a proprietary vendor lock-in format, it's the successor to MP3, as in MP4. It's amazing how many people think AAC is an Apple thing. They've obviously never even looked into the format. AAC is the standard audio format for next-gen movies (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray).
Right, people have found no uses for the port at the bottom of the iPod.
This is another money-sinking venture into locking you into WMA and getting you reliant on Windows tech. The device will be bulky (bigger screen? What, you think Apple won't be introducing new iPods this Christmas either? Probably those huge widescreen touchscreen iPods we've been hearing about for a year) and will only work with Windows and Window Media Player. Yuck.
As for free downloads of iTunes purchases, does Microsoft think people use iPods because of the iTunes Music Store?
"Sufferin' succotash."
Seriously, the companies that have to be the most concerned about this announcement today have names like these: Creative, Sony, Napster, Yahoo!, MTV and Real Networks. These are all Microsoft "partners" whose business ventures are now going to have to be in direct competition with Microsoft's own player/store. Some of them have been losing money trying to compete with the iPod/iTMS, such as Creative and Napster. What are their future prospects now?
Apple will do fine. They have dominated the mp3 business far in excess of anyone's expectations, and for far longer. Even if they fall back to a 40% market share; that will still be a large and successful business.
Hah... I own an iPod because I don't LIKE anything on AM/FM.
I've owned 2 iPods so far, and only got rid of the first one because I wanted to upgrade to a "bigger and better" 60GB video iPod model. I've had zero problems with either of them, unless you count one time I had to do a soft-reset on the 60GB video after it froze up trying to play some corrupted MP3 files I accidently put on it.
I use mine pretty much every day, since it's normally attached to a Pioneer adapter on my car stereo.
I'm not denying *some* people have had problems with theirs, of course. But my experience is, this is a device that feels quite "solid" compared to most of the competitors. (The buttons feel like they could fall out of some of the other models I've used!) Sure - they're easy to scratch up, but that's just a cosmetic issue. In some respects, I actually like the way they show poor/rough handling like they do. It gives second-hand purchasers immediate knowledge of whether the previous owner was the type to take care of his/her electronics, or just throw them about.
I am so sick of reading news every 6 months about some new "iPod Killer" We can talk about who killed the ipod when it is dead. Until then... Stop pointing fingers.
Msft has said themselves: a big part of the ipod craze is the trendy fashion statement. It's like wearing the right name-brand running shoes, as opposed to some cheap knock-off.
Consider the age group that is the target market. High school, and college students just don't consider msft cool anymore (did they ever?).