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62 Comments
- McZiggz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Nargilamonster-
I have to disagree. I am a college student and work for my university computer/book store. When i first came here (3 years ago) i would see people w/ Dell DJs and Rios and varios little things. But they weren't "cool". The kids w/ the white headphones were the "cool" ones. And so thus, the Dell DJs either broke, or were given away... and were replaced by iPods. You just couldn't feel good about toting ur non-iPod mp3 player.
I think the iPod is bought 8/10 for the name. But once people use the interface i don't think there is any turning back. It really is a slick little device, and integrates quite well with iTunes. And the neat thing is the whole Apple iPod "halo effect" is definitely true. We have sold 100% more Apple computers each year i've been here. Often we ask the students if they already have iPods and the common answer is yes.
Its not a matter of who made the mp3 player first, its who made it successful. Dell was hardly the first company to make computers, or even the first company to mass produce custom computers at a good price... they have just been the most successful. And similarly, 7/10 college students come to school planning to buy a Dell.
:-) Till i talk them into a Mac. - nargilamonster, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The missing bit of info here: 90% of Americans think the iPod was the first (and some think the only) .mp3 player. Even college students think this. I'm basing this upon purely personal observation of course but I've notices that ALMOST everyone at my college seems to think the iPod is the only player, etc. That said, the only advantage from a market perspective that would be gained by MS backing an iPod assailant: notoriety, and a lot of money to push it in the marketing department (this is where Apple's iPod reigns supreme over all other mp3 players).
Really, the only people who benefit from buying an iPod over other players are Apple users b/c of the excellent integration it has in OS X. - BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5if everybody just bought a Rio Karma the world would be a better place
-gapless playback
-FLAC, Ogg support
-NO DRM *****
-bar none the best integrated headphone amplification of any mp3 player
-tons of 3rd party support
-cradle charger has ethernet connection - your player can function as a server to stream music to remote location
Mine has lasted me 2 years and countless hours at the gym. They are discontinued and can be had for $200, unopened boxes still available. - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3> This isn't really news. Person asks question. The recipient
> beats around the bush.
Read between the lines. He gave a BS, corporate-speak answer to a 19-year-old. That might go over nicely at a boardroom meeting, but a kid wants a yes or no, which he couldn't do. It basically implies that he has no idea what they're really doing and effectively says MS has no solid plan or strategy to take on Apple. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"We are talking with partners about how we, working with those partners, can make even better music players. We've got some in the market today. I'd say in total they have about 20 percent market share, which is lower than we like, and so we're seeing where we can come together to make a device that's less expensive and connects in better ways, does photos and videos in better ways."
- Half-Fast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Piss on the Ipod subject. Dugg just for the girl passing her resume to Bill. She's got balls and ambition. She ought to get a shot at an internship just for that move.
- zetsurin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"err dont worry the ipod craze will die just like with the other products that lived on as a fasion statement."
Retard. The iPod actually has some serious USABILITY to back it up, far from just being a fashion item. It's a consumer device which needs for most people to play music and it does so damn well with minimum fuss. - DigeratiPrime, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2silly ipod herds.
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2M$'s iPod will be called the Borg Pod. When you put it in your bag, it will assimilate all nearby electronics and steal your wallet.
- staticten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Aussie:
Hey downunder.....you're right.....just saw the video.....this one's old! - gamekid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"i wish creative came out with a good mp3 player."
Then we can all listen to our Portable On-Demand Casts wherever we go! - captainjy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Even being pro-MS, it's going to be very hard for Bill and Co. to make up ground in this market. As an earlier post said, most people are buying the "White earphones" because that means your cool. Let's face it, the IPOD really is a great piece of hardware. Probably the best in the market, but something will come along and replace it over time. Maybe not an MS-player, but something will.
- znicket, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This aroused my interest... Blacks at Microsoft (BAM).
Is Blacks a PC term nowadays? - Ruckus21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't hold your breath.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+020% market share seems a little low. He's obviously going to give the "we're going to do it better" speech, but at least he complemented the design and success of itunes and ipods.
- ediblehat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Schyler: "Is Microsoft going to develop a hand-held, you know, MP3 player, to combat iPod?"
Gates: "Yeah, Apple has done a fantastic job with the iPod. How many of you have iPods?"
So, once you translate it from corporate BS into English, the answer is "no". - Ainast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Bill Gates chimes in, "Yeah, Apple has done a fantastic job with the iPod. How many of you have iPods?" he asked, as a smattering of students around the conference room raised their hands...
a millisecond later a puppy is placed into a tube and then one of Gates lackeys pulls a stigger.
SSSrrrhhvvvvhoooooooo (sound the deathstar makes before firing)
and a 20 young adults evaportate. Coincidentally they are all listening to furgy singing about her humps. - diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Where the hell did he get 20%???? try 15%
- WDot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This isn't really news. Person asks question. The recipient beats around the bush. It happens all the time, everywhere. Politics, business, etc. The only reason this is here is because it has the name "Bill Gates" in it. No digg.
- Tsuwamono, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0did he say anything about his trusted companies act? lol you guys should be more worried about him stealing our freedom then your music players since unless your planing on buying all your music(which i highly doubt ANY of you buys more then 20%) because if you dont thats what microsoft is coming after. Fun eh guys? I would like to see an article on that lol
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can't wait for the X-player. 2 years later, the X-Player 360.
- Ainast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Bill Gates chimes in, "Yeah, Apple has done a fantastic job with the iPod. How many of you have iPods?" he asked, as a smattering of students around the conference room raised their hands...
a millisecond later a puppy is placed into a tube and then one of Gates lackeys pulls a stigger.
SSSrrrhhvvvvhoooooooo (sound the deathstar makes before firing)
and a 20 young adults evaportate. Coincidentally they are all listening to furgy singing about her humps.
The puppy is no more. - inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Did you all read the rest of the article where the military guy stands up and says, "You told us Windows 98 would be faster and more reliable with better access to the Internet."
And Bill says, "It is faster. Over 5 million--" - xodex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0BassCadet, Rio went out of business did it not? I thought that was the case? I dunno..
I myself love rio but haven't venture to look at any future mp3 players past the Rio 500, ah good times at school, "What the fuq is that?" a.... radio don't bother me ;) move along... - peregrine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0interesting read.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0tsk tsk. inexperienced
- awfulshot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0it will have massive DRM. i wish creative came out with a good mp3 player. (i have a touch. its meh)
- MrShock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'd try it out as long as there was some way to replace the battery. If they do release a bad ass mp3 player, I wonder if apple will try to be competitive and fix the problems, or will they just try to ride the name and keep releasing products you have to upgrade every 6 months.
- MikhoohkiM, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0if it going take a few years as bill said, they are not going get far, apple pumping out new pods at crazy speeds
- AngryPenguin47, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0YEAH....thats exactly what I want. Some BSOD mp3 player!!!!
ROFLMAO!!! - cvrti5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought Gates answered the question well. I mean, what is he supposed to say, ""yes". Come on, business is not set in stone.
- DigeratiPrime, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hell yeah webcrumb, i got an axim too with TCPMP http://tcpmp.corecodec.org/about
it rocks :) - aeiou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"20% market share seems a little low"
Really? It seems a bit high to me. - grayapple, on 10/12/2007, -0/+020% of the market Mr.Gates, when did Microsoft start building the hardware AND the software on MP3 Players?, personally I would have asked what percentage of Vista is based on new code and not code from way back when
- foohookups311, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I like this excerpt from the article when Bill Gates added:
He added: "I don't think what's out in the market today is the final answer. But again, it just shows the magic of software. Apple did a very good job on iTunes, did the user-interface design right. That means we'll have to match all that good work and do something even better."
Yeah Bill just like you did back in the day when you "Matched" Mac OS, only problem was that your "match" sucks. - andrebsd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"90% of Americans think the iPod was the first (and some think the only) .mp3 player. Even college students think this. I'm basing this upon purely personal observation of course but I've notices that ALMOST everyone at my college seems to think the iPod is the only player, etc."
... You just go to a crappy college. - FishyJoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Saying that they have 20% market share of non-iPod mp3 players is pretty stupid. Might as well say they have 100% market share since you can use iPod+iTunes on windows.
- staticten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love listening to BG! Dugg!
- DanVersion1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'd hardly say he was "giving them a lesson in indirect answers". Gates was pretty clear and direct (IMO).
- coyforce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The only reason this is here is because it has the name "Bill Gates" in it."
Don't forget the word "iPod". - Aussie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://digg.com/apple/A_Microsoft_iPod_rival_Gates_weighs_in
This is the same article. Why don't people pay attention to that little thing that pops up when you submit a story that tells you if other similar articles have been submitted? - staticten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"tsk tsk. inexperienced"
I love how really some people don't know that BG owns some Apple Stock!!!
hehehehe.......inexperienced huh.........heard of Cross Licensing shared between Apple and MS?
GO back to school BIORET! - Aussie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thanks staticten. Just because this was a bit wordier or something, it superseeded an article posted half a day earlier, linking to the exact same article.
Reported: duplicate story.
It amazes me how something like this can happen and why comments can't be merged into the original articles in circumstances like this. - j_bellone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thank god. Apple needs some competition. Mine has been in the shop three times.
- cheftony, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0blah blah blah...
who says you have to upgrade your ipod every 6 months (another post above)...although you may WANT TO as I have... I'm sure there are still millions of 2g and 3g units out there... thats the tech game anyhoo...since the dawn of the 80s.....BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER....apple rocks... - MonkeyFCoconut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Meh, so what.. yeah yeah.. you are working on something.. whatever. A couple years is about 2.5 times over what is required to start working on something today to get into production after said elapsed time. Nah, I think he's BS'ing us and just trying to keep all of his competitors guessing.
- jbno, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Apple's iPod isn't that good, it's just better advertised. There are plenty of better portable digital audio players out there, but they're not as well advertised as Apple's iPod. A previous poster mentioned the Rio Karma and I'd also consider the Neuros II and the iRiver devices I saw at an electronics store (hard drive and flash memory based portable digital audio players, respectively). We can use better audio formats (either lossy: Ogg Vorbis or lossless: FLAC) as well. We don't need to give into patented technically-inferior formats like MP3 and formats portable digital players won't play (like some of Apple's proprietary formats) that are only implemented with proprietary software. The Neuros device, while significantly physically larger than its competition, has a number of interesting features: preserve your software freedom with Free Software software to run on the device, support for unencumbered codecs, and low-range FM & recording capability with no additional hardware needed (unlike most other portable digital audio players).
- snarkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0"err dont worry the ipod craze will die just like with the other products that lived on as a fasion statement."
I agree. Right after every person in the industrial world between the ages of 5 and 95 has purchased about three generations of iPod. - chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0It's not just about it being fashionable. The iPod just friggin' works.
- chris86wm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I would buy the Microsoft player.
Hope they come up with an ipod killer! -
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