Excellent Register Article

vinney57vinney57
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
Brilliant article in the Register about Ballmer and why Microsoft won't succeed in home appliance market, but Apple might.



By John Lettice (and not that Orlowski idiot)



http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10...doesnt_get_it/

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 3
    spindlerspindler Posts: 713member
    The funny thing is next to the article they have a T-shirt for sale that says "Mac OS X - I've upped my standards. Up yours"



    Up Yours. Get it?
  • Reply 2 of 3
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,425member
    Is anyone really worried about Microsoft becoming a threat to anyone in Consumer Elec(CE)? I'm not. Sure MS is the computer monopoly but I agree with this guy that people aren't looking for a behemoth product with a thick manual to play DVDs and audio. They're not looking for a product that goes to extraordinary lengths to protect entertainment companies.



    Microsoft is quickly becoming a company that is having problems developing anything successful beyond Windows and Office.



    Ultimate TV- Tivo's still here...UTV ain't.



    WebTV- The mighty MS couldn't sell this lemon approach.



    Xbox- Playstation still dominates and that shouldn't change with the Xbox2 vs PS3 battle coming.



    MS simply doesn't carry the weight in CE that can beat the inertia that Apple has created with the iPod/iTunes. Sure people point to Internet Explorers domination of Netscape as some harbinger of what could happen to Apple but think about this.



    Netscape Navigator cost money- IE was ffee.



    You had to download NN, MS tossed IE in with every OS shipped.



    Kinda hard to compete with someone who gives the product away and ensures that it's easily available.



    MS has NONE of these options for CE products. They cannot undercut Apple appreciably nor can they offer anything free that Apple is charging for.



    If Apple/HP indeed can sell a Million iPods a month them that's another 3+ million iPod/iTunes users by January 2005. Man that's amazing as that's %1 of the US population roughly. I've said this before and I'll say it again. If Apple still holds %60+ of the download market by the "end" of 2005 the race for portables is over.



    MS touting their DRM really does show how they "still" don't get it. With linux encroaching and the success of Firefox I really think MS has peaked and will now begin a slow decline. It's almost time for Apple to compete with MS on every level(say 2-3 years). I wouldn't worry about CE though. MS got caught napping thinking WMA was just going to take over and Apple ran right by them. They won't catch Apple.
  • Reply 3 of 3
    vinney57vinney57 Posts: 1,162member
    What was good about the article I thought was the rational approach to DRM instead of the usual nonsense. ie. Apple's DRM is 'good enough' to keep the record companies happy whilst not getting in the way of normal consumer behaviour. That's seems to be the bit that MS doesn't get.



    You can tell MS are worried when 'Monkey Boy' comes out to trash talk the iPod.
Sign In or Register to comment.