Whee! Jobs interviewed in German paper
... and if you read it in German, it's probably all right. But MacSurfer pointed my non-German-speaking self at Google's automatic translation, and boy is that a hoot. Here is Steve on the filesharing controversy:
Steve says that opening Apple stores in Germany is "a good idea," and "we'll think about it." (They haven't thought about it?!) Since substantial parts of this "translation" are completely impossible to understand, I'd appreciate it if a German speaker could try their hand at the original article.
Quote:
That is a thing of the music industry, which has at present completely obviously difficulties. In addition I would like to say nothing further. It is safe that itself Apple concentrates, in order to speak in a picture in this business rather on sugar bread, thus the offer of music, and with the whip of the courts does not threaten. One will retrospectively say sometime that the Apple Musicstore rang in an unbelievable time change in the music business.
That is a thing of the music industry, which has at present completely obviously difficulties. In addition I would like to say nothing further. It is safe that itself Apple concentrates, in order to speak in a picture in this business rather on sugar bread, thus the offer of music, and with the whip of the courts does not threaten. One will retrospectively say sometime that the Apple Musicstore rang in an unbelievable time change in the music business.
Steve says that opening Apple stores in Germany is "a good idea," and "we'll think about it." (They haven't thought about it?!) Since substantial parts of this "translation" are completely impossible to understand, I'd appreciate it if a German speaker could try their hand at the original article.
Comments
mmmmm sugar bread
</homer>
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Also what has been going on with AppleInsider?? Since the Apple Expo Paris these forums have been slow loading (if it even loads at all) and generally unresponsive. Are you having server-problems Amorph??
Originally posted by KANE
Also what has been going on with AppleInsider?? Since the Apple Expo Paris these forums have been slow loading (if it even loads at all) and generally unresponsive. Are you having server-problems Amorph??
I think some of the ads are causing difficulty for some browsers.
Originally posted by KANE
Are you having server-problems Amorph??
See the Suggestions forum and you'll find half a dozen threads complaining about the advertisements hanging our pages. It's thanks to our advertisers changing their code. The solution is to use OmniWeb, install PithHelmet for Safari, or modify your /etc/hosts file to block them. \
In addition I would like to say nothing further.
Were they translating what Steve said from German, before you had to translate back to English, or was Steve's German just really bad?
Mr. Jobs, your industry has three bad crisis years behind it. How will it continue?
I expect that the computer industry will consolidate itself even further.
I think however not necessarily on mergers of companies. Most of the time, such fusions don't bring out something useful. Rather some offerers will disappear completely from the market.
Can you tell names?
The future position of Gateway is very unstable. And I can also imagine that Sony sometime will leave the PC business completely. Except Dell and Apple, everybody is loosing money. At our competitors, many employees have been fired. None at Apple.
Your market share in Europe is behind the one in America. Will this gap be closed?
The large spreading of broadband entrances to the Internet such as DSL in Germany should benefit us much in the future, since our programs, for example, video conferencing, profit from this strongly.
Can you imagine to open your own stores in Germany like in the United States?
What do you think, where should we open them?
Perhaps in Berlin, Munich, Köln, Frankfurt?
Good Idea. We'll think about it.
What does that mean? Are such stores now actually coming?
We haven't decided that. So far I only know that at the end of the year, there will be a store opening in Tokyo.
Where, in view of the consolidation under your competitors, will Apple stand in the coming years? How can you grow?
With our new laptops, of whom three improved models were presented here in Paris, we are haunting our competition. The past quarters have showed that. The others just want to copy us, but they fail at it. Besides, Apple is positioned outstandingly in this growing business.
How does that look in numbers?
The share of the portable computers on our sold number of items was last at 42 percent. In the entire industry however it was only 24 to 25 percent. These are our growth drivers. Additionally comes the introduction of the new Power Mac G5. This is the fastest PC in the world. Especially our professional customers have been waiting for this for some time. And to mid-2004 our G5-Processors will reach a clock speed of 3 Gigaherz. The wireless communication isn't a real growth-motor anymore, we already offer it for some years.
So far, you have alone in the United States sold over 10 million songs over the internet. This is an unexpected success, but when comes your musicstore also to Europe?
We are working on it, but we have to clear some licensing questions with the music industry first. We have to to this for every single country in Europe. I hope we are there next year.
Your online-store only works on Apple-Computers. When is there going to be a similar offer for the market-dominating Windows operating system from Microsoft?
We are very much on track to offer in this year our Musicstore in the United States also for the operating system Windows.
In the United States, the music industry has started to sue users of file-sharing-applications. Does this help the legal offer from Apple?
This is a thing of the music industry, which has at the present some obvious difficulties. I don't want to say anything more on this subject.
Sure is, that Apple, to speak in a picture, is concentrating on the offering of music (the sugar bread; german saying; getting something good) rather than threat (whip; german saying; to be punished) with the courts. Sometime, people will look back and say that the Apple Musicstore has rang in an unbelievable time change in the music business.
Will there be imitators?
Our offer cannot be simply copied. There is too much Apple-experience in it, starting at iTunes up to the technical completion of downloading the songs and their payment.
The interview led Carsten Knop
Text: You can read the complete interview in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 21.09.2003, Nr. 38 / Page 33.
Pictorial material: dpa/dpaweb
translated by Defiant, master of english?
edit brought grammar corrections
Learn something new every day. Thanks, Defiant!
Defiant's translated translation of the E-G-E translated text clarifies, but removes some comedic possibilities\
You're welcome, Amorph.
Originally posted by Defiant
Can you imagine to open your own stores in Germany like in the United States?
What do you think, where should we open them?
Perhaps in Berlin, Munich, Köln, Frankfurt?
Good Idea. We'll think about it.
Priceless.
Originally posted by crazychester
Priceless.
IMO, Germany needs AppleStores. Most Apple dealers are located outside of the (expensive) downtown areas with high visibility and lots of traffic. So Apple doesn't get much visible exposure here.
Some computer chains offer(ed) Apples, but I don't think this really helps. There were Macs sitting in one corner, there's nearly no Apple software on the shelfs, the models are from the last generation with the original price tags. A perfect situation to reinforce the prejudice about the expensive Macs without software...
I think however not necessarily on mergers of companies. Most of the time, such fusions don't bring out something useful. Rather some offerers will disappear completely from the market.
Fusions? Apple and NeXT, for example?
Having said that, don't hold your breath for German AppleStores.
Originally posted by GSpotter
IMO, Germany needs AppleStores. Most Apple dealers are located outside of the (expensive) downtown areas with high visibility and lots of traffic. So Apple doesn't get much visible exposure here.
Some computer chains offer(ed) Apples, but I don't think this really helps. There were Macs sitting in one corner, there's nearly no Apple software on the shelfs, the models are from the last generation with the original price tags. A perfect situation to reinforce the prejudice about the expensive Macs without software...
Fry's is better. They're software collection for Macs still stinks (though they have about 2/3 of an aisle,) but they have an ample sized Apple section with a nice Apple logo on a sign on an aisle (both sides) or two of Apple computers. At least where I go.
Originally posted by ryaxnb
Fry's is better.
As we do not have any Fry's here, maybe they should open some stores here...
Originally posted by Defiant
Your market share in Europe is behind the one in America. Will this gap be closed?
The large spreading of broadband entrances to the Internet such as DSL in Germany should benefit us much in the future, since our programs, for example, video conferencing, profit from this strongly.[/B]
I don't know who he is trying to fool here. Euro marketshare is low, because Apple Europe are a bunch of total losers. Their prices over here are even higher than in the states although PCs are cheaper over here. This way, a Powerbook is easily 2.5x as expensive as a PC counterpart, an iMac 2-3x (depending on what you compare it at).
Furthermore, they don't have any marketing and advertising here any longer, it seems. They translated the iBook slogan "Your life. To go" verbatim which sounded very corny in German (like saying: hey since you are nothing but a loser who has no life, take it with you). Their translation of "don't steal music" is bordering to illiteracy as well...
Since they left the German market to MS, the high percentage of DSL-users will not help them at all. Streaming media content is delivered 100% as either RealCrap or MS-media by news outlets. They can't just sit on their asses, but should strike some deals with large newspapers and TV stations even if it means delivering solutions at no price.
The delay in the euro-musicstore will not help Apples position either - the german music companies are teaming up to establish a common platform. Needless to say, Apple has passed the chance to get a foot into that door, so it will be MS only.
Originally posted by Willoughby
<homer>
mmmmm sugar bread
</homer>
ROFL! Oh god.... must stop wetting pants at work! ROFL!