Kent Pribbernow
05-13-2005, 02:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050512/tc_nm/tech_microsoft_gates_dc_2&printer=1' target='_blank'>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050512/tc_nm/tech_microsoft_gates_dc_2&printer=1</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Microsoft founder Bill Gates sees mobile phones overtaking MP3s as the top choice of portable music player, and views the raging popularity of Apple's iPod player as unsustainable, he told a German newspaper. "As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run," he said in an interview published in Thursday's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung."</i><br /><br />I don't share Bill's belief that dedicated audio players will be shoved aside by cell phones, at least not in the immediate future. However, I do see media-rich phones ultimately replacing low-end portable audio gear and flash-based media players (like iPod shuffle), but there will always be a need for purpose built hardware. A phone just can't perform those functions as well as iPods or other dedicated media players. Until recently I owned three handhelds with digital audio capability; a Tungsten T5, Tapwave Zodiac, and Dell Axim X50v. During the entire period of use I NEVER used any of them for serious multimedia use because of the poor user experience these devices offered. Transferring music was a tragic comedy, especially on the PalmOS hardware. When I wanted to listen to my audio library I always reached for the iPod, simply because it was better suited and more convenient for that purpose. <br /><br />Could this change in the future? Absolutely. But Windows Mobile...and all other mobile platforms...have a long way to go before they can replace <i>my</i> digital audio player. Sorry Bill.