Microsoft, the Entertainer?

[James Fee]

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2004/tc2004091_9412_tc119.htm

""There's nothing that the iPod does that I say: "Oh, wow, I don't think we can do that,'" Gates says....Yet for all the effort, Microsoft isn't going to displace Apple anytime soon. The stylish, simple elegance of Apple's iPod, together with its pioneering iTunes download service, has come to define digital music. Apple has sold nearly 4 million iPods and more than 100 million songs, and its momentum shows no signs of abating. By comparison, Microsoft hasn't shown the flair that's necessary in digital entertainment. It's relying on partners to gin up iPod killers, and to date, they haven't come close to Apple's allure. And even as Microsoft's partners are improving their designs, so is Apple, making its lead that much more difficult to overcome. "The iPod has transcended being a consumer device and become a cultural icon," says Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg."

A very interesting article about how Microsoft hope to unseat Apple and the iPod. The article also touches on how Microsoft see video as the future and how they hope to leverage that to surplant Apple. If Samsung or others can figure out how to make Portable Media Centers that the average consumer wants, they will be sitting in the drivers seat for the next 5 years.

[James Fee]

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2004/tc2004091_9412_tc119.htm

""There's nothing that the iPod does that I say: "Oh, wow, I don't think we can do that,'" Gates says....Yet for all the effort, Microsoft isn't going to displace Apple anytime soon. The stylish, simple elegance of Apple's iPod, together with its pioneering iTunes download service, has come to define digital music. Apple has sold nearly 4 million iPods and more than 100 million songs, and its momentum shows no signs of abating. By comparison, Microsoft hasn't shown the flair that's necessary in digital entertainment. It's relying on partners to gin up iPod killers, and to date, they haven't come close to Apple's allure. And even as Microsoft's partners are improving their designs, so is Apple, making its lead that much more difficult to overcome. "The iPod has transcended being a consumer device and become a cultural icon," says Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg."

A very interesting article about how Microsoft hope to unseat Apple and the iPod. The article also touches on how Microsoft see video as the future and how they hope to leverage that to surplant Apple. If Samsung or others can figure out how to make Portable Media Centers that the average consumer wants, they will be sitting in the drivers seat for the next 5 years.

[Felix Torres]

Uh, MSN Music sells individual songs...

[rzanology]

good point...i checked it out last night. As far as the portable video players, they are almost there. For the same $500 you can get a pvp as opposed to buying an ipod that just plays music. Only thing is...the size. They need to work on the size!

[James Fee]

Originally Posted by Felix Torres

Uh, MSN Music sells individual songs...

Yea, this was posted up a couple days ago. I was only going off of what the article says. ops:

I can't believe that is your only comment?

[gettinbranded]

Umm...unseat the iPod? Nowhere does Gates say that.

Instead, he says:

Q: Is their approach, though, likely to relegate them to the sort of niche they have in the PC business?
A: Obviously, they expect to do better than that. And they're always going to have the Apple position. Over time, the importance of choice, price-performance [comparison], some of the broad software things we do that they don't do, will give us the Microsoft position. I don't know what the equilibrium will be, but I think there's a significant opportunity for both of us.
--
Q: Is there a way to think about how much of a revenue boost Microsoft can get from these products over time?
A: No.... We're such a big company in terms of the Windows revenue base and the Office revenue base that it's always going to be hard for us. When things are in their first few years, they're never gigantic. Downloading music tracks will never, both because of size and margin, be a gigantic business. But the strategy of creating the foundation for e-commerce and more content for advertising, that's big. Advertising is already a measurable business even in the Microsoft scale.

Will this transaction stuff be a significant part of our business picture over the next five years? We're betting that it will be. But in order to make that true, we have to go way, way beyond just music tracks and have a variety of things that come through that infrastructure.

[Mojo Jojo]

I think the way it was written leads to some misunderstandings.

I read the line...

"But unlike iTunes, MSN Music has agreed to carry music from artists who want to sell only entire albums online, instead of individual songs."

...and came away with the thought that MSN would only carry the artist if the artist is willing to sell the whole album and NOT have the artisit restrict which tracks are sold and only put up certain select tracks.

Not that I have ever stumbled across an artisit only willing to put up half an album but not all of it.

(shrugs)

[Felix Torres]

Originally Posted by James Fee

Yea, this was posted up a couple days ago. I was only going off of what the article says. ops:

I can't believe that is your only comment?

I've pretty much said all I *have* to say on the subject.
Don't wanna repeat myself.
Don't wanna repeat myself. :twisted:

At least not until I know more about the store and the platform. 8)

[Felix Torres]

Originally Posted by Mojo Jojo

I
Not that I have ever stumbled across an artisit only willing to put up half an album but not all of it.

(shrugs)

Oddly enough, *those* can be found; there are several albums that you can only order a few tracks in digital form and the rest only come on the CD...