jonny_m - 28 July 2005 07:35 PM

John Edwards - 28 July 2005 07:18 PM

Hold on… I think that’s a little over the line.

Microsoft isn’t any more “criminal” than Apple in my books.  Let me know when Apple decides to let other companies play protected AAC files with their software/hardware.

That didn’t appear to be about slamming or rhetoric, it’s about facts. Microsoft is a convicted, criminal company. Dragged to court. Lost. They pay fines to settle. Not just greivances about patents or trademarks, but illegal activities, too. US. Europe. Elsewhere.

That’s a big difference between playing hard-nosed business and actually breaking the law and being convicted.

I was probably away and didn’t get involved in this one, though I have a distinct opinion. I’ve used Microsoft products from time to time as a business necessity, but the fact still remains that they are a criminal company; tried and convicted, and tried again.

More interesting, though, is Bill Gates’ propensity for disclosing his vision of the future and then missing it entirely. In that one area both Gates and Apple’s Steve Jobs differ dramatically.

In another area we see some semblance of convergence; the living room. Gates is tackling the future of the living room on two fronts that are connected; games and media center.

Jobs and Apple appear to be approaching the living room with the Mac as a ‘hub’ (vs. Windows and/or XBox360 as a hub) to manage all the digital spokes; music, movies, photos, et al. Apple is still missing the TV and purchased movies spoke (as is Windows), so that will probably evolve over the next year or so.

Also interesting is Intel’s new chips with the ability to partition and run multiple OS’s at the same time, and Apple’s application for a patent to nail down that capability.

I see more battles brewing between the two. This time Microsoft has to compete on a level, legal playing field, where they haven’t had as much success.

I don’t see Microsoft admitting defeat in any manner, though they do change directions and priorities often enough that it may seem like it.

Their obvious vision of the future is in online advertising and the living room. Windows is still important, but it’s how a user accesses Windows and how Microsoft gets paid for it that has changed. The PC won’t die, but how we get information we want through our computers may change-- digital music, digital photos, email, browsers, and so on.

So Microsoft is making a run for the living room and their view of the ‘hub’. It looks like it’s going to be XBox which connects to the PC which connects to the rest of the internet world.

Apple is a little late to the party but brings some impressive numbers with the iPod, now the purveyor of music and storage of photos, and soon may own portable video, too.

Missing is Apple’s ‘control’ mechanism for the video to compete with Microsoft’s mechanism, which is games.

Fun days ahead.

Danny Boy - 24 November 2005 09:02 PM

Apple is a little late to the party…

Yeah, let?s think positively and hope that MS and Sony will not be able to exploit the advantage their new consoles give them with regard to the media center in the living room - especially considering video content - and that they fail as usual in providing a seamless user experience and greedily bug people with overly constraining DRM practises.

After all, iPods weren’t the first music players around and iTMS wasn’t the first music store around.

Utz - 24 November 2005 11:03 PM

Yeah, let?s think positively and hope that MS and Sony will not be able to exploit the advantage their new consoles give them with regard to the media center in the living room - especially considering video content - and that they fail as usual in providing a seamless user experience and greedily bug people with overly constraining DRM practises.

Well, Microsoft is going to be providing quite a good and seamless experience as far as I can see. With Vista, Xbox 360 and the Zune you will have quite a nice set up. Vista will include Media Center out of the box so you can use your Xbox 360 as a media extender and the Zune will also work with the Xbox 360 allowing you to either play the content of your Zune or to download content from the internet into it. Sounds good.

Sony I am not too sure about, they seem to be in trouble.

dit

ditto - 01 October 2006 08:49 PM

Well, Microsoft is going to be providing quite a good and seamless experience as far as I can see. With Vista, Xbox 360 and the Zune you will have quite a nice set up. Vista will include Media Center out of the box so you can use your Xbox 360 as a media extender and the Zune will also work with the Xbox 360 allowing you to either play the content of your Zune or to download content from the internet into it. Sounds good.

I’m sure the PowerPoint presentation promoting the invasion of Iraq looked good, too. The reality was much different.

What’s interesting about that pie-in-the-sky view of Microsoft’s ability in the new marketplace is that they’ve been doing all of what you mention above, but with little success.

Media Center has been out for years. Market penetration? Not much, certainly no buzz. Xbox has been out for years and about all that Microsoft’s done is lose billions of dollars. Other companies don’t have that luxury. Zune? Media Extender? Xbox? How many clicks will it take to make it all work? Look at the Media Center remote and look at the Apple remote.

That’s a huge difference to the average user.

Danny Boy - 02 October 2006 03:36 PM

.Media Center has been out for years. Market penetration? Not much, certainly no buzz. Xbox has been out for years and about all that Microsoft’s done is lose billions of dollars. Other companies don’t have that luxury. Zune? Media Extender? Xbox? How many clicks will it take to make it all work? Look at the Media Center remote and look at the Apple remote. That’s a huge difference to the average user.

This is one of those areas where we see Apple ready to move in an instant, and other areas whee they’re patient and let the market move in an appropriate direction before entering.

Music players? It was ripe for Apple to enter, Mac and PC. Music stores? Ripe for Apple to do it right and integrate with the iPod and iTunes?

Movies? Apple took some time to set it up right. iTV? Cell phone? Switch to Intel? All done by Apple showing remarkable patience, yet willing to move like lightning when it’s time.