Technology News Article | Reuters.com — This is an unfortunatel botched story since the reporter got MP3 and iPOD mixed up as if they were synonymous. And to make matters worse apparently none of the editors knew enough to correct it. Bloggers do better. What’s also left out of this story is the fact that the iPOD may well become part of a phone as Motorola is expected to incorporate one into a soon-to-be-released iPOD phone. Other than that I agree with Gates.
Also, in what should be a SCOOP, at the end of the article Gates says he may quit the company when he is 60 (2015). That will be dead in the middle of the next depression. Someone should have followed up on this.
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – 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.
“You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface — like the iPod today — and then lost its position,” Gates said.
I read the same release. As sharp as Gates can be when he wishes, this sounds more like the usual FUD. Not a heck of a lot different from the “threatening” tower of power that Longhorn is supposed to be — if it’s actually shipped when?
Apple is as capable of screwing up as anyone else. HP? Compaq? Microsoft. They look to me as if they’ve gotten smarter about what’s offered to the public and when. And current examples, from several flavors of Linux to Firefox, demonstrate equally that Gates may have let the structure of Microsoft become unwieldy enough to challenge Lotus at being left behind.
So, who among us has a really functional crystal ball?
John, do mean our current depression is going to end or that our current depression is going to last until about 2030?!
The picture just reminds me how brilliant the iPod marketing campaign is.
If Microsoft could market themselves out of a paper bag, we’d all be speaking German.
It will be interesting to see how Motorola’s music-playing phone does, when/if released.
There is supposed to be some stone-walling from carriers, who want their customers to download tunes using their on-air time – and pay the phone companies a fee – rather than download songs to the phone from a computer – in which the phone companies get zilch.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Mr Gates is more then a little jealous of his old buddy Steve Jobs. Apple is on the rise and Microbloat is flounderling with viruses and spyware galore and its much delayed Foghorn OS. Plus I don’t see their music store being the itune killer that many of the tech pundants were predicting.
I have an iPod. It’s a nicely designed music player/ portable hard drive, not a status symbol. It can download and convert several music formats. Singles cost 99 cents. There are plenty of other brands and types of music players that are well suited for their intended purpose.
The music player/cell phones I’ve heard about only allow you to doenload from the carrier’s site, and singles cost twice as much. Apparently you can’t download your CDs or music other than what the carrier sells. Until the carriers open up their phones to download from any legitimate music source, music player/phones won’t sell.
Oh my god, it took me a day to figure this out, but Gates is admitting that their MP3 player program sucks! How can Gates seriously believe in the longevity of their portable players when he knows they’re going to fail.
Basically, no actually, Gates is telling us NOT to buy his own portable players!!!
Old Bill may be rich, but he isn’t always right. Wasn’t he the one that missed the Internet boom? Ask any kid what they want for Christmas and the answer will be the same iPOD!! If Bill was really smart, he’d buy a hearing aid company, ’cause all these kids will be needing them by the time they reach their 30’s.
>>Basically, no actually, Gates is telling us NOT to buy his own portable players!!!
Dedicated MP3 players are surely transitional technologies but so what?
I own a Plam and a MiniDisc player which are transitional technologies. But I’ll still get good use from both.
The killer hardware will be a combo media player, web browser, “game boy”, camera, phone and PDA, with all content/software downloadable from the normal cell system.
But, that’s still a few years away with several lesser variations of the above coming first.
Gates also thought that the Tablet PC would shine. This time I agree with him though, assuming mobile phone equals PDA.
Where did you get that picture of an ipod totting idiot? I like it.