•Microsoft PR machine pumps the company but mostly pumps the Zune. Throwing good money after bad?
•Interview with Gates in USA Today is a disgrace. It’s incredible. Incredibly bad that is. Gates says he sends out copies of songs to his friends.
•I break down the Bungie story and consider it an unlikely scenario that Bungie will leave Microsoft. I suspect that the complaining began because Bungie has something that Microsoft will not let them sell.
•German watchdog group complains about Doubleclick deal.
•Verizon shows iPhone clone.
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Not to defend Bill Gates (cause I dont like him). But technically, when he says he “send music to his friends”, I would suppose that he’s rich enough to have paid for the tracks he’s senting to them. Rather than sending unpaid copies of them around. But I’m just quessing, that’s what he’ll say that he meant. On the other hand, I’m just a year older than he is, and I can’t imagine him talking the way the article quotes him. I never talk that way to anyone I know, or anyone who’d interview me. It sounds so utter stupid. Is this what happens to one’s brain on billions of dollars?
I am not defending Gates, but hes not stealing songs. Remember that the zune has wi-fi but the only application for it is “squirting” songs to other zunes with DRM that expires in 3 days. So he can send a song to a friend and be legal.
Hmm, do you suppose they will come after Gates like the did Jammie Thomas? She fought RIAA and lost to the tune of $220,000 for 24 songs.
http://tinyurl.com/2rw8gc
This is big news, people. If you fight the RIAA, it looks like they will put you in the poor house. They wanted $9250 PER SONG that she supposedly shared online. How ludicrous is that?
If they sued her for the songs they SAY she shared (1702 in total) then she would have to cough up $15,743,500.
Microsoft makes an MP3 player?
Wow.
#2 So he can send a song to a friend and be legal.
And what is the range on those squirts? Is he in the same room with these old roommates? Can he squirt them cross-town via WiFi?
If he was actually squirting them, I’m surprised he wouldn’t take the opportunity to make it clear that he was using one of the truly unique features of the Zune.
I can’t imagine the architect of the Microsoft brand letting a chance like that slip by.
Taking the Xbox approach makes sense, since Xbox 360 has surpassed Sony’s PlayStation 3
“surpassed”??
With a one-year lead, and – according to the Wiki entry – the system launched in 36 countries, more countries than any console has launched in a single year.
That’s considered praise? “Way to go, Bill! You surpassed a competitor you had a 1-year head-start on!”
… as if the Xbox360 was a come-from-behind success story??
John wins at using the “Dude” voice.
If he ever decides to leave tech, he can get into voice-over work.