Microsoft confirms 'iPod Killer'

CNN ^ | July 21, 2006

[The Lion Roars]

Microsoft Corp. said Friday it plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying software under the "Zune" brand this year, in a belated attempt to challenge the dominance of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod player.

The announcement comes after weeks of rumors and speculation about such an offering. Microsoft has already touted the products to record companies.

"Under the Zune brand, we will deliver a family of hardware and software products, the first of which will be available this year," said Chris Stephenson, general manager of market for entertainment and services at Microsoft, in an statement. "We see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together."

The world's largest software maker faces an uphill climb in closing the gap on Apple's (Charts) iPod media player and iTunes Music Store, the runaway leaders in their respective areas.

[Jameison]

"This was mentioned in my first post, that MS has deep enough pockets to operate at a loss in areas until they dominate the industry."


So what?
All very legal and above board.
The games business operates on initially taking losses on hardware and then making up the profits in software (the games).
Sony did the same thing with their playstations.
Plus its all has been reviewed by the Justice department and they are quite happy with it.
That's what matters, not the wild rantings of some Microsoft-hater on Internet boards.

[Jameison]

Huh?

[Jameison]

"but the selection of games and the "fun factor" just wasn't there"



I have had great fun with my XBOX, with all the "fun factor" and games I ever needed, and much better graphics than the PS2 or GC.
Got my unit of the superb 360 the very first day it came out, and have been having great fun playing it since.


"Having to buy a $30 remote control to play DVDs only made me hate my Xbox even more. "

Ummmm....it tells you that before you buy it. Plus its by far the best value of that generation of games consoles, even after paying extra for the remote control.
Not to mention, it sold more units than the GC worldwide, even though it was Microsoft's very first games console, and Nintendo had been in that business for over 20 years.

What more ya got?

[Jameison]

"As to your claim that MSNBC is either #1 or near the top, I think they're #9, behind CNN, CBS, ABC, BBC, Google News, Reuters, World News and Yahoo."

Top 50 rankings from comScore Media Metrix (the # 1 web ranking company on the planet) for December 2005.

http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=710

The BBC doesn't even appear on the radar screen.

[NinoFan]

Obviously the kind of games you like and I like differ.

Do you remember all of the problems that a certain version of the first Xbox had? (And they weren't just simple problems either. Some of them practically died.) That's typical Microsoft right there. ;)

As for the remote, yes, it says it on the box, but I didn't see that at first. I still think it was a lame thing to sell the remote separately. (And $30 bucks is a bit much.) No store around here had the remote, and I had to get it off eBay.

I'm looking forward to the Nintendo Wii. The Game Cube was a disappointment in that it wasn't as innovative as previous Nintendo products and while it had some interesting games, games with classic characters (Mario, Zelda, etc.) weren't as fun as some of their prequels . The Nintendo Wii from the previews I've seen looks like it is going to rock. (Yes, I know the name sucks.)