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.

[Lonestar_50]

"Pull the plug while we can."

You and who?
Stalin or Mao?
Why don't you just try it?

"Not many industries in a free market are allowed such monopolies."

"Nobody "allowed" nuthin'
Gates set out and created his own software company from nothing.
No government subsidies like the EU Ariburst. Nothing.
You might try starting your own software company one day and see how it is like."


Can you say anti-trust laws??? The purpose is to not allow predatory companies like Microsoft take advantage of the people. See American history for any reference you might need.

[Jameison]

"The Firefox search bar has Alta Vista, Yahoo, Google, Answers.com and a couple of other search engines installed, and you can easily add any search engine you want"

I& allows you to have any search engine you want whn you install it..
Not only that, IE 7 keeps that same default search engine that you had before and does not switch it to MSN, unlike Firefox, which simply carpet bombs with Google search.

"As to your comment that you're getting MSNBC to play with Win2K and an earlier version of IE and Windows Media player 9, they're still all MS proprietary products"

So what?
MSNBC was a Microsoft owned and created web site.
Its perfectly legal for them to use their site to promote the use of their software.
Even the DOJ never complained about that.
And btw, MSNBC has remained at or near the top in rankings for the # 1 news site on the interned, despite all that, and despite the fact that MSNBC cable has the lowest ratings amongst the cable news channels.

[Lonestar_50]

"Apple is primarily targeting home, education, video production and small business markets with products like Mac OS X Server, XServe, XGrid, XSAN, ARD, WebObjects, etc., and third-party products like MySQL, Oracle, Apache, etc.

Most of Microsoft's products are a big stinking pile of low-quality crap."

Amen to that!....I take care of about 40 Macs and 50 PCs where I work. The PC side takes 85 to 90 percent of my time. Granted they are much better than they used to be, but it like comparing Apples to oranges....no pun intended...hee hee

[Lonestar_50]

"You know, I haven't insulted you in my posts. As to your claim on XBox, according to initial reports, Microsoft is selling the new XBox at approximately a $136 per unit loss."

"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."

YUP! They are an evil predator....they are the dark side...

[Jameison]

"Can you say anti-trust laws??? "

More pertinent question is: Do you know anything about this country's anti-trust laws?

"The purpose is to not allow predatory companies like Microsoft take advantage of the people"

The Microsoft anti-trust trial finished long ago, ending in an agreement between Microsoft and the DOJ.
BTW, antitrust laws has nothing to do with Microsoft having 90% of any market.
Microsoft can have 90% if they like.
And its still prefectly legal.
Why don't you go read about our anti-trust laws little boy?

[Jameison]

"YUP! They are an evil predator....they are the dark side..."


And you are Bin Laden, Stalin and Saddam combined.
Which is worse?

[Richard Kimball]

Not only that, IE 7 keeps that same default search engine that you had before and does not switch it to MSN, unlike Firefox, which simply carpet bombs with Google search.

I'm afraid you're incorrect about Firefox. I just tried switching the search engine to Yahoo, closed the program, re-opened, and Yahoo was still the default search engine.

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. I never claimed that legal action should be taken for them using a proprietary format, simply that it was a monopoly tactic in an arena where a monopoly tactic wasn't effective.

[Lonestar_50]

"BTW, antitrust laws has nothing to do with Microsoft having 90% of any market.
Microsoft can have 90% if they like.
And its still perfectly legal.
Why don't you go read about our anti-trust laws little boy?"


You are gulping the KoolAid too fast dude. Yes they did win the case. So what.
A better lawyer or bribes does not make it morally correct. They can have 90% if they want???? What if they wanted 99.999% Is that OK with you? Do you work for Microsoft or something? Are you and anti-trust lawyer. I don't pretend to understand the finer points of those laws. I know that one company having 90 percent of a consumer market is not good for the consumer.....well maybe in China it is.

[Jameison]

"I'm afraid you're incorrect about Firefox. I just tried switching the search engine to Yahoo, closed the program, re-opened, and Yahoo was still the default search engine"

What does that have to do with what I said about IE 7 or Firefox?
Repeat.: IE 7 keeps whatever search default that you had before when you download it
That still stands.

"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."

Perhaps you will show me the figures from comScore Media Metrix Announces or any other reputable web tracking aite that says that, yes?


"I never claimed that legal action should be taken for them using a proprietary format, simply that it was a monopoly tactic in an arena where a monopoly tactic wasn't effective"

What constitutes and doesn't constitute an illegal monopoly act by Microsoft reamins the domain of the DOJ, who continue to closely monitor the anti-trust agreement reached with Microsoft.
Plus I never said anything about file formats anyway.
You are mistaking me for someone else.

[Jameison]

"You are gulping the KoolAid too fast dude."

Hah Hah!


"Yes they did win the case. So what."

What the courts decide is the the only thing that matters.
This is a country of laws.
What a stark raving moonbat like you screams on FR is about as relevant as any half naked, nuttering mad man on the streets of New York.

[Jameison]

"They can have 90% if they want???? "

Umm...yes.

"What if they wanted 99.999% Is that OK with you? "

Doesn't matter if it's "ok with me".
What matters is the law.
Get it?

"Do you work for Microsoft or something? "

Groan.
How old are you anyways?
5?

[Richard Kimball]

Repeat.: IE 7 keeps whatever search default that you had before when you download it That still stands.

You have the option of importing preferences and bookmarks when you install Firefox, but I'm not going to delete it and reinstall it just to prove you wrong again.

Perhaps you will show me the figures from comScore Media Metrix Announces or any other reputable web tracking aite that says that, yes?

You haven't backed up your claim that MSNBC is number one, but netnews top 20 lists MSNBC as 9, and Alexa web search lists them at 8.

What constitutes and doesn't constitute an illegal monopoly act by Microsoft reamins the domain of the DOJ, who continue to closely monitor the anti-trust agreement reached with Microsoft.

I know you've got battles going with several posters, but you're responding to a claim I never made. At no point in time, in any of my posts on this thread, have I advocated DOJ get involved or claimed that what MS does is illegal. A monopoly is "Exclusive possession of a market by a supplier of a product or service for which there is no substitute." Once again, Microsoft has a perfect right to set up their web site any way they wish. However, in the case of MSNBC, they are attempting to leverage their desktop domination by requiring use of their products to access the MSNBC streaming content. They believe that this will induce people to get Microsoft products in order to get the content. I believe it is a tactical mistake on their part, as similar content is available from numerous sources. Nowhere do I suggest that DOJ should get involved, and I reject your premise that because the DOJ is monitoring Microsoft, I should refrain from commenting on MS tactics.

Plus I never said anything about file formats anyway. You are mistaking me for someone else.

Aww geez. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should never have responded to your first post. This statement proves one of two things; either you are totally incapable of understanding the premise that the proprietary format is the tool Microsoft uses to erect barriers to competing software packages, or you are simply engaging in sophistry to avoid discussion. In any event, I won't bother you with posts anymore.

[Jameison]

"You have the option of importing preferences and bookmarks when you install Firefox, but I'm not going to delete it and reinstall it just to prove you wrong again."

I keep talking about downloading IE 7 (it doesn't change your search defaults), and you just keep right on talking about changing options on Firefox you have already downloaded.
Its got nothing to do with what I said.


"I know you've got battles going with several posters, but you're responding to a claim I never made"

Nope.
I never mentioned any file formats in any post here. Period.
Feel free to go through the thread.
Plus I have never mentioned anti-trust to you until you mentioned it in your previous post.
You are confused.

"At no point in time, in any of my posts on this thread, have I advocated DOJ get involved or claimed that what MS does is illegal"

At no point have I suggested you did.
I have argued with another guy over anti-trust laws, and then that wasn't you. Unless you have 2 names on FR of course.


"Aww geez. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I should never have responded to your first post"

You will perhaps show me this "first post" where I talked about file formats in this thread, yes?
Will you just stop wasting my time with irrelevant posts? Sheesh!

[Jameison]

"However, in the case of MSNBC, they are attempting to leverage their desktop domination by requiring use of their products to access the MSNBC streaming content. "

MSNBC had little to do with desktop domination.
It's just a web site partly owned by Microsoft.
Microsoft owning Windows does not make more people go to MSNBC for news.
As for Windows Media Player, Yahoo , CNN, and plenty of top news sites, and music sites use Windows Media player exclusively to stream their video and sound, and they are not owned by Microsoft.
Yahoo for example is a fierce competitor to Microsoft, and they still decided to go with WMP exclusively, because its better than the competition. Same with CNN

[Paloma_55]

Hey, thanks for the link!

[Vicki]

How many viruses does it come with?

[aligncare]

...Those were the good old days, when a dame could lay a heavy dope slap on mug, just because he got fresh...Yeah, the good old days - back when women wore the earrings and men had the tattoos.

[NinoFan]

I have yet to upgrade to the next-generation (my MP3 player only holds about 100 songs), but no way in heck am I going to buy an unoriginal, crappy Microsoft product. I have Windows XP Pro because I have to have it, but I've made some changes to make it function like Mac OS X.

I'll never forget how excited I was about the Xbox only to be very disappointed after a few days of use. The graphics were acceptable, but the selection of games and the "fun factor" just wasn't there. Having to buy a $30 remote control to play DVDs only made me hate my Xbox even more. I considered a number of options, including turning it into a low-end PC, but in the end decided that it would be best just to sell it.

[PaxMacian]

"Granted they are much better than they used to be, but it like comparing Apples to oranges"

Sort of like comparing itunes to MS media player.

[D-fendr]

Is that you, GoldenEagle?