Re: Why Apple is Scared

In article <1191167573.952077.148330@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jesus <rustybucket666@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Sep 30, 7:44 am, "Edwin" <thorn...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBa...

So why is Apple so scared? Five reasons:

1. Microsoft is hatching a consumer media "perfect storm."

Apple fans assume iPod will face Zune in the market, mano a mano, like other
media players. But that's not the case. Zune will be supported and promoted
and will leverage the collective power of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Soapbox
(Microsoft's new "YouTube killer") and the Xbox 360.

Microsoft will make the movement of media between Windows, Soapbox and the
Zune natural and seamless. The Zune interface is just like a miniature
version of the Windows Media Center user interface and is very similar to
some elements of Vista.

Apple iPod fans are overconfident in part because of Apple's dominant media
player market share, which is currently higher than 70%. About 30 million
people own iPods.
But Microsoft owns more than 90% of the worldwide operating systems market
(compared with Apple's roughly 5%), representing some 300 million people.
The company expects to have 200 million Vista users within two years.

The Zune will plug directly into the Xbox via a standard Universal Serial
Bus cable -- a fact Microsoft will drill into the heads of Xbox users on the
Xbox Live online gaming service. The Zune Marketplace will be integrated
with, and promoted by, the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Apple faces the prospect of competing not with the Zune alone, but with a
mighty Windows-Soapbox-Xbox-Zune industrial complex.

2. The Zune is social and viral.

Since the iPod first came out, times have changed. The rise of social
networks like MySpace.com and viral Web 2.0 sites like that of YouTube Inc.
have transformed the expectations of young people about sharing and using
media. In the context of these trends, Apple is old school. But the Zune,
with its peer-to-peer wireless file sharing, is both social and viral.

Tweens, teens and twentysomethings have acquired the habit of feverishly
sharing videos and songs. Today, they mostly have to wait until they get
home and use their PCs to do so. With the Zune, students will be free to
share music, videos and photos right there in class. They'll be able to pass
notes to one another. The Zune isn't just a solitary music player. Think of
it as a portable, wireless, hardware version of MySpace.

3. Zune may have more programming.

Apple pioneered workable, for-pay music and TV show downloading, and is
starting to do the same thing with movies. It deserves a lot of credit for
that. Ultimately, however, the value of iTunes, Marketplace and other music
stores will be judged by the quantity, quality and price of available
media -- not who got there first.

While Apple launched its movie business with movies from Disney (where Apple
CEO Steve Jobs sits on the board), Microsoft has already lined up Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corp., Paramount Pictuers, Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Universal Pictures, Warner Bros., Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and MGM
Pictures.

For TV shows, Microsoft will offer programs from A&E, Animal Planet, the
BBC, The Biography Channel, Cartoon Network, CBS, Comedy Central, Discovery
Channel, Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Kids, E Entertainment
Television, Fine Living TV Network, Fox, Fuel TV, FX, HGTV, The History
Channel, MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, PBS, Speed, Spike, Travel Channel,
TV Land, VH1 and others.

4. Zune's screen is better for movies.

Apple's tiny screen is so high-quality that people are willing to watch
full-length movies on it.The Zune's screen is just as good as the iPod's,
but larger. It's so large it must be turned sideways for viewing in
"landscape mode." This additional screen real estate makes Zune vastly
superior for watching movies and TV shows

5. Zune is actually pretty cool.

The Zune is unlike any product Microsoft has ever shipped. It's actually
very nicely designed, surprisingly minimalist and (dare I say it?) "cool."
(Zune marketing looks cool, too. The user interface is fluid and
appealing -- and, again, like MySpace -- customizable. Users will be able to
personalize the Zune interface with photos, "themes," "skins" and custom
colors.
So while Apple fans are brimming with confidence that their beloved iPod
will continue to vanquish all foes -- including Microsoft's laughable
folly -- Apple sees the big picture and is rightly nervous about it.

Even if Apple is able to retain its lead, it could still be hurt -- badly --
by the Zune, which will capture mind share, grab market share and squeeze
Apple on pricing.
Apple is scared. And for good reason.

The iPod is the soul of Apple's entire business. Apple has been relatively
successful at winning converts from Windows to Mac OS X, for example, in
part because its whole product line basks in the glow of iPod's success,
hipness and ubiquity.

Apple has recently and preemptively lowered the price of iPods, announced an
iTV set-top box -- which will ship later than Vista -- and is probably
working feverishly on a bigger-screen, wirelessly enabled iPod.

All these efforts may not be enough to save the iPod from the Microsoft
consumer media juggernaut. Microsoft has the money, the clout, the
partnerships, the mind share and the market share to drive Vista, Soapbox,
Xbox and Zune into lives of hundreds of millions of consumers.

The iPod rules -- for now. But Microsoft can't be dismissed as just another
wannabe. And nobody knows that better than Apple.

--
"Apple" is off-topic in comp.sys.MAC.advocacy. -- Sandman

Perhaps you're a Mac advocate in disguise and you post this crap to
show how far behind Microsoft is in these areas? Either that or
you're retarded. :-)

I'm going with retarded. Yep, edwindows is a retard.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Why Apple is Scared
    ... Apple fans assume iPod will face Zune in the market, mano a mano, like other ... Microsoft will make the movement of media between Windows, ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Apple Sept. Keynote to Spark iPod vs Zune Wars
    ... Microsoft has officially announced its Zune HD, setting the launch date for September 15. ... we hear Apple is planning a music-related keynote event for the week of September 7. ... I predict next month's Apple keynote will be all about the iPod, since that's been the company's modus operandi in recent years for September keynotes. ... But the Zune HD won't go down without a fight, and there's another fresh rumor -- courtesy of Gruber once again -- that Microsoft is asking third-party iPhone application developers to bring their software onto the Zune. ...
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  • Re: The Real iPod Killer Arrives
    ... Apple has little to worry about in the US because: ... The iPod isn't any different from any other mp3 player. ... Who is that and why should he or she's opinion matter one whit to me? ... But there's a reason there's no wheel on the Zune. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: The Real iPod Killer Arrives
    ... Apple has little to worry about in the US because: ... The iPod isn't any different from any other mp3 player. ... Who is that and why should he or she's opinion matter one whit to me? ... But there's a reason there's no wheel on the Zune. ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)
  • Re: Why Apple is Scared
    ... So why is Apple so scared? ... Microsoft is hatching a consumer media "perfect storm." ... Apple fans assume iPod will face Zune in the market, mano a mano, like other ...
    (comp.sys.mac.advocacy)