Microsoft to roll out $50 iPod knock-off?

[psmith2.0]

http://www.macminute.com/2004/05/27/microsoftipod

:D

Kinda neat just to hear them cop to the idea that they'd rather ape the iPod (and any other Apple product) than invest too much time and energy doing something truly unique (and, dare I say, better).

"$50, with the look and feel of the iPod...".

God bless 'em.

May I make a small prediction?

"$299, with the look and feel of OS X Panther..." - March, 2007

:p

Mockups are called for. This could get funny...

[Messiahtosh]

http://www.macminute.com/2004/05/27/microsoftipod

:D

Kinda neat just to hear them cop to the idea that they'd rather ape the iPod (and any other Apple product) than invest too much time and energy doing something truly unique (and, dare I say, better).

"$50, with the look and feel of the iPod...".

God bless 'em.
This is unbelievable, such a blatent joke in that they dont even conceal their copy and cut mentality. Copy the "look and feel" then cut the price. Only Microsoft, only a monopoly. Hopefully this lowers iPod prices, but at the same time, hopefully the M$ player sucks. :)

[psmith2.0]

Do you actually harbor any doubt that it WON'T? :confused:

$50? That's a lot to leave off, cut out, omit, go cheap on, cut corners, etc.

Unless it's one of those low-capacity flash-based players (and it would have to be, right?) encased in a cheap, carddeck-sized enclosure with a big round button.

:p

Their "stab at innovation and envelope-pushing" will consist of them putting the round button on top and the screen down below. Oh, and the headphone port will plug into the back or bottom. And their PR/marketing writers will ponder for DAYS various ways to make this sound like something other than "flip-flopping prominent features so you don't get your ass sued off".

:D

And it'll be offered in 5 colors: Sky, Grass, Oro, Titanium and Blush.

Oh, one more thing (ha!): Gates will unveil it publicly and actually insert a statement about how Microsoft was at the forefront of the "digital lifestyle" and about how "our products act as a hub, if you will, connecting us to all these wonderful digital devices that have become part of our lives!".

And he'll probably be wearing a black turtleneck when he does it...

[Messiahtosh]

And he'll probably be wearing a black turtleneck when he does it...LOL

I was thinking, "how is it possible to produce and sell an MP3 player with the look and feel of the iPod for $50 and still make a profit?"

The key is, they wont be making a profit. M$ will simply take losses out of their ginormous cash heap and take the market along with it. Totally BS.

[_Ω_]

I spend more than $50 on headphones, and they want to make the whole player worth that! :confused:

[Messiahtosh]

I spend more than $50 on headphones, and they want to make the whole player worth that! :confused: And you would complain? It sounds too good to be true, doesnt it?

[thegelding]

well apple lost a lawsuit against microsoft for "borrowing" heavily the gui of apple computers...but apple did manage to stop iMac jellybean ripoffs and i think they could sue the pants of microsoft if they release a player with the look and feel of an iPod and they are even quoted as saying that is what they plan to do...

people have a hard time understanding stealing code and software, but people easily understand stealing form and function....

g

[Messiahtosh]

Right on, I almost took those MS comments personally for some reason, so I'm going to be very vocal about this. I'm sure people that actually work for Apple will feel sliiightly more pissed than I am. ;)

[HOM]

well apple lost a lawsuit against microsoft for "borrowing" heavily the gui of apple computers...but apple did manage to stop iMac jellybean ripoffs and i think they could sue the pants of microsoft if they release a player with the look and feel of an iPod and they are even quoted as saying that is what they plan to do...

people have a hard time understanding stealing code and software, but people easily understand stealing form and function....

g
Apple lost because it was part of a contract, to get MS to make software for the Mac, that MS could use Apple's UI for their products.

As for a MS iPod killer, it's not going anywhere. The reason that the iPod took off was because an idiot could figure it out. 5 buttons, that's all it takes to operate. And we all know that MS is great for coming up with simple and easy to use UI's. Another thing to think about is if MS does come out with some amazing products, what are the shill companies that are pushing WMA right now going to do? If MS undercuts the entire market what incentive does a company have to continue to support WMA?

In other words, this yet another FUD attempt by MS to keep Apple from owning the future of digital music.

[alcimedes]

tell me when you can actually buy it. until then, :rolleyes:

although sounds to me like they're talking about an iPod lookalike that's a flash based system.

not sure that would cut into the iPod market.

[psmith2.0]

I don't think it would cut into ANY market, truth be known.

[Messiahtosh]

I don't think it would cut into ANY market, truth be known.If X-Box is any indication though, it just might make a dent. :( ....like that X-Box sitting a couple feet away from me. :eek:

[thegelding]

If X-Box is any indication though, it just might make a dent. :( ....like that X-Box sitting a couple feet away from me. :eek:

ouch...time to give up your title as Steve's Wife and change it to Bill's Bitch... ;)


g

[DMBand0026]

ouch...time to give up your title as Steve's Wife and change it to Bill's Bitch... ;)


g

Ouch!!!

And it's funny cause it's true ;)

[Mac+]

Mockups are called for. This could get funny...
I'm not a PS kind of guy, so I was really hoping to see some creative stuff from you talented folk out there! Nothing so far? :confused:

[Barto]

It's only $50 because they skipped the debugging.

http://homepage.mac.com/barto_act/linkage/ms_ipod_bluescreen.jpg

[DMBand0026]

^^^

ROTF!!!!


Hahah. It's funny cause it's actually gonna happen.

[InactionMan]

If MS could make a HD based player with 2 or 4 gigs of storage that cost them somewhere in the range of $150-200 to produce I think they would happily take a $100 loss on each unit just to cut into iPod sales.

That being said, this thing will probably be flash based and kinda look like the iPod mini. By look and feel, the maroons at MS could mean that it's kind of smallish and sometime, when it doesn't crash, plays music.

Though I could see them adding one really fancy, high-cost feature like maybe a retina scanner to authorize you listen to music on it. If you try to play it without proper authorization, msPodmini will self-destruct causing horrible disfigurement to the user. All in the name of choice, of course.

[MCQ]

So... yeah, apparently journalists still suck :D

According To Ars and the Silicon Valley news blurbs they found, a Denver Post reporter forgot how to paraphrase.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/gmsv/8785939.htm

Quote at bottom of page:

If you read the various media reports on Microsoft's $50 iPod killer and dismissed the device as vaporware, give yourself a pat on the back. Redmond isn't developing such a device and Microsoft Corporate Vice President of MSN Yusuf Mehdi never said it was. Nor did he say, as reported by the Denver Post, that the devices will "look and feel" as good as the iPod for as little as $50. What he said, was this:

"Number one, our strategy is certainly to offer a multitude of devices. I think the iPod's a great product, but there's a lot of opportunities. They're only in four percent of U.S. homes today, even with all the success they've had. There are a number of other great devices that are coming out. I personally have spent time with a bunch of hardware manufacturers who will launch hardware products when we ship our service that will look and feel as good as the iPod product. And they will undoubtedly be a little bit less expensive. Head-to-head against Apple, we'll have a device that will be available to the consumer. We won't produce it, but it will be available to the consumer. ... And then we'll have a bunch of other devices in between. Little ones that cost $50 bucks that you go running with. So, the proposition is that you can buy a number of different devices with the MSN Music service as opposed to just a single device from Apple."



So, somehow from the bolded portions they figured out that Microsoft was producing a $50 iPod killer, despite the fact that
a) they said they won't produce it
b) they said the iPod competitors would be a little less expensive (reasonable assessment)
c) they said the $50 players are some little things for running, not an iPod competitor

Yeah... good job reporting there! :rolleyes: :p ;)

[Messiahtosh]

Phew