p2pnet - rss feed: iPod vs msPod?
p2pnet.net News:- Does Microsoft really have a $50 iPod killer lurking in the wings?
Not, says Joe Wilcox.
Last week the Denver Post reported Microsoft was going to stomp Apple with a $50 (or lower) player, comparable to the iPod.
“Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, will begin selling portable music players for as much as 80 percent less than Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod,” said the item here, going on:
“The Microsoft-branded devices will ‘look and feel’ as good as the iPod for as little as $50, said Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president of MSN at Microsoft Corp., at the Goldman Sachs fifth annual Internet Conference in Las Vegas. The iPod sells for $249 to $499.
“Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., will release a number of music players when it launches its online music service later this year, giving customers more choices than Apple, Mehdi said.”
However, Apple can relax, says Wilcox in Microsoft Monitor here.
What Mehdi really said, according to Wilcox, was:
“I’ve 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 … We won’t produce it but it will be available to the consumer. We gave a lot of input.”
He then described Portable Media Center attributes, adding, “And then a bunch of devices in between, little ones that cost 50 bucks and you can go running with.”
So, “Yes, Mr. Mehdi spoke about $50 dollar devices, but not anything made by Microsoft or with capabilities comparable to iPod.”
June 1st, 2004 at 11:28 pm
Thats right, first MS has to enter into a strategic alliance with Apple, burden them with some licensing, rip off the mfg process and inputs then crush them, that is their usual method, shame on Mehdi for tipping their hand before the first stage has been reached.