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Sony has more chance to make it if it partners with Apple. competing against both MSN and Apple is sure suicide.

"The offer was made when the two met at the Sony Open golf tournament [...]"

Steve plays golf? I just lost all respect for the man...

:^)

it would have to be a sweet deal for Sony..they have the rights... Apple doesn't. In the long run price will win the day, not ipods. Jobs knows this and it would be brilliant in Sony accepted. MS would not have a leg to stand on.

This makes sense and just shows us that Apple (Steve) can be pragmatic. Steve's often praised the Sony of the past as being innovative and quality oriented (what he wants Apple to be). It also shows he's willing to partner to do battle with Microsoft.

That being said, it's also obvious that a deal of any kind has to "benefit" Apple and can't be one-sided just for the sake of a partnership. It's also obvious that Sony was deep into production of it's own music store (a flop) and the new Walkman (a flop) and probably thought it needed to go it alone.

Whatever.

Nice review here of the Sony Walkman vs. the iPod.

http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/shootout_new_ipod_vs_sony_walkman/

The same site has a review of the new Microsoft MSN Music Store.

http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/first_look_microsofts_music_store_beta_site_it_works/

Reports are saying that Apple decided not to work with Microsoft's music store. The point of all this is that Apple shows willingness to work with others where it benefits Apple.

Two other points to keep in mind, and which will help explain why Apple doesn't have many "partners" yet-- they don't need to. Apple is running nearly 60-percent market share for portable music players, and correspondingly nearly 70-percent market share for music downloads (legal).

When competition begins to eat deeply into those numbers we may see more partnerships. For now, there's no need to give away the farm when you own most of the crops.

Apple has started to selectively license out the Fairplay DRM. Man, I hope they are getting really good future commitments for the right. They are the midas touch right now.

how do you say 'moo' in japanese?

bawwwhahahahahahhahaahahahhhhahah

It probably isn't too late for Sony to get on the ball with ITMS. Sony can afford to dump their store and go with ITMS without losing face.

Wow! I've always dreamt of an alliance between Apple and Sony.
Let's hope that when the Sony Store and player completely flop - and they will - that Nobuyuki comes cringing back like a dog with its tail between its legs ...

Sony totally blew it. Imagine the whole line of Sony home entertainment, video as well as audio, capable of communications with your iMac? Apple could have them all seamlessly chatting via Apple's new wireless FireWire, swapping data around via the awesome nonproprietary OPEN SOURCE codec, H.264. No more nest of cords and cables behind your entertainment system. A new Airport Base Station would be the intelligent traffic cop for ALL in-home digital traffic; you could stream your iPod to your Sony receiver at the same time your roommate streams a movie from his iMac to the HDTV.

Then, Apple would add downloadable video as a simple addition to iTunes Music Store starting with Sony Entertainment movies. With very little additional effort on Apple's part, this would have been HUGE for Sony as well as Apple.

Sony blew it... BIG TIME!!

Sony would never come on board with Apple so long as their computers use Windows.

Why? It's called "backroom deals"...

When Sony signed with MicroSoft, they had to commit their organization to MSoft. They CAN'T offer Linux or any other operating system on their computers and keep Windows.

They are between a rock and a hard place. They never dreamed that Windows would become such a liability... and that Apple's operating system would be anything but a niche player.

Now that people are leaving Windows in droves... and Longhorn is just a dream within a dream.... Apple OSx will increase market share exponentially in 2005 as people realize that Windows is an unstable liability.

Big Big changes in 2005. Mark my words.

"Big Big changes in 2005. Mark my words."

No doubt, the name Glick7 will be remembered by all as the great prophet of our times.

I bow before thee, oh wise Glick7.

pFFFT SONY ARE MORONS...

they helped DEVELOP AAC and they won't just adopt Apple's version of AAC/Fairplay.. with an iTUnes store preloaded onto Sony PC's (okay not many, but still) and packaged with all sony walkmans/branded iPods that would be cool..

what doofuses..

the connect store...

i wonder if sony was more interested in video..

SJ: huh? no one cares about video.. let's focus on music for the time being

SONY= WHAT!? nonono we'll show you.. sony connect...

....


SOnY=excuse me.. jobs-san, what is software?

Hmmm... I have 4 things Sony - a TV, Stereo, PS2, and headphones. I like em all.

When Sony starts to hit stride with its portable media devices, it'll probably be something great.

The biggest failures of Sony so far:
- proprietary format
- software

-----

But when a 3rd-Gen product ships... who knows how good/bad it'll be. It's Sony; they've got the ability, the means, and the money to do grand things. Can't wait to see!

- Mac & PC Guy

Sony without Akio Morita is like Apple was before the return of Steve Jobs, a bunch of talented people without good leadership and vision. Morita was the founder, heart and soul of Sony and would have been a kindred spirit of Steve Jobs. Under his direction and leadership Sony was ahead of everybody in every market they were in. From the Home VCR to Portable TVs to Transistor Radios to the Walkman to the Compact Disc, Sony didn't lead the market- it invented the market. It's too bad he's gone.

These days, Sony is a faceless corporation led by a different type of people- "business men" who "manage" companies rather than lead them. The kind of people who found companies are very different from the type who work for other people. Sir Howard Stringer, who heads up Sony in the U.S,. is a former CBS News Producer and Executive. How producing " The CBS Evening News with Dan Rather" prepares one to run an operation as large and varied as Sony in the U.S. tells you how differently Sony is run today.

Under Morita, Sony was the visionary pioneer company that was a living example of "Think Different". One time when Sony was working on a new line of Audiophile Tape Recorders Morita invited a well-known Conductor to listen to the sound of the equipment. When the Conductor ripped the sound quality, Morita hired him to work with the engineers to make the sound quality "more musical and lifelike"- his exact critique. Can you imagine any Corporate CEO today with enough guts to do the same today?

I think that SONY could have done to the iPod what it did to the Palm. The Clie line offered something different than Palm's products, with colour screens, bigger resolutions, memory stick slots, etc. If a SONY iPod utilised some technologies like that there would be a lot of people choosing it instead of Apple's iPod. It is possible that SONY requested such concessions but Apple refused; of course I am only speculating. Anyway, I hope SONY does join the iPod party sooner than later.

I imagine this one some time ago - before Apple's iTMS had proved its worth and before Sony had discovered how difficult it is to spend months and months building its own music store - and still get it all wrong.

If the Sony store is a huge flop its failure will dramatically affect sales of its Walkman product - as the two are so completely tied together. Then perhaps the company will begin thinking different and thinking quick.

Atfer all, who wants to buy an ex-brand leading gadget if it requires venturing up some dark backstreet to a deserted online shop to use it?

The problem for Sony is that its digital Walkman is so very opposite to the ground-breaking tape version. The original set customers free, the new one comes (late to market) with the built-in suspicion that - left to their own devices - most Sony customers are potential criminals.

I'd like to thank Red Rose for the link to the review of MSMS, MicroSoft Music Store, or as it should be named, More Shit from MicroSoft. It definitely gave a good laugh. Their attempt has been pretty half-assed meaning shitty. Good luck pushing WiMP 10.0 and your WMA format.

In other news, I think Sony really should have taken Apple up on its offer. Sony isn't the company it used to be, that's true, but it still puts out some good products. Apple still has good leadership and good products. Both are revolutionary companies. I think that whole digital media living room that has kinda been brought up here, downloadable movies, among other things could really kick the crap out of the Media Center PC. That's one reason a partnership between Sony and Apple could work. Another reason is because Sony is already in the music industry, Sony Records. That would add more to the iTMS and both companies still win. Get with the program Sony. You know, I'd probably buy a Sony if it came with OS X or Linux. Too bad they stuck with Windows.