Bill Gates, in an interview with Associated Press, explained why he believes the software and hardware camps need to work even closer as computers become more integrated into our lives…
“Gates described the relationship between the two technology branches as a partnership, not just Microsoft dictating to the hardware industry designs that meet its specifications. The end result, said Gates, is to maintain the competition and diversity that have defined the yin and yang of hardware and software for more than 20 years. ‘What we’re doing is saying let’s have the best of both worlds,’ he said. ‘Let’s not give up the PC model of many people making different choices and putting those into the marketplace, but let’s get rid of some of the impedance created by the organizational boundary between us and those partners,'” reports Matthew Fordahl of The Associated Press.
Currently, of the major platforms, only Apple creates both the hardware and operating system under one roof, controlling ‘the entire widget,” as Steve Jobs is fond of saying.
Later in the interview, “Gates applauded what appears to be a thawing of the music industry’s frosty relationship with the high-tech industry, specifically the more liberal licensing of music through Apple Computer Inc.’s new iTunes Music Store. Gates said Microsoft looks forward to creating services on the same terms through its MSN online service. ‘We think we can help the labels and shift behavior toward the legitimate purchase,’ he said, ‘now that flexibility has gone up,'” reports Fordahl.
Full article here.
If the RIAA has any brains at all, it will not give M$/M$N the legal go-ahead until well after there are others established in the PC music space or they will use their traditional methods to crush anyone in their way.
There is no chance on this earth that Steve Jobs will screw this up. The record companies know what Microsoft is all about, and all the accounts from them that I have read seem to say that they have already committed to future iTunes iterations on Windows. If Gates thinks it’s going to be as easy as making a few phone calls to record execs and the money will come rolling in from some lackluster Microsoft implementation (copying) of iTunes – then he’s got another thing coming. Apple has already won this war (it started 18 months ago when Steve began making his rounds). Steve is too smart and has equipped Apple too well infrastructure-wise and image-wise to be beaten in the entertainment space.
all i gotta say is i hate bill gates more than i hate eating logs of s–t. if i ever saw bill gates, you can bet that i’ll kick him in the nuts, spit on his face, and smash his glasses with my shoes.
i really hope spacealiens abduct bill gates and send him off to another planet with only animals to have sex with. that twerp. how is it possible for one man such as myself to be filled with so much hate for that man?
God bless Steve Jobs, God s–t on Bill Gates.
I am loving these quotes from Gates: ‘We think we can help the labels and shift behavior toward the legitimate purchase,’ he said, ‘now that flexibility has gone up,'”
NEWSFLASH: Apple alone has made the flexibility easier, and has single handedly shifted the behavior (in a small way) towards legit music purchase already.
Nice try Gates, but eveything you “think” you can do has already been done by Jobs, and you are left standing with your jaw open. You can play as calm as you want, but the fact you keep coming out saying you can do the same shows you were caught offguard and are woefully behind.
And I enjoy that.
I think that fear of MS taking the whole pipeline is why even with their stronger DRM approach, the labels never bought into MS in the first place. I mean, Bill was converting innocent files into windows media by default, and bending over backwards to give users no control. But I think the industry is finally wise to MS (took them long enough). So I expect that they will wait a few months with iTunes on Mac. Then go with iTunes on windows and other distributors (they don’t want to give Apple sole distribution either, I would imagine). Then, maybe a 12 – 18 months from now, MSN might be able to jump on the bandwagon (a few months after AOL). That’s my prediction, for what its worth.
Gates To Join the Church of Apple
Microsoft just CAN’T help themselves — they simply MUST (yet again) embrace technical ideas/concepts ALREADY in practice/developed by Apple — how many YEARS (actually DECADES) has this been going on?
Perhaps MS should formalize their appoach by contracting Apple, Inc. to serve as MS’s research and development/creative idea department. At least, that way, MS’s FUTURE claims of “superior technology” would be donned with a fig-leaf of truth.
The emperor NEVER HAD any clothes. Long live the emperor!
All of the artistic societies (music, visual, performing, etc.) have embraced Apple’s products. It’s not just the fact that the Apple team keeps the user in mind as well as making their computers visually appealing and artistic in themselves, but they know how Apple supports the freedom of open source ware and how they try NOT to use proprietary systems and restrictions.
Artists see Apple as one of their own. It is very rare that a company has such an honor.
Where’s Bill Gates’ Grammy?
>sigh< the sad thing is is that if m$ bring out an itunes rip-off, they’ll make stacks of money from people – simply because there’s so many people with windoze machines – irrespective of how shite they are 🙁 just like most home pc users just buy what they see in a shop, without knowing much about what they’re buying. the record companies will deal with m$ because they get a huge market [ie loads of money] and bg can/will offer them a better deal. as usual, where apple leads, others stumble and follow. but just being the first does not mean no-one else can’t usurp you.
> THIS IS MAKING THE E-MAIL ROUNDS:
>> In response to Bill Gates being knighted by Queen Elizabeth:
>> and moments after Queen Elizabeth knighted William Gates, Buckingham
>> officials announced a flaw in the Gates knighthood and issued
>> security patch 1.04a, a required update.
>> Gates immediately returned to the Palace where QE-II
>> installed the fix. Palace spokespersons refused to divulge any
>> details on this security flaw but emphasized that past knighthoods
>> were not affected by this. Unofficial word is malicious
>> attackers are able to penetrate the coat of arms and compromise
>> the sovereign registry. ~ steveapple.com
>>