David Berlind blogs on ZDNet, “not only won’t Microsoft feel the halo effect of Apple’s iPod, it may only be a matter of time before Apple is feeling the halo effect of Windows Media.” Microsoft doesn’t feel that the Windows Longhorn operating system will suffer from any halo effect being introduced into the market by Apple’s iPod. Microsoft may have a head start on a possible Internet video revolution with Windows Media, which is more widely used than its competitors, QuickTime and Real.
Berlind asks, “do you think there’s any demand for mobile videos based on Real or Quicktime?” For Apple to seriously challenge Windows Media and Microsoft, it will have to “convert the iPod faithful into the Quicktime faithful.” Windows Media and telecommunications networks “will be Microsoft’s next franchise. The only hope for an alternative might be Quicktime.”
Berlind writes, “Finally, there will be the Apple faithful who say never count us out (sitting in front of a PowerBook here with an iPod permanently connected to my teenager’s belt, I can understand this). But, for Apple to seriously challenge Windows Media and Microsoft, it will have to convert the iPod faithful into the Quicktime faithful, which in turn requires one of two tricks: (1) Activating some dormant Quicktime technology in all those iPods (I don’t think this exists, but I have read about interesting hacks) is one approach that would take Microsoft by surprise, or (2) shipping video-enabled iPods sometime this year (seems more likely considering the rumors — I hope they have bigger displays).”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The underlying technology behind iTunes (the software application) that almost every one of the 16+ million (and counting) iPod owners have installed on their Macs and Windows PCs is – drum roll please – Apple QuickTime. The iPod (and by default iTunes) faithful already are the Quicktime faithful – the foundation has already been set by Apple. There’s no need to “activate some dormant Quicktime technology” because QuickTime technology is already loaded, active, and in use on iPodders’ PCs. This is why Microsoft hates Apple’s iPod+iTunes success and why the HP iPod+iTunes deal, if executed properly, can really hurt Microsoft’s chances in this important space. And if you don’t think that video-enabled iPods are eventually coming from Apple, you’re not seeing the whole picture. And why did Apple take the Web’s number one movie trailer site (http://www.apple.com/trailers/) and duplicate its content on the iTunes Music Store for viewing via iTunes? The puzzle pieces are scattered all over the floor; there’ll be something to see when they all come together.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Free broadband videos appear via Apple QuickTime on Endorphin.com – April 05, 2005
H.264 Video Codec adopted for next generation DVDs; to ship in Apple’s QuickTime next year – June 23, 2004
Apple’s QuickTime 6 downloads pass 250 million mark in under two years – June 10, 2004
One “word”: H.264
Is that actually a word?
First Post!
It seems to me that the new version of Quicktime coming with Tiger has the real killer piece in it. It has the codec to do High Definition. It will enable the use of HD in all kind of formats and structures. This is the format the Movie folks have been waiting for to begin iTunes-like downloading and streaming over the internet. Steve did say that this was the year of HD!
The real problems is that the news media or other Organization don’t want Macintosh environment and are limited to only produce Window media material only. The people who produce this material are limited to there machines they use and don’t have resources to produce Quicktime productions.
iChat (lite?) for windows would be cool imo. It would benefit mac users by allowing them to video chat (with decent quality) with windows users plus personally I can see it being like the ipod and itunes as really showing off apple and only increasing the halo effect. itunes using quicktime is all well and good and yes all good trailers are in quicktime as well but I think something ichatty would be a killer app to convince people of apples video superiority.
Even if the HP deal is only executed “half-right” it is a HUGE strategic play by Apple because iTunes (i.e. Quicktime) is installed by default on every PC by the 2nd or 3rd largest PC vendor in the world.
I’m hoping Apple is doing everything it can to make the HPod a success because getting Quicktime on so many PCs BY DEFAULT, whether they buy an iPod or not, is much more strategic than the sales of the iPod itself.
lol the only thing I love more than my Powerbook is seeing people go “1ST POST!!!” when they aren’t…
“do you think there’s any demand for mobile videos based on Real or Quicktime?”
Porno, I’ve been told, (don’t watch that stuff you know : ) has gone big time to quick time. Guess what millions of teenagers have installed in their computers to watch those action flicks? You’ve guessed it: Quicktime! I’d say that market is doing pretty well and demand is strong. Imagine: Quickies! three minutes action flicks coming to a portable video player near you — in Quicktime of course.
Anyway, in my own experience surfing the web, I run into quicktime more often than I do windows media. Thank goodness. Windows Media is just crappy software.
new chip inside the mini supports mpeg4.
“Microsoft doesn’t feel that the Windows Longhorn operating system will suffer from any halo effect being introduced into the market by Apple’s iPod.”
Seems to me I’ve heard this before…verbatim…in several places. Looks like Microsoft talking points to me.
Getting people to put QuickTime on their computers isn’t the problem, it’s getting the content makers to release their video in QT instead of Real or WMV. h.264 may help, but maybe not. QT has always been superior to it’s rivals but that hasn’t stopped people from using them instead.
With broadband connections and the ease of downloading and installing, does it really matter if the media software is prelaoded on Windows. If I buy a PC that does not have QuickTime, I can get it and install it easily enough. As long as MS does not pull some dirty trick with its OS to cripple the alternative media software. What is important is a good reason to download QuickTime (ie., content … iPod/iTunes is one very good reason). If there is a compelling reason to download, taint nuthin MS can do (legally). The real harm is if MS does something compelling with Media Player and excludes the Mac. Apple would somehow have to trump such a move.
I totally agree. Thats why Quicktime MUST provide full screen viewing without forcing you to pay for the upgrade. People need to think they have a full product not a trial product when they use the software.
That is, that hasn’t made people use them instead. Sorry, no coffee yet.
Jeff, I agree 100% about full screen playback. Apple, stop charging for QuickTime Pro. Every other free player out there does full screen playback. If you want to have a chance at holding onto your market share, stop the nickel and dime practice.
Apple can make money off their “pro” users by selling them copies of iLife ’05, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro. The content viewer should be free, damnit! If they insist on selling a QuickTime Pro, at least make full screen playback a feature of the free version.
1- Apple should release a QuickTime player app and iTunes for LINUX.
2- QuickTime Pro should be INCLUDED on PowerBooks and PowerMac G5s.
3- QuickTime Pro upgrades should be available for purchase through iTunes. No retail box is available and many people do not use credit cards through the internet. Buy an iTunes Gift Card and click on a button for the upgrade.
4- Apple should aggressively promote not only the QuickTime Player, but the brand.
I haven’t plunged into the iPod world yet cuz the only time I really would use it would be when I travel. However, if an iPod included a decent color screen and could also play downloaded movies or tv shows via Quicktime, I’d probably jump at that right quick!
Also, Apple really needs to make iChat video software for Windows. Nuf said!
Mpeg 1 is the most popular video format and in the future Mpeg 4 will be.
The player is irrelevant.
Just another, Apple will die story. Boring.
Gawd! MPEG4/H264 has way more traction than WMV. The upcoming NAB conference will be proof of that. “Serious” content producers (motion picture industry and broadcasting) have never trusted MS enough to employ any of thier stuff, plus it is pretty crappy to work with. The lastest news that MS basically stole the technology for Windows Media 9 from a number of others, including Sony and Phillips, is proof of that. But no one I know seems to have heard about this. Why aren’t these “journalists” writing about that?
Another technology journalist who suffers from M$ Myopia.
Before the intoduction of iTunes for Windows, QuickTime was a [B]very[/B] distant third in the media player stakes behind WMV/WMA and Real. Now Real is struggling to keep its head above water and Windows Media is being chased down by QuickTime.
And the reason for that change is, quite simply, iPod/iTunes/iTMS. Between them, these products gave the Windows world a reason to install QuickTime, which then gives them an “in” to the world of QuickTime movie trailers and videos. And all without the spyware/adware of Real and the security vulnerabilities of anything bearing the Microsoft trademark.
What Apple really has to do, however, is ensure that the mindshare that 3GPP has with mobile providers isn’t squandered by the MPEG-4 patent holders as appears to be the case at the moment with the squabble over the cost of open DRM-protected content. The key here is that Apple already has a de facto standard DRM scheme in Fairplay, and all it takes is political and commercial will to create a 3GPP version of Fairplay and effectively “give” that technology to the marketplace.
By the end of this year, there are likely to be anywhere between 25 and 35 million iPod devices in circulation. Add in Moto’s ROKR phone and you probably have another 1-2 million devices running a variant of QuickTime and FairPlay. Why not open up a Fairplay variant to the remainder of the mobile phone industry – Nokia excepted seeing as it seems to be “sleeping with the enemy” – and get QuickTime on another 10-20 million devices/year.
On top of that, both HD-DVD and BluRay support MPEG-4 H.264 which effectively means they support the QuickTIme file format.
At that point, I’m not sure I care what M$ does with Windows Media – its commercial model belongs to a bygone age of proprietary technology and anyone who follows it really does deserve what’s coming to them.
Let’s not forget Pixar… Movies are going to be a part of Apple. And it’ll be done in the usual near-perfect way.
The blogger also doesn’t seem to understand what “halo effect” actually means
Stories like this one is what happens when these journalists/analysts don’t have a freaking clue of what the hell they’re talking about. Sad really that people will read this drivel and think it’s even an issue. Obviously QuickTime has to be installed for iTunes to even work so I still don’t understand where this guy has been for the past 2 years…
read this:
http://www.themacmind.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=698&mode=nested&order=0&thold=0
More widely installed (by default) does not mean more widely used!