“You’ve got to hand it to the iPod competitors: They’re a determined lot. This week, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates weighed in on the still-growing popularity of Apple’s multiversioned line of personal music players, telling European media folks that the iPod is but a flash in the pan, soon to be replaced by mobile phones as the player of choice,” Mike Wendland writes for The Detroit Free Press. “To be sure, Gates is engaging in some wishful thinking. And his bravado was no doubt emboldened by this week’s unveiling of yet another Microsoft operating system, this one aimed at mobile phones and called Windows Mobile 5.0.”
“‘If you were to ask me which mobile device will take top place for listening to music, I’d bet on the mobile phone for sure,’ he said in the interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, a German daily. Across the globe, Mac loyalists and iPod addicts pretty much scoffed in unison,” Wendland writes. “But I happen to think that Gates is probably going to be proven right in the long run.”
“Putting music players in a smartphone is a given. They’re available now, of course, with limited storage capacity and audio quality that is way short of what the iPod offers. But with the ability to download songs via wireless broadband coming to most parts of the country by year’s end, why would anyone want to carry both a standalone music player and a wireless phone? Memory storage issues have to be worked out better before such a phone will become a reality. But mark my words: It will be here sooner rather than later,” Wendland writes. “Anyone want to bet which company will introduce it? My money is on Apple.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Wendland’s correct. Why carry two devices when a single unit will do?
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Motorola expects to launch first Apple iTunes phone this summer, second iTunes phone in 4th quarter – May 11, 2005
Nokia N91 vs. Apple iPod – May 09, 2005
Will cellphones eat Apple’s iPod or vice versa? – May 09, 2005
Bona fide Apple iPod killer? Nokia’s 4GB mobile ‘jukebox’ phone due by Christmas – April 28, 2005
Can mobile phones and telecoms kill Apple’s golden iPod+iTunes combo? – April 26, 2005
Motorola CEO Zander: Apple iTunes phone due ‘in the next few months’ – April 20, 2005
RUMOR: Apple’s iTunes Mobile 1.0 to be ready by June – April 20, 2005
Verizon, Sprint, other wireless companies balk at carrying Apple’s and Motorola’s ‘iPod phone’ – April 19, 2005
Motorola to unveil iRadio – PC to Mobile to Car Stereo service – April 18, 2005
Will Motorola’s Apple iTunes phone make it to market? – March 28, 2005
BusinessWeek: What’s going on with the Motorola Apple iTunes mobile phone? – March 24, 2005
So who’s really delaying the Motorola iTunes phone anyway? – March 21, 2005
Motorola exec: Apple iTunes phone debut delayed by Steve Jobs; phones will launch in 2005 – March 16, 2005
Motorola’s Apple iTunes phone in trouble? – March 14, 2005
Motorola says iTunes phone unveiling delay not caused by dispute with carriers – March 10, 2005
Motorola says it’s working on more iTunes phones, some models ‘can store eight hours of music’ – March 10, 2005
Motorola indefinitely postpones Apple iTunes phone unveiling – March 10, 2005
Motorola’s ‘ROKR’ Apple iTunes mobile phone to be unveiled this Thursday – March 06, 2005
Motorola’s yet-to-be-unveiled ‘ROKR’ phone will be first Apple iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Nokia to use Microsoft’s music formats on its handsets – February 15, 2005
Motorola E1060 not, repeat not, the iTunes phone – February 16, 2005
Motorola executive previews iTunes Phone at CES, syncs to iTunes like an Apple iPod – January 06, 2005
Apple’ prodigious hardware and software design skills may help Motorola create iPod phone – December 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes on cell phones a harmonious deal that benefits both companies – August 05, 2004
Motorola posts Steve Jobs’ Apple iTunes announcement video – July 28, 2004
Apple, Motorola iTunes deal not exclusive, debuts Apple’s licensing of FairPlay DRM – July 27, 2004
Motorola and Apple to bring iTunes Music Player to Motorola’s next-gen mobile phones – July 26, 2004
I hate cell phones as it is, why the hell would i want one which plays my music?? I play music way more than I’m ever on the phone. I’m not going to say I won’t buy a product if it does comes out, but it has TO BE pretty freaking GREAT! for me to buy it. I mean phone interfaces right now are disastrous, there are only a couple of companies which interfaces I really like, HELLOMOTO, but their phones are terrible and nokia makes great phones but I’m beginning to hate their interfaces as they add billions and billions of ridiculous features that the average person doesn’t use. I JUST WANT TO MAKE A PHONE CALL!
With regard to the carrieirs not supporting the roumored iphone, i believe that Apple/Motorola only need to get one carrier to take the phone. as i feel that the iPod/iPhone brand would have the potential to make people switch network simply to get the phone. at this point other carriers would realise their mistake and backtrack
H
another idea to integrate the two, without actually having to merge them would be through bluetooth. If you have a bluetooth iPod and a bluetooth phone then perhaps if you had both on you, you could access the dialing and receiving functions though the iPod interface somehow. Not a perfect solution. Still two devices, and the phone would be basically a dumb terminal but not all that complex to configure. This is just a thought.
I personally hate cell phones and do not have a need for an iPhone but as coverage in N. america increases i accept that the cell phone will soon be the de facto standard form of voice communication.
Bill Gates is right. And MDN, nice to see you thinking it through today vs. the blind argument yesterday.
The thing ol’ Bill G is missing is Apple will create the killer appliance as long as Moto truly works with them to do it.
I hope the iTunes phone that has been leaked is a decoy, or the “real” one is coming in Paris.
Bill must hate the fact that he has driven the industry to commodity and his OEM partners only know how to do cheap.
They had it coming.
Cell phone service providers will ruin any chance of a successful iPod combo device. They will nickel and dime to death anyone who buys one and you’ll end up with some super gadgety thing that is too complex and expensive to use.
Right now I can get internet access on my cell phone (for an additional fee). I can get new ring tones downloaded to it (for an additional fee). I can take pictures with it and email them to friends and family (for an additional fee). I can have new video games added to my cell phone (for an additional fee). See a pattern here?
An iPod/Cell phone bill will be an absolute nightmare. I’ll avoid it by keeping my iPod nice and separate, thank you. Without the additional fee.
No all-in-one for me, thanks. The key is simplicity. Cell phones are anything but.
remember they are powered by something called the Battery
how much power will watching a movie or listening to mp3s, etc.. consume –
your guess is as good as mine
maybe u need not carry a mp3 player but u need to carry a lot of batteries
Mac4lfe
Who’s “Rush Limbaugh”? Is he the lead singer for that Canadian 80’s rock group?
Just did some research on the 80’s rock group: apparently the lead singer is “Geddy Lee”
Wow, thank you for this post. It works like a charm. I’m sorry to say that I doubted this at first.