“Apple Computer has tapped the head of EyeTV maker Elgato Systems to head its German subsidiary. Freddie Geier plans to leave his post as Elgato chief executive at the end of the month to join Apple as managing director of Apple Germany, Elgato said in a statement Tuesday,” Ina Fried reports for CNET News. “‘Apple Germany is going to be led by a true entrepreneur; we congratulate them, and we’re very happy for Freddie,’ Elgato President Markus Fest said in a statement. Elgato said the company ‘will continue to operate under the leadership’ of Fest, who is also Elgato’s founder. Elgato is best known for its EyeTV line of products which adds TiVo-like functions to the Macintosh.”
“The hiring marks a return to Apple for Geier, who has headed Elgato since July 2003. Prior to joining Elgato, Geier was a senior director of business development for Apple in California and also was a general manager for Astarte, the company that created the CD burning application Toast,” Fried reports.
Full article here.
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Related articles:
If Apple wants to get serious about TV, they should snap up Elgato – October 14, 2005
didn’t someone post the other day that the smartest thing Apple could do was snap up eyetv? Is this a prelude, or an opening move of that exact strategy?
MDN word is Firm, as in I have a firm belief in the long term viability of Apple.
“EyeTV done right”?
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Could be interesting.
This is major foreshadowing in the story of “Steve Jobs and The Digital Hub”.
Since Elgato is a privately held company, they could do anything, including enter into a material agreement to co-develop a Mac mini with eyeTV and Front Row built in, without any regulatory filings. Further, they could do that same thing with a clause that at product release at MacWord SF 2006 (where Elgato’s US HQ is), they agree to be purchased by Apple for an all cash transaction.
This is no coincidence. No way Elgato’s CEO would jump ship right when the market is warming up. He knows Apple and Steve and he is going to run things in Germany where he likes it while the Eye TV crew moves to 1 Infinite Loop.
MDN word: program
So, uh, like, does Elgato need a new CEO? I’m not too busy right now. Just recovering data for people who keep mindlessly buying La Cie drives…
Jim,
Take a look at the related article provided above.
Hire em, Let them go… RE-Hire em to help make a big change……. hmmm why does that sound so familiar..
I figured it out! Apple is not a IT company.. They are just firm believers in hiring talented people.. firing them and then RE-hiring them after they have done their side projects to proove their technology.
Steve jobs: fired. Created neXT .. re hired…
Freddie: let go/quit/fired. Created Elgato .. re hired…
So instead of just plain out copying software/ideas from other companies (like how M$ does it) .. Apple hires these people.. gives them money and a name in the business world, lets them go (fires them) to provide a proof of concept in the world ( via their own company ) and then re-Hires them, indirectly copying their ideas and technology..
Its brilliant I tell you! I can see the slogan now.
APPLE innovations: All the glory none of the hatred…
Another case solved by the great Music Label Executive-ANON
Woohoo!!!! Fantastic news!!! GO APPLE!
Interesting.
Top dogs going to Apple and Google and running like hell from M$FT like Bill and Monkey Boy cut the cheese.
Very, very interesting.
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Germany is the most neglected, worse major market for Apple.
It is amazing how bad Apple markets itself in Germany. it is virutally invisible over here in this market of 89 million.
GREAT things are coming.
anyone ever hear of a software company called Sonic Foundry? Makers of Sound Forge, ACID and Vegas?
When they folded and got bought out by Sony, the creator of ACID went to work with Apple and GarageBand was born!
These kinds of moves can only bring wonderful things to Mac users.
See I told you, Apple isn’t going to buy Elgato, there is little need for it as Apple can do it all themselves and better.
The writing is on the wall for Elgato, with M$ and Apple both developing media PC’s and the new HDCP copy protection coming in all new Intel chips combined with the US switching over to digital TV and HDCP encrypted content by 2007-2008 there will be a eventual shrinking of Elgato as a company.
Hollywood won’t license the HDCP (and the chip needed) to Elgato or anyone else unless they can guarranty content protection right to the monitor. M$ and Apple will be providing their own DRM schemes directly to their monitors or might even share a common neutral DRM scheme.
Since Elgato is fighting Hollywood with the EFF against such things as the broadcast flag (reguiring a license chip for watching “free” HDTV!) I doubt they would license them anything anyway.
This demand by Hollywood for stringent copy protection is really a pain in the butt, but eventually all copy protection schemes are broken and “black boxes” will soon appear allowing us to again descramble, record, burn etc., HD content.
If you want to prepare, get yourself a dual or dual dual core PowerMac G5 and a couple of EyeTV 500’s now, this way when the “black boxes” arrive it’s a simple matter to insert the black box between the cable box and the EyeTV 500 and do with all HD content as you like. The black box acts like a authorized “HDTV” sending the proper signals to the cable box.
Elgato won’t be able to provide a future product since the new MacTels will be media PC’s and there will be no market for them. If the broadcast flag gets enacted in Congress, Elgato can’t sell the EyeTv 500 anymore, although you can buy one used and “grandfather” in your present EyeTv 500.
HDCP is incredibly difficult DRM to crack for pay TV, the content is always randomly scrambled even on the hard drive and can expire by itself, like cable boxes do now.
The broadcast flag is a “listen” DRM scheme and a rather weak DRM scheme designed to protect only “free HDTV” but provides Hollywood licensing power, it can be cracked with future software but will add considerable time to watching and recording “free” content on computers.
To read more look at the EFF site and search for HDCP
Deutschland bound you really don’t know what you are talking about – the Mac is growing faster in Germany than in most countries on the planet. Every day I see more powerbooks in cafes and bars there, the user groups are flourishing, tons of talented developers who develop only for the mac. A couple of years ago I was in a train there, in the bar car using my powerbook. In three consecutive cities someone came to the bar car toting a brand new powerbook still in the box! Within minutes I had us all on a wireless network just to see how easy that is to do, and none of the three needed my help setting up, because all three had been using friends’ macs until they bought their own. Every time I am there, which is relatively often, I see more and more macs everywhere I look. Just like in the US, they don’t need to advertise – People, especially Germans, recognize quality and excellent engineering and it is paying off in spades there! Just my 2 cents!
In response to Deutchland Bound,
Hallo!!
As you point out Apple are not so well known in Germany particularly in regards to iTunes and the Store.
The only thing is when I was there visiting my cousins in Hamburg, not recently mind, I was surrounded by Mac users including my cousin who is a graphic designer, her friends were all Mac users too, even at a bar run by Mac users even her father, my uncle, now a retired Nuclear Physicist uses Mac’s at home and when he worked too.
Okay maybe family doesn’t indicate how well Apple is doing in Europes biggest ecnomy and that by definition is why Geier is to head over to Germany.
Deutschland Bound >
The problem with developing Germany for Apple is that the eastern half of the country is still dealing with the economic effects of integration, and could best be described as stagnant in terms of growth prospects.
Whilst I’m not hopeful that Germany is ready for a dose of free-market economics, there is a possibility that the new government may start to pick at the threads that initially delivered the German economic miracle for the former West Germany, yet engendered a sclerotic business environment after re-unification.
Once Germany starts to pick up steam economically, it makes it a credible target for Apple to develop new business ventures (e.g. I wouldn’t expect to see Apple develop an Apple Store network until employer costs and flexibility is improved).
Maybe Deutschland Bound was visiting Australia? Are there *any* Macs there? (thats Oz, not Austria)
Too true Deutchland Bound.
Coming back from work on the U-Bahn in Berlin the other day , there were six young people in the carriage with MP3 players. Not one of them was an iPod.
Ive seen just a handful of iPods here since they came out.
(But you do see more and more iBooks and Power Books.)
As I’m temporarily ‘off line’ at home, I’m writing this in a Mac-only internet café – the first of its kind in Berlin – and it’s doing very well!
Things are picking up slowly here (in things Apple) and, having lived here for almost 30 years, I’ve learned that the Germans take their time; but when they do get going, then there’s no stopping them.
This is a large and wealthy market and I’m convinced that 2006 will see an explosion in things Apple.
MCCFR,Macs,tarkvara, et al – you guys don´t have a clue how pathetic Apple is in Germany.
Check out the top seller computers on Amazon germany – is there one in the top 100? (In the US they are all top 10 spots are Apple – according to MDN).
A single Apple store in Germany? NO.
What stores sell Apple in Germany? – Gravis.
Check out the total number of retail outlets that sell to 89,000,000 Germans: 20.
http://www.gravis.de/html/stores.html
Pathetic.
The nearest one to me is 25 kilometers (15 miles) away. The next one? About 100 kilometers away (62 miles). There are about 2 million people living withing 50 kilometers of where I live! One lousy Gravis store that sells Apple computers. And it is on a back alley, side street with no parking in an ugly little building that has showroom space of about 12 x 24 feet. Dinky, ugly place. One guy running the place. One technician in the back room….and he´s usally not there. The store is about 13 long blocks from the main downtown shopping zone. And they close at 7pm on week nights and 4pm on Saturdays. Shopping hours in Germany are until 8pm Weeknights and Saturdays.
Apple in Germany sucks.
A sampling from local experience. I belong to a gym with 1,000 members. The only people I have ever seen with an iPod are me and my wife. Lots and lots of mp3 players – no iPods.
My son and daughter have iPods. None of their friends have them. My other son wants a Nano. I asked if he knows of any kids that have ipods in his school. Answer. No.
One hears of Apple computers in schools in the U.S. In Germany? – no.
Apple has tried to sell its computers in the big retail electronic store, MediaMarkt, a couple of times. Total failure. Why? No software for Apple computers. MediaMarkt does carry some of the iPods, but you would have to ask a salesclerk where they are they are so hidden.
Apple also has retail deals with 15 no name, tiny back corner shops that sell Apple computers – 99% are all online internet shops. With names like Shulz´s Officesupply, Lots-of-Bits, and Computerhaus GDD Salespoint. Whoo-hoo! It sucks Apple.
Germany has a population of 1/3 of the U.S. Does it have 1/3 the sales? I don´t know, but I would guess it would be lucky to have 1/30th the sales of the U.S. Apple.
I could go on.
Advertising? What is that?
I hope this new guy does something better. It seems about every other year Apple announces a new guy for Germany and he does nothing.
–> deutschland bound:
YOU ARE SO RIGHT!
(I used to work at an apple center in hamburg – not gravis, fotunately)
alas, I´m´off to greener pastures now (although spain isn´t exactly mac-heaven neither
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regards
Matt
There are Apple iPods at MediaMarkt chain in Germany:
http://mediamarkt.de/ph/index.php?gid=121
But….
No Nano. No Shuffle. No Video iPod.
Number 5 is iPod Mini silver – Apple doesn´t make it anymore….
By the way MediaMarkt doesn´tsell Apple computers.
One of the biggest chain of computer shops in Germany, is Arlt
http://arlt.com/
Plug in the word iPod or Apple in the search section;
Top right column look for “Artikelsuche”
I give you the results on what you will find when you look for iPod or Apple:
No results, found nothing, zip, nada, zilch, nichts.
They don´t sell Apple products.
Go to the other big electronics store chain in Germany: Saturn.
http://www.saturn.de/
Plug in the word iPod or Apple in the search section;
Top right column look for “Produkt-Suche”
I give you the results on what you will find when you look for iPod or Apple:
No results, found nothing, zip, nada, zilch, nichts.
They don´t sell Apple products.
Vobis – another computer chain.
Check out their Apple selection:
http://www.vobis-shopping.de/vobis/catalog/catalog.service?rubricid=101838&oldopen=0&oldopen=29:0:&open=1
The only computer is a mini, the only ipod is a Shuffle.
Konrad – another computer chain in Germany.
Check out their Apple computer selection:
http://www1.conrad.de/scripts/wgate/zcop_b2c/~flN0YXRlPTI0MDMzNTgwMg==?~template=PCAT_AREA_S_BROWSE&glb_user_js=Y&shop=B2C&p_init_ipc=X&zhmmh;_area_kz=&direkt_aufriss_area=413080&~cookies=1&cookie;_n[1]=b2c_insert&cookie;_v[1]=ZA&cookie;_d[1]=&cookie;_p[1]=/&cookie;_e[1]=Sat,+19-Nov-2005+23:08:39+GMT&cookie;_n[2]=b2c_hk_cookie&cookie;_v[2]=WW2&cookie;_d[2]=&cookie;_p[2]=/&cookie;_e[2]=Sat,+19-Nov-2005+23:08:39+GMT
Two minis. That´s it.
I have to agree that Apple does not do a very good job in Germany. Apple has always been very weak in Germany.
Apple isn’t hiring this guy to build in PVR capability into its Macs. They’re hiring someone to run the German operations.
Living in Germany for the past 5 years, I’ve noticed more and more people using Macs and iPods. My former host family has a Mac (and a PC) because the father is an architect. His office has mostly Macs.
I live in Essen (not a big town) and a year ago, I hardly saw anybody with an iPod. Nowadays, I’m noticing more and more iPodders. In bigger cities like Munich, Köln, and Düsseldorf, it’s more common.
So far, I have converted 4 people in my office to get Macs and they are all thrilled. I’ve already convinced another friend but he doesn’t have the money right now for an iBook.
However, Deutschland Bound does portray an accurate picture of where Apple stands in Germany. It has a bad reputation as being too expensive, and Germans are very price-conscious.
Apple Germany needs to seriously get their act together with heavy advertising and offical Apple Stores!