The Mercury News’ Dean Takahashi spoke with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates after his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month in Las Vegas. Gates talked a bit about Apple:
Takahashi: What do you think of iTV [Apple TV] and what Steve Jobs is saying?
Gates: I think it’s important to recognize that what you used to think of as consumer electronics has changed a lot. A company like Microsoft or a company like Apple may have some of the more interesting skill sets for delivering connected experiences. Jobs — I remember at a conference he was talking about how he didn’t like going into markets where he had to go through somebody else’s orifice. That’s how he described the broadband companies, cable companies and phone companies and things like that. We love those guys.
MacDailyNews Take: Jobs did describe them as orifices, but only because that is an inherent characteristic of such companies. “Broadband companies, cable companies and phone companies and things like that” are tax collectors, constantly overcharging for products and services while stifling innovation. No wonder Microsoft loves them; they’re exactly like them. Microsoft partners so well: just ask their many “PlaysForSure partners” – they’ll tell you all about Microsoft’s “love.”
Takahashi: There wasn’t much mention of Zune (iPod rival media player) today. We keep expecting the next Zune device, like the 60-gigabyte version or something else.
Gates: Zune deserves an event of its own. We clearly don’t have any new model. We just introduced the product three months ago. It’s doing well. We knew what we wanted. Just like the first-generation Xbox, we wanted to get on the learning curve. We wanted to get credibility. We wanted to have a reputation of doing something innovative and something that we could upgrade over time because of the large screen and the WiFi. We feel great about Zune.
MacDailyNews Take: Zune certainly does deserve some kind of an event of its own. Microsoft clearly doesn’t have any new model – device or business – that much is sure. If Microsoft’s goal for Zune was credibility, they failed miserably. And Microsoft definitely has cemented some kind of reputation for Zune that has nothing to do with innovation and everything to do with mediocrity and limitations; par for the Microsoft course. If Gates’ feels great about Zune, he’s woefully and irrecoverably out of touch.
Full interview here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bizarro Ballmer” for the heads up.]
What did you think about the efficiency with which you designed Windows Vista?
> Best $6 billion I ever spent.
I suppose you’ll make that back in profits in one year.
> You don’t need to feel bad for us in the profitability of the Windows business. Did we learn from Vista? Yes. In the last six months, we’ve been doing two things at once. We’ve been taking the major work that we have invested in Vista and using a bit of a different engineering process, a team process….
So…the best $6 billion he has ever spent and it still needs “a bit of a different engineering process.”
MW: Oh boy….
@MW:People like to draw parallels.” Look at Xbox – doomed as failure from day one, but now it is fairly successful and has lots of users.” blah, blah blah…. The fact is, MacroSuck got lucky. Sony practically gave that market share to M$ due to Sony’s incompetence. Every case is different and I don’t think Apple will give the market away to BG, not in his life time. Zune can’t even out sell Creative! GET REAL!
Oh, one more thing MW, by your logic of M$ marketing power, everyone would be using M$ “BOB” as OS on PC now!!! LOL!!!
“…the broadband companies, cable companies and phone companies and things like that. We love those guys.”
I guess this is why I like Apple: addition by subtraction. I don’t want to have anything to do with whomever is delivering content other than the IP connection because they are so off the mark when it comes to what I want to consume and when. The eye opening consumer benefit of the iPod + iTunes experience is this: I get to enjoy audio content on my terms with more portability and flexibility than ever before—and that’s with DRM. I simply don’t listen to the radio anymore, and it’s free of charge. The same goes for cable or satellite TV. The product isn’t good enough for me to spend as much as they want for it. How many country music and home shopping channels must I wade through to get to the package with the one channel I really want? +$125/month for one channel?
Broadband companies, cable companies and phone companies and Microsoft belong together. Their strategy is to throw boatloads of mediocrity at the consumer under the impression that more is better. Think online music subscriptions. That doesn’t appear to be what consumers want. Apple understands this.
The Zune is not even in the top 100 selling electronic devices on Amazon anymore. As I write this, it is #170. I’ve seen it go down all the way to #201!
“Look at Xbox – doomed as failure from day one, but now it is fairly successful and has lots of users”.
What else you expect from a game company, to use a PC is always some kind of gamble and MS just built upon that great platform.
I wonder why all tech writers say that Ballmer isn’t stupid?
“If it makes money… We don’t make a lot of money, not to start out… We’ll figure out how to make money on the community perhaps later.”
– Steve Ballmer :: Microsoft CEO
WTF??? That’s what the guy said about Zune.
My wife bought our daughter a black Zune for Christmas and she absolutely loves it. Many of the kids at her college campus have Zunes now. They loaded them with their illegally downloaded MP3’s and are using the Zune players for seamless WiFi sharing of music.
Looks to me like Microsoft understands the big picture
Former Mac User,
When you bullshit at least know the capabilities of the Zune. When you put anything on a Zune it gets wrapped in Microsoft’s Zune DRM. When you squirt you can only use tunes bought from the Zune store, not unprotected MP3’s. The Labels really did a number on the Zune.
Microsoft is clueless and so are you , you trolling bastard.
As I said before, welcome to the social.
Everytime I see the words “Microsoft” and “innovation” in the same paragraph, I can’t stop laughing. Out loud. I can’t stop. You can probably hear me.
MW: Maybe…maybe I’m just crazy?!
Funny, I was reading about this weeks ago- it is old news. Don’t know why the Mercury News is quoting it now.
BTW, in context (of course Gates was quoting him out-of-), Steve referred to them as orifices in the sense of, “points of entry”- ie, he didn’t like the idea of reaching his customers by having to go through someone else. He did not use it in a pejorative context.
Obviously, anyone who knows anything about Jobs can understand this.
The fact is, having to go through Cingular WILL SUCK, and the cell-provider end of things WILL SUCK- like always. It will not surprise me at all if Cingular’s monthly plans turn out to be prohibitively expensive.
Steve can do nothing about the carriers’ greed………… unfortunately. Because of that, this really could be a failure from the start.
It will be very interesting to see how all this plays out, because in this instance, he really has gotten in bed with the devil. Interesting to see how much influence he really has over his customer’s user-experience in such a unique case.
PS to call xbox a success is a well-worn myth.
To this day, MS LOSES MONEY ON EVERY XBOX CONSOLE THEY SELL. They have from the first one to roll off the assembly line.
They make money on the games, but what percentage of xbox games sold are actually made by MS? and what percentage of $ do they get from the other game makers?
I am going to be the devils advocate on this one and say that the Zune is to be feared.
I am SURE that Jobs and co are very very careful about what is happening on that front cause as has been the case for EVERY ms product the first version has always been laughable the second version is passable and the third version starts taking HUGE market chuncks really fast.
Gates makes a good point of comparing it to Xbox as the second version of this product even if only nominally is the dominant console out there, even thought MS came from WAY behind with the first version.
within its 2nd year that product passed the former number one, and did become a clear number 2 for the years after that.
wholy dismissing Zune is like being an ostrich and putting your head in the sand to avoid danger.
not very smart.
I saw a zune today on the NYC subway and was surprised at how gynormous it was, but then again I also noticed that its screen was very very appealing.
I think the iPhone does raise the bar but Apple is going to have to improve its whole line before its out of the clear.
Being complacent is exactly what got Apple in trouble the first time around with the Mac, (Mac IIvx, etc)
The Zune. Fear it,embrace it. It’s gonna rule the world. Squirt some songs to your fellow Zuner.
Welcome to the social.
we should be scared if the Xbox team starts working on the other M$ products. Granted the Xbox would have failed completely if it wasn’t for Halo but the 360 hardware and software is something you’d imagine Apple designing.
So, I love Apple and I know that Microsoft more or less sucks in comparison, but reading this site makes me laugh at most of you. It’s seriously teh equivalent of listening to high school girls talk shit about the girl they don’t like in the class. It’s comical.
Microsoft may not be much in terms of design appeal or creativity, but they have the money to push a product down the public’s throat and given enough time people may just check it out to see. As has been stated, look at the XBox. I thought it would suck, but it gave PS2 a run for it’s money and right now I think they’re doing pretty damn well against the PS3.
Just be realistic. Apple OSX is still a small part of the country people. Apple may dominate the music players market, but they aren’t out of the clear with the Macs. Progress is being made, but let’s just save the ticker tape parades for when something happens – like Apple is the number 1 pc seller!
Big Al, you knew he was trolling when Former Mac User said, “any of the kids at her college campus have Zunes now.”
No self respecting college student would be seen with a Zune.
Welcome to the Social, indeed.
I meant “many,” although “any” is unintentionally funnier.
M$ spawnd from IBM to keep real innovation from reaching the common man
> When you put anything on a Zune it gets wrapped in Microsoft’s Zune DRM. When you squirt you can only use tunes bought from the Zune store, not unprotected MP3’s.
Big Al is full of himself (shit). The Zune swaps unprotected files perfectly fine via wireless and doesn’t modify them or “wrap” them in DRM in any way.
Stupid MacHeads……..
@ former mac user
prove it, show me some proof.
From: (microsoft) http://www.zune.net/en-us/meetzune/zunetozunesharing.htm
“The Zune to Zune sharing feature may not be available for all audio files on your device, and works only between Zune devices within wireless range of each other. This feature allows recipients to play full-length sample tracks up to 3 times in 3 days. Recipients cannot re-send music that they have received via the sharing feature.
Translation:
It might work. It might not. (Music labels DRM)
Between Zune devices only means Windows Media devices and iPods are excluded. (DRM)
They don’t have to come from Zune Marketplace.
ALL audio files will be encoded to last either 72 hours or play only 3 times. (DRM) And you can only send it once. (DRM)
Stupid trolls……..
As I said before, I WANT TO BUY A MAC!
I just love the way Apple has dominated the music market.
I wish I had share in Apple now.
To Microsoft, I say go and die!
I embrace all that is Apple.