“The recent joint interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates at D5 highlighted for me what makes Apple a great company, and why Microsoft continues to struggle on all fronts except Windows and Office,” Danny Gorog writes for APC Magazine.
“Both leaders are visionaries, that is for sure. In fact Gates built the first software company when nobody knew what a software company was, and subsequently conquered the market. His approach to selling DOS and then Windows to anybody that would buy it made sense in the early days. But he was lucky as well. Lucky that Apple didn’t pursue the same ‘license the OS’ strategy, because if it had there’s no doubt that Apple would have a larger share of the PC market than the 5% it now enjoys,” Gorog writes.
“But like Steve said at D5, the era of the PC is largely over. Most innovation now is happening on what he calls post-PC devices, like music players and mobile phones. And that is what Apple is focusing on,” Gorog writes. “Microsoft, however, still doesn’t get it and I believe the lack of understanding comes from the top. Gates still maintains that tablet PCs are going to take over the world, that Microsoft will eventually dethrone Google to be the new leader in search, that Zune will eventually rival the iPod for market share and that Microsoft has already conquered the smart phone market. Somebody please tell the man he is dreaming.”
Full article here.
I see you’ve stopped posting your name with an email link.
That’s good.
Also, Mr. Mustard does speak for everyone.
This is an Apple site with a forum for comments about the stories Mac people like to read about.
I don’t want to sound spiteful or vindictive but posts full of blathering nonsense and spelling errors show everyone here that you’re under 20 years old, probably from NZ and not currently employed.
Keep to the subject matter at hand (in this case, Apple’s superiority over Micros**t), stop the childish ‘nah nah nah’ bickering and type messages in TextEdit first to check them before posting. People here don’t suffer fools gladly. You’re likely a really nice guy in person but here it doesn’t come off that way. Posters will react accordingly.
Peace
“The delusional assertion Microsoft is out of touch is high comedy”
zune tang, You are the highest form of comedy.
@ leo
“..it’s possible he literally meant PCs… of the Windows variety…”
uhhh … I dont think so…
I mean … for example … take “Cover-Flow” in Tigers iTunes …
Turns out .. it was so cool.. Apple added it to the Leopard Finder ..
Now, take the Touch-screen … Apple perfected it with the iPhone ..
If we were to speculate … imagine seeing it on the next gen iMacs !
Dont know about you… but that would certainly blow me away !
And Billy & Unka Fester will spend their time de-bugging Vista and trying to make that coffee table thingy work !
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I dont think I have ever seen anyone in the street using a Zune, let alone buying one ina store.
What do they look like again??
Microsoft: 95
Apple: 5
Microsoft wins! Windows Vista use already past PowerPC Macs sold for YEARS when Vista only has been selling for MONTHS!
Intel Mac use went down for the first time because they see the power of Windows Vista. Get it today!
Apple innovates, we all know that but in addition they’re also expanding cleverly. They’re moving into new markets in a way that smoothly progresses from what they’re already doing but that also serves to benefit they’re existing market. In addition they also ship. Stuff comes out pretty much when it’s supposed to. Sure there is the odd delay but that’s because they’re pushing the envelope so much but still retaining their overall quality.
Microsoft try and do everything for everyone regardless of how it fits in with what they already do. Search is big, they try and do that. Games are popular, Microsoft get in on that. They do all these things, none of which they do really well. The only Microsoft product I really loved was my trackball explorer which I recently dropped and broke and haven’t been able to replace with anything as good.
The thing about Microsoft is that it’s not innovative. It’s not even interesting. Who gets all jazzed when M$ comes out with something new? I mean, it’s always the same slice of frustration, although the colors may change. It’s guaranteed to be bloated, run slowly, need constant repairs, and require advanced mental contortion to make it work. Indeed, the bigger M$ gets, the less functional their products become. M$ is just a mess on wheels. Why would I want to get with something that made my life Harder, not easier?
“M$ is just a mess on wheels.”
But they’re innovative square shaped wheels.
“…struggling except for Windows and Office…”
You call that struggling? C’mon.
“…and BAM! everyone will be packing a Zune.”
Mmmm… Brown Packers.
Agreed. Gates misses the mark to be sure, but he’s not stupid. Ballmer on the other hand, seems to be in complete denial about everything.
BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING COOL ABOUT HAVING A MICROSOFT PRODUCT !!!!!
Jordan
Am I to suppose that PCs are going to remain about the same for years to come? Is innovation slowing in the PC area?
That would be some kind of point if it wasn’t painfully obvious that all innovation on PCs comes from Apple. Microsoft’s hegemony has set back the state of the art by 15 years by forcing archaic hardware and software methodologies on suppliers, coders and designers.
I think Zune Tang is one of those people who is paid by microsoft to go to blogs and keep the word Zune visible, otherwise, he is quite the robot nincompoop.
Why should anyone give Bill Gates a break? He’s a ruthless dweeb who made obscene amounts of money in an extremely unethical manner. As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t deserve what he’s already got, much less the good wishes of the consumers he did his best to crush under Microsoft’s thumb.
Visionaries by definition have ideas, and know how to put them into practice. Gates was never a visionary, just someone who knew how to recognize someone else’s ideas, and lie, cheat and bully to make money off them.
His vision was always extremely narrow, but once the revitalised Apple and Google came along (and no doubt fore-armed by their knowledge of MS’s dirty tactics against companies like Netscape), the writing was on the wall for Gates.
The only thing left for him was to retire as gracefully as possible, and play the philanthropist with his ill-gotten loot.
When Steve Jobs at the D conference said words to the effect that Bill Gates built the first software company when nobody knew what a software company was, he was being generous! He had to be, because SJ knows full well that the person who REALLY built the first software company was Paul Allen. Paul was the one who “got it all” and did it all! I’d hate say BG was just his sidekick coder to begin with, because BG has proven himself to be much more than that! Microsoft as it is today, is definitely because of BG. Anyone capable of taking a look a Microsoft without the Reality Distortion Field of their Billions and Billions of Dollars worth, and their Windows and Office monopolies getting in the way (thats where the real RDF in the computing industry and for IT journalists exists), will see that it is not only a company that is going no where fast, they will see a company that its real founder (Paul Allen) cannot wash his hands off fast enough. A company that even its perceived founder (BG) does not seem to want to have as his final legacy. Check out the true and verified history if you are too young to remember!
@ No he doesn’t believe any of that
> The Zune has a lot going for it–the sharing ability to walk up to anybody and let them listen to a song without them having to plug their headphones into your player.
Are you kidding? That’s a terrible feature. I don’t want some “anybody” stranger nearby knowing what I listen to. And it’s irrelevant if no one within the Wi-Fi range has a Zune.
Apple’s iPhone Wi-Fi is actually useful. Very useful. If Microsoft had taken the time and effort to put Internet surfing and email on the Zune, even in a limited (“watered down”) way, that would have been something significant. The Zune may have had a chance. Instead, Microsoft made the Zune’s Wi-Fi into an essentially useless gimmick that just makes the device more expensive, larger, and power hungry.
“I don’t want some “anybody” stranger nearby knowing what I listen to.”
I have a feeling that there’s seldom anyone stranger near you.
I have a Zune. Many of my colleagues and friends have Zunes. Many of our customers have Zunes and used to have iPods. I have personally seen a large number of our customers move from the iPod to the Zune – they prefer the sales model and one fixed price for full access to the marketplace. They also like the larger screen on the Zune and the built in FM radio. I was kind of up in the air over the Zune – as I don’t like music at all, but do like to DL various tech related shows and thought it would be nice to have them on the road. I have to say, it’s a very nice device and the interface is actually easier to use than the iPod’s. Just my 2 cents.
I do assert that the iPhone will drive mobile device innovation, but caution people to be objective – a British firm, HTC, already had devices in the market that use an interface on Windows Mobile 6 that uses a multi-touch interface that is as nice, if not nicer than the iPhone’s. I would not be surprised if HTC goes after Apple in much the same way Creative went after them and won – some 100 million over interface copyright violations.
I think somebody forgets that Toyota pretty much only builds cars whereas Microsoft builds endless (some would say mindless) amounts of stuff yet only Windows and Office are particular successes and these were its first products. Little since has made much of a contribution and many like xbox and zune are money pits that couldn’t be sustained but for the money those two original products endlessly supply because of their virtual monopoly. That is why Microsoft is so paranoid it knows full well (despite the bravado) that any significant decline in those two products will pretty much put them in to inevitable and probably terminal decline as a dominant business. Thus the blunderbuss attempt to use them to buy other markets, markets that others have shown are successful and a fear of the risk in actual innovation. To be fair in large companies Jobs is practically unique in being able to consistantly pull that trick off.
Its gonna be more than Ballmer backdoorin Gates, the whole company will be ….. in 3-5 years
Was going to buy an Apple device, but changed my mind: don’t want to turn into an anthony, the typical Mac user…
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If I were Bill Gates I would cower in the shadows and then BAM!!! jump out like NINJA TIGER!!!! Waaahhhh-YAH!!!! Chop the iPhone in half with super ninja might! Wa-TAAAH!!!!!!! YAAA! Wax on! Wax off! Wooooooo-YAAA!!!!
Anyone mind if I comment on the original post? No? Good.
Apple treats customers as though we have a choice. With that in mind, Apple tries to find out what we want with a reasonable price point, and then trusts us. (Note the lack of any copy protection on ANY Apple software)
Microsoft treats us as though we are sheep coming in for feeding and shearing. With that in mind, they give us what they think we want and take as much as they can get for it, and even then are careful not to allow a customer to make a copy of anything without authorization.
The world is discovering Apple. Microsoft and many others are fighting back by augmenting their DRM, improving the security of their proprietary interfaces, and increasing prices. The very things driving customers away are getting worse.
Apple is working to open up a standards-based communications system that will benefit everyone, even those who do not buy Apple products.
Apple is going to win big. And it’s going to happen so fast it’ll scare the hell out of everyone.