After reading this PCWorld
article, I think you'll have no choice but to agree that the
parallels between Microsoft and Apple are striking and
compelling. After that, we can have a
mud-slinging contest discussion on whether
that is good, bad, or capitalism at its best (or worst) ...
5 Comments
Yes, I dont feel Apple is any way near Microsoft. It has
just got a good success in ipod and Iphone. The problem
with Iphone are already showing up. I dont think apple
has what it takes to be Microsoft
Gee, and I thought this post would bring out all of the
Microsoft bashers :-)
I certainly agree that it wasn't bundlign IE (or
anything else) that made MS great. It was the
functionality and value their products provide.
I like Mike Elgan, and he's right about iTunes lock-in -
it sucks. The software is awful, especially on Windows.
I've tried all the alternative third party iPod manager
apps though (including paying for a few commercial ones)
and none of them are as seamless or have all the
features. It's made especially worse by the fact Apple
tries to port the "OSX" UI experience to their Windows
apps.
At least the DRM is slowly disappearing from the ITMS
catalog - this at least makes it much easier to back up
your music, and/or shift it to another AAC compatible
player that isn't an iPod.
The reason the iPod is so successful is because it's
pretty much the best and most intuitive player out
there. My gripe isn't with the hardware, only the
software that Apple bundles.
I've already put down my money for an iPod Touch to
replace my latest 2 month old iPod Nano. And I'll
replace that too with an iPhone when they appear here in
Europe later in the year - as long as it's fully
unlocked.
I'm not buying a Mac though :)
Can anyone explain to me why I need iTunes to play
Quicktime content?
A good article. Apple has always bundled their products
more tightly together than Microsoft. Not only now, but
starting back with their Mac OS and proprietary
hardware.
I never understood why they got a "free pass" on that.