N
Nightblade
Guest
Yesterday, Microsoft released its Portable Media Center, a device built to destroy the iPod. Most people have heard about it for a while, actually, but it got released yesterday. Its name comes from the operating system "Windows XP: Media Center", a program that allows you to watch TV, movies, DVDs, music, etc. Few people have that operating system, due to its high price and the fact that there are always replacements for it, a lot of which don't even involve a computer (like a TV). But now that technology has gone portable. It's much bigger than an iPod, and more costly, which are disadvantages, but considering it can play TV shows, movies, and photos (as well as music, with about as much storage space as an iPod), this could pose a problem to Apple. Hmm, Microsoft is once again copying Apple's ideas, making changes (sometimes for the better, actually), and then selling it to beat Apple. Here are a few articles about this:
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/n...902&content_id=845827&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157772
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117653,00.asp
But this isn't all they've done recently. This is just half of how they're once again not going to let Apple have any market (face it, if Apple kept the Newton going, Microsoft would've stolen that idea too). Here's the other half....
TWO days ago, Microsoft released MSN Music, a competitor to the iTunes Music Store. It's not as good as the iTunes Music Store...yet. Right now, it's only got 500,000 songs, but soon they'll have 1,000,000. In addition, they've got GREAT search features. But then again, seeing as how Apple invented Spotlight, the iTunes Music Store should get better search features eventually too. Anyway, look at this article:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=575980§ion=news
Or this one:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/reuters20040903_471.html
And to top it all off, neither of these services are Mac-compatible or iPod-compatible! They steal Apple's ideas, make them more appealing, and then lock Mac-users out of the fun! But, maybe they'll eventually be Mac-compatible. I mean, from what I recall, both the iTunes Music Store and the iPod weren't PC-compatible when they were released, but eventually they became PC-compatible. Hopefully the same thing will happen to Microsoft's two new music weeds, but only time will tell. Personally, I think MSN Music will be the more successful of the two. Anyway, what do people think of this?
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/n...902&content_id=845827&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1157772
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,117653,00.asp
But this isn't all they've done recently. This is just half of how they're once again not going to let Apple have any market (face it, if Apple kept the Newton going, Microsoft would've stolen that idea too). Here's the other half....
TWO days ago, Microsoft released MSN Music, a competitor to the iTunes Music Store. It's not as good as the iTunes Music Store...yet. Right now, it's only got 500,000 songs, but soon they'll have 1,000,000. In addition, they've got GREAT search features. But then again, seeing as how Apple invented Spotlight, the iTunes Music Store should get better search features eventually too. Anyway, look at this article:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=575980§ion=news
Or this one:
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/SciTech/reuters20040903_471.html
And to top it all off, neither of these services are Mac-compatible or iPod-compatible! They steal Apple's ideas, make them more appealing, and then lock Mac-users out of the fun! But, maybe they'll eventually be Mac-compatible. I mean, from what I recall, both the iTunes Music Store and the iPod weren't PC-compatible when they were released, but eventually they became PC-compatible. Hopefully the same thing will happen to Microsoft's two new music weeds, but only time will tell. Personally, I think MSN Music will be the more successful of the two. Anyway, what do people think of this?