Apple's Jobs: Zune's no threat

Wireless downloads to Microsoft media player take too long, and Zune unlikely to steal cool status from iPod, Jobs says.

The story "Apple's Jobs: Zune's no threat" published October 16, 2006 at 7:24 AM is no longer available on CNET News.

Content from Reuters expires after 30 days.

[john55440]

iPod = Uncool / Think Conformist!

iPods are as cool as iPod owners Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton. -lol

iPods are for the Think Conformist crowd, who want to make sure that they have the same brand of music player as their friends.

[ServerMonkey+FarmBoy]

In your opinion

Personaly, I own an Ipod because it functions well, its durable, and its easy to configure. I have been the no-so-proud owner of 5 different MP3 players at all price ranges, and until they screw it up, I will continue to use and recomend Ipods. Apple products have always been the most durable and reliable on the market.. but you do have to pay for that.

[i_am_still_wade]

iPod = better DRM

Granted, ANY DRM is bad. But I'd rather have Apple in control of my DRM than Microsoft.

[larrymadill]

Reality Check

When you willing pay $300 for a hard drive with a headphone jack you are a "conformist", i.e. someone who has just given up the fight for any better and decided to mindlessly consume. Whether your conformity is powered by Microsoft or Apple.

That said I own an IPOD because it works well and offers the features I want. It also plays well with ITUNES (okay, up to 7.0) and provides an easy way to manage my music. Could give a wit who owns it or if its cool.

Yepm, the IPOD is uncool. Yep, the Zune is uncool. You what is cool? Spending that $300 on the poor in Africa or to protest the war in iraq. But no one wants to do that so lets just concede we are all uncool sell-outs.

[dansterpower]

Nonsense

That is rubbish -- it is a great device and a great system.

I could care less what my friends use -- I buy the overall best
system based on MY needs -- I am an individual, not a conformist.

Calling others "conformists" is usually a project to hid one's own
insecurities.

[CBSTV]

Is the headline accurate?

Newsweek asked Jobs, "Microsoft has announced its new iPod
competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about
building communities. Are you worried?" He replied, "In a word,
no." I don't interpret that to mean Jobs feels there is "no threat"
from Microsoft's player.

[CBSTV]

Is the headline accurate?

Newsweek asked Jobs, "Microsoft has announced its new iPod
competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about
building communities. Are you worried?" He replied, "In a word,
no." I don't interpret that to mean Jobs feels there is "no threat"
from Microsoft's player.

[slickmachines]

I think it is accurate

If you use a literal interpretation I guess it's not accurate, however Steve Jobs' response is a pretty clear 'no', and I think it's safe to assume that if he's not worried, he doesn't see them as a threat.

[Sonicsands]

conformist - cool

And why do people want to conform to iPod? Because they think it is cool.

Coolness is subjective and embedded in attitude, and not always defined by rarity. If the masses think it is cool, then it is.

[rcrusoe]

I didn't buy an iPod because it was cool

I bought it because iPod/iTunes is currently the best package
available.

The player is well made, and has been around long enough to
have worked past most of it's early problems (battery life, etc.).
And while I hate all DRM, the fact that I can burn CDs from all
my iTune purchases makes Apple's DRM tolerable.

Last, but not least, I can play my music on my Mac and PC.
None of the WMA wannabe sites don't allow that.

The fact that iPods are considered "cool" is just icing on the
cake.

[Jive01]

What?

"That's like saying you don't want to kiss your lover's lips because everyone has lips. It doesn't make any sense,"

Neither does his analogy.

[pilaa]

Makes sense if you know what ubiquitous means...

The definition of Ubiquitous is: "Being present everywhere at once". Steve Jobs is referring to the fact that every girl has lips just as like most everyone has ipods and that just because everyone has them doesn't make it any "less" cool...

[Broward Horne]

Zune Meme Analysis

There was an initial ideospheric spike for the Zune release, but it dropped off quickly, implying that Microsoft hasn't captured much attention.

http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entry=zune_meme_rerun

[rmiecznik]

I won 2 iPods, they are great!

I own the 60 gig model, and I bought my wife the 30 gig model and we had nothing much owesome performance, no problems.

We now can even get some games on it, and video, but I been ripping my bought DVDs using software and putting it way before they made that announcement.

Movies are tiny anyways, but for travel this is great, I wouldn't trade me iPod for no imitator.

[Stan Johnson]

I am voting Democrat because I am sick of Republican Dominance...

The Republicans have screwed everything up with their dominance. Competition and change can be good IMHO.

I am also going to take a serious look at the Zune. Zune will have a subscription service that I'm sure will save bucks. I could really careless about wireless sharing or being cool with the kids.

[Speaker2Animals]

Why the politics in this?

Does EVERYTHING have to be cast in terms of Dem vs. GOP?

Coolness factor is a matter of opinion; subscription/rental of music
model is not -- it's a miserable failure.

[Seaspray0]

It's the twilight zone!

Once you go Democrat, you never go back. Compare a democrat to a similar republican. The democrat is cheaper to bribe than the republican. The republican party is based on scandal from 10 years ago. Everyone knows this.

[crythias]

Dominance vs. Getting the Job Done

So, tell me, if the people in "Dominance" were actually appeasing the will of the market, or even stimulating the will of the market, what would the point be in voting against the "Dominance"?

The question should be, "Are you voting a certain way because it's against the status quo, or are you voting in a way that will affect positive change?"

The funny thing is, if you actually win your vote, you have voted for a new dominance. You have now been a part of the new majority. Who, then, will you rebel against, and by what proxy? I have little encouragement to think that if the minority becomes the majority, and that majority screws something up, you'll turn around and vote for the old majority/new minority next time.

[johnhaggard]

It's a Threat if You Love Brown

I agree with him. Zune is nothing innovative. I would not use the wireless feature, and the thing looks crappy, brown or not. I want a beautiful, easy to use but sophisticated product, and iPod is it.

[live2xs]

Missing the Point

I?m amazed at how many people are missing the point on Zune. Is it going to be cooler than iPod? No. Is it going to sell more than iPod now or ever? Probably not. Is wireless going to be the technology that changes the world? No. Is it going to result in the first credible attempt to compete with iPod at any level? Yes. Is Zune going to immediately be the #2 device in this category? Yes. Is it going to push both Apple and Microsoft towards better pricing and more innovation? Yes. It seems this is a win-win for consumers regardless of how successful Zune is. I remember the same "It will neven amount to anything" comments when Microsoft launched xBox. The result has been great for consumers even if it has cost Microsoft billions.

[netman666]

I agree

All this rah rah rah! about iPod's and their world dominance. Wouldn't you like to see some competition even if it's Microsoft? It brings innovation and value to the customer. I say let's have a really good competitor to iPod and let the customer be the winner instead of just sheep ogling over the latest hip trend Jobs wants to throw at us.

[maceyblack]

just like...

Bill Gates originally didn't consider the iPod a threat?

[goombawa]

What a hypocrite

"Do you think that it's fair to the customer that the songs they buy from Apple will only work on iTunes and the iPod?

Well, they knew that all along."

Welcome to the world of Monopoly, Mr. Jobs. The only thing that separates you from Gates is about 40B dollars. Get off your high horse.

[goombawa]

edit

Edit: meant to say "being a Monopoly".

[goombawa]

edit

Edit: meant to say "being a Monopoly".

[open-mind]

Monopoly?

Apple has a monopoly? That's debatable. And it depends
whether you focus only on web music sales, or the music market
in general.

The US government officially declared Microsoft to be a
monopoly. That's a fact. No such declaration yet exists for
Apple. Regardless of that, monopolies are perfectly legal. Only
ABUSE of monopolies is illegal.

Microsoft was tried by the US DOJ and found to be guilty of
several cases of abuse. It's a fact that Microsoft abused their
monopoly. It's a fact that Microsoft broke the law.

To date, there has been no such trial or conviction of Apple.

That's what separates Apple from Microsoft. The $40 billion you
mentioned mainly provides proof of how profitable monopoly-
abuse can be.

[John J. Stevens CPC]

Finally Apple is playing the game to win.

Most of us who read these trade rags don't know much at all
about putting our vision and everything we have on the line to
start a company and make it work. Apple, always an excellent
company and product with the occasional poor leadership plan,
is finally leading the techno-revolution. Some of the comments
accusing Jobs and company of dishonesty and/or hypocrisy just
shout to the rooftops the good old fashioned ignorance to facts
of each circus clown. Like carnival barkers they spew out the
words they thing will attract us to their tents of illusion. Ladies
and gentlemen, hold on to your wallets. Don't buy this
unsubstantiated bunk! Without wasting the time to dissuade
the uninformed let me tell you that I have bought many, many
songs, videos, audio books and so on from the iTunes Store. I
have "LEGALLY" copied that music to multiple formats, AIFF,
MP3, CD's, DVD's, Flash Drives, various computers and good old
tape cassettes. Darn. Good think I didn't know you could easily
do all that. I learned it from a kid. Please, before you declare
someone else's opinion, read and develop one of your own.

[John J. Stevens CPC]

Finally Apple is playing the game to win.

Most of us who read these trade rags don't know much at all
about putting our vision and everything we have on the line to
start a company and make it work. Apple, always an excellent
company and product with the occasional poor leadership plan,
is finally leading the techno-revolution. Some of the comments
accusing Jobs and company of dishonesty and/or hypocrisy just
shout to the rooftops the good old fashioned ignorance to facts
of each circus clown. Like carnival barkers they spew out the
words they thing will attract us to their tents of illusion. Ladies
and gentlemen, hold on to your wallets. Don't buy this
unsubstantiated bunk! Without wasting the time to dissuade
the uninformed let me tell you that I have bought many, many
songs, videos, audio books and so on from the iTunes Store. I
have "LEGALLY" copied that music to multiple formats, AIFF,
MP3, CD's, DVD's, Flash Drives, various computers and good old
tape cassettes. Darn. Good think I didn't know you could easily
do all that. I learned it from a kid. Please, before you declare
someone else's opinion, read and develop one of your own.

[goombawa]

Can't be serious...

"Microsoft has announced its new iPod competitor, Zune. It says that this device is all about building communities. Are you worried?

In a word, no. I've seen the demonstrations on the Internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever. By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left! You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable."

This is like saying you'd rather use sneakernet with floppy disks rather than a wireless network. $10 says the iPod has wifi within a year. Would love to have this quote on a plaque for him when it does.

[regan2]

it wouldn't matter...

Jobs isn't commenting on the feature (wifi in this case) but the
implementation that MS took. Perhaps Apple does it one better and
has a faster implementation that's simpler and better for the
consumer...

You're reading into things too much and your bias against Apple is
quite clear...

[macuser12]

Jobs is right

Steve Jobs CEO of Apple Computer, Inc. is right about one thing,
Microsoft's Zune player will not dominate the iPod because the
iPod + iTunes has great success and people will keep buying
media from iTunes and purchasing more iPods. Many people like
iTunes and the iPod because it's simply easy to use. But the
Zune player will require much hardware, drivers, and software
configuration just like the Windows operating system itself,
which is prone to viruses, spyware, freezing, and crashes. This
means that the Zune player will require Antivirus software and
frequent software updates to keep it in tune and working order.
Anyone knows that you don't want to put an operating system
on a portable player, because when connected to a Wi-Fi will
require tons of protection no matter what. The Zune will only be
a success for Windows fans, not Mac users or iPod + iTunes
users. And the idea for the Zune player doesn't make any sense
at all. Besides Apple is already ahead in a number of years in
front of the major computer companies. Look at Mac OS X.

[erniescar]

I Disagree

You can't compare Zune to Windows. Windows abundance of drivers and instability are the result of having to support a pile of different hardware and peripherals. Zune, iPod, and MacOS are comparable. They are a proprietary system designed to run on a specific limited set of hardware. The future success of both Zune and iPod will depend on price point (both device and music) and features sets. Should be an interesting battle.

[dirk goedseels]

no threat at all

if you consider that Apple sells about 70% of Flash based players (vs 30% disk based), Microsoft is clearly targetting the wrong (sub)market to become dominant.
On top of that, the feature that is considered being the most appealing not being present in the iPod range is the wireless music sharing: in my opinion, this is a feature you can sell to the young kids, but this player is beyond their budget.

Zune has the wrong features for the wrong market, trying to beat Apple in their least dominant range of players.

[DrtyDogg]

Sounds like the right market

"if you consider that Apple sells about 70% of Flash based players (vs 30% disk based), Microsoft is clearly targetting the wrong (sub)market to become dominant."

Seems like a great place to make your first entrance into a market. The week spot.

[Seaspray0]

Sansa more of a threat than Zune

Sansa has more advantages going for it than Zune as a threat to ipod. They make the memory that goes into the player (biggest cost) which means they will be able to provide the same at a lower cost. Zune? Lets see... they've got microsoft backing it. That's supposed to be an advantage? I think I see another MSN on the horizon.

[Dr. B]

Except

MSN is free.

[Ryo Hazuki]

What an ego

Steve Jobs mustn't understand much about computing if he thinks it takes "forever" to send 5 mb wirelessly.
And if he thinks people love their iPods like most men love their wifes, I think he's ego must be even higher than it's already usual in Apple-country...
Still, I think iPod won't ever be beaten by Zune or any other mp3 player, because overall its still the best IMHO.

[lesfilip]

Wireless speed vs. people speed

I think when Jobs refers to it taking forever he is talking about the
large number of steps that each party has to go through to do a
transfer, not the speed of the Wi-Fi. All the trouble for three days
or three plays, whichever comes first.

Have a nice day!

[alaaji]

Why complain about DRM?

I don't even own an Ipod but I use Itunes b/c it tends to have the music that I want and it's convenient. Although I am an American, I don't live in America b/c of my job so Itunes is perfect. For all those complaining about DRM, get over it. You can burn the music you buy from Itunes to a cd and poof! No more DRM and a backup copy to boot which is important to have by the way. I am glad I did b/c my hard drive just crashed and all my music went bye bye. Thank goodness for backups!

[nancyeie]

because we have a right to

When I burn a cd using songs purchased I don't want to have to use only one music service to purchase the songs. Often I've wanted songs that were either exclusively on Napster or exclusively on i tunes. It is way too much work to create a cd if I want to use more than one music service. Because now all songs purchased through Napster must be burned through Napster. The same I assume with i tunes. Therefore, what used to take only one cd takes more. DRM isn't the way to go because it only hurts those who download legally. How does DRM work when people download songs illegally does DRM even exist in programs such as Bearshare or Kazaa?

[Sumatra-Bosch]

Jobs is Way Too Diplomatic

Zune is another disturbing display of MS incompetence. If this doesn't cause a run on the stock, I dunno what will.

Ballmer can run around department stores threatening to bite people who don't buy one, but it won't work. There's only one of him and he's hilarious when he's enraged.

Zune.

Buy it in brune.

And use it to keep the door open.

[har D harhar]

St. Job also said that flash based media players

end up in the top drawer of people's dressers (or something to that effect). Apple releases the nano and shuffle shortly.

Labeling something as a ____ killer is stupid in my opinion. When Sony came out with the walkman the other electronic companies didn't say lets make a "walkman killer", they simply copied the design and made their own walkman.

Microsoft just needs to put out a solid product, I don't think the product will "kill" but it will certainly sell.

I'm pretty sure the Sega and Sony fanboys laughed when Microsoft decided to get into the game console business, just like the Apple fanboys are laughing now.