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human search engines that will say, "Hey, there's a particular thing that's hot and that's interesting."
I just type in various keywords. We have a lot of blogs that are just internal to Microsoft where people are completely open about what's going on with this, what's going on with that.
I've toyed with doing one myself, but I don't want to be one of those people who start and then don't finish it, and again I'm thinking maybe I could do one a month or one every six weeks--something like that. I'd kind of like to, but I've got to be sure I can keep going for at least a year to make it worth doing.
Will there be much of a push at Microsoft to sell third-party content like music, or is it always going to be a smaller part of you?
We've said that having the music platform there is just part of the overall online relationship that we want to have with these customers.
Apple is doing things the way Apple does--where it's the Apple hardware and the Apple store, that's great for them. We're doing it the Windows way, where you've got things like this Creative Zen Micro, which sold out this holiday season. This brings the photo capability in, and it's a very attractively priced device. So the variety story is an important one for us; it uses our rights management format and supports a subscription approach that we think can be a significant part of online music sales.
What do you think of Apple's success so far? I mean, they clearly have had a hit with the iPod.
Absolutely. They had a hit with the Apple II, they had a hit with the Macintosh, and they have a hit with the iPod, so this is a company that's had three hits, and that's very impressive. There are a lot of companies that don't have three hits. And in the same way that Macintosh helped get people exposed to the graphical user interface, the iPod is doing a great job getting people to think about digital music.
In the long run, there will be a lot of people making digital music players, and we think that there will be a very different market share with dozens and dozens of companies. And other than Apple, all those player makers are signing up to work inside the Windows PlaysForSure ecosystem.
There's a big debate over whether games will surpass movies and TV as a bigger portion of revenue in the entertainment industry. What do you think will happen?
Well, there are a couple things to look at. Instant messaging will go from just being a text thing to also being voice and video and music, so instant messaging, particularly for young people but in general, is very, very explosive.
And Xbox Live is really talking to your friends, doing things with your friends. And as we bring in new game titles that are more approachable, appeal to different demographics, the boundary between what's game playing, what's socialization and what's communication--you will have really broken down the barriers there.
We can make these hot, super great graphics games something that are easy for people to use. That's a big initiative we have as we move to the next generation of Xbox. Likewise, the connection between the Xbox Live and our Messenger will be really simple so people can say, "Hey, come and play," "Oh, okay, I'm finishing my homework, I'm almost done, I'll get on and play with you." And so even as they're connected up to each other, they don't think of, "Oh no, now I'm gaming, now I'm communicating."
What are some of the primary goals with Xbox 2?
Broadening the market, having media capabilities that when there's a PC, we connect up to that. This whole story of the Windows Media Connect and how all the formats and rights management and that simple Media Center menu that's just got TV, photos, music right there--those are common elements we're bringing to all the home devices.
We didn't do Xbox just to do a video game; we did it to be part of our vision of the digital lifestyle, and with the next generation, we really get to go there. In the first generation, we had one simple goal, which was to establish credibility as a great video game platform. We've done that. Actually, the last few months in the United States, we outsold Sony with the PlayStation. So even though they have the biggest installed base, we are a very strong, credible No. 2 in that. As we go into this next generation, it's much broader.
Yes, great video gaming but videogaming for a broader set of people, more communications, more media, more connectivity. And at the same time, we move up to things like high-definition graphics and wireless that the chip breakthroughs allow us to get to.
So just for the games alone you'd go, wow, but the concept now of bringing in your music, your media, connecting to the PC, connecting Xbox Live to Messenger--that just makes it a very big deal.
It's a full entertainment center, basically.
That's right. So Media Center PC and Xbox become totally complementary. You've seen a bit of that, where we let you take music from PCs and put it into game titles, and we have this extender concept where the Media Center can project through the Xbox, but that's just the start of what we can do there.
One thing that's kind of intriguing in Xbox 2 is you're participating a little more on the design of the silicon.
Well, we have some key partners that we've announced. ATI and IBM are the key chip partners, and there are some others. But I'd say our sophistication is much higher in this second generation. So every level, what we're doing in tools, what we're doing in Live, the way we're working with the publishers, the way that we've gotten involved in the
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Just because someone says something, be it Bush or Gates,
doesn't make it true.
"Iraq has weapons of mass destruction"
"Well, no one invests more in security of their browser than what
we do on IE"
As for Gates....
Well, you have no idea how much time and money Microsoft sends on IE. The plain truth is that spending time and money just does not mean a quality product. If IE were done correctly, 6 would have fewer problems than 5.5 instead of having more and XP would less than 98se instead of more. MS probably does spend more on IE, but that really doesn't mean anything.
These people stated that Microsoft's final-goal was to fundamentally redesign the PC to be nothing more than an, entirely Microsoft-controlled, delivery-system for "rented content", -where even the hardware obeyed Microsoft, not consumers.
These people also predicted that, eventually, all consumer-choice would eliminated, by this fundamental redesign, because it would leave no room for any product or service not sanctioned, and licensed, by "...the holder of all the keys", ...Microsoft.
These people were, at best, ...ignored, or made fun of. At worst, these forward-looking critics of Microsoft's actions, were actively attacked and demonized.
Now, Bill Gates freely admits that the "X-Box", in Microsoft's vision, is the computer of the future. Furthermore, he bluntly states that Microsoft's goal is, in fact, for the entire electronics-industry to finally, exclusively, adopt Microsoft's concept of,
...Microsoft Hardware (the locked-down "Trusted Computer"),
...Running Microsoft software (a Microsoft OS and Microsoft-allowed applications),
...which Microsoft can change or disable at any time ("Automatic-Updates" without choice)
...using Microsoft DRM (which cannot, under any circumstance, be controlled by consumers),
...to deliver Microsoft-chosen content (thanks to MS-DRM and mandatory MS-Licensing),
...over Microsoft-controlled networks (since Microsoft's "Trusted Computing" is already being implemented by network-hardware companies, in order to, "...protect the Internet, and other important networks"),
...all of which, by the way, would have to be 'perpetually' paid-for by the consumer (remember Microsoft has been claiming for years that consumers don't actually own the products they have bought).
And, thanks to the recent extensions of "Intellectual Property Rights" (which most people are finally realizing is little more than an underhanded-charade), ...the imposition of such anti-consumer concepts as "computer-use as a Service" (not a 'tangible' product-sale) is now steadily moving within Microsoft's grasp.
I could almost hope that they try to do this, as it would completely burn off this unsightly and large anal wart on the arse of computing.
beleaguered PC community today when recently IDC
confirmed that the PC accounts for less than a
fraction of 1 percent of all computers. Coming
on the heels of the latest Netcraft survey which
plainly states that the PC has lost even more
market share, this news serves to reinforce what
we've known all along. The PC market is
collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly
exemplified by falling dead the other day at
CES.
You don't need to be a Gates to predict the PC's
future. The handwriting is on the wall: the PC
faces a bleak future. In fact, there won't be
any future at all for the PC because the PC is
dying. Things are looking very bad for the PC.
As many of us are already aware, the PC
continues to lose market share. Red ink flows
like a river of blood. IBM is the most
beleaguered of them all, having recently sold
off its PC business to China.
[okay, my limited creativity is at an end, so
I'll skip to the end]
Fact: The PC is dead.
No More Microsoft!
Daily Mozilla News
To me it seems Mr. Gates is more in touch with the world today then I thought before. Be interesting to see what microsoft will do for the industry in the next 10 - 20 years.
How he can say that people who want all business to operate and compete on a level playing field are communistic is a sad statement. Of course Gates doesn't want a level playing field, MS would be shoved out or at least severely marginalized out of nearly every market they are in.
The only good thing that MS constantly produces is comedy.
And to Bill: sure Bill, you have many great ideas in mind regarding IE and that should be the reason why you kept them for more than 4 years and security updates was the only area innovations have occured on.
/Donny
Did this lead engineer of Firefox write this to a blog or was it and html document the same as what your reading right now? I would say that it was a html document stored on a server called weblogs. You can't advertise "blogging" to me as I understand that a blog is the same thing as any other form of browser viewable web document. Just as this document is also a blog.
SF Gate News article / Associated Press AP:
Bill Gates touts 'digital lifestyle,' despite technical bugs
RACHEL KONRAD, AP Technology Writer
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
(01-05) 21:19 PST LAS VEGAS (AP) --
Despite suffering technical glitches that prompted jokes and
guffaws, Bill Gates promised Wednesday that Microsoft Corp.
would help millions of consumers stay seamlessly plugged into a
world of digital music, movies, video games and television
shows.
But while promoting what he calls the "digital lifestyle," Gates
showed how vulnerable all consumers -- even the world's
richest man -- are to hardware and software bugs.
During a demonstration of digital photography with a Nikon
camera, a Windows Media Center PC froze and wouldn't respond
to Gates' pushing of the remote control.
Later in the 90-minute presentation, a product manager
demonstrated the ostensible user-friendliness of a video game
expected to hit retail stores in April, Forza Motor Sport. But
instead of configuring a custom-designed race car, the
computer monitor displayed the dreaded "blue screen of death"
and warned, "out of system memory."
The errors -- which came during what's usually an ode to
Microsoft's dominance of the software industry and its
increasing control of consumer electronics -- prompted the
celebrity host, NBC comedian Conan O'Brien, to quip, "Who's in
charge of Microsoft, anyway?"
Gates, who was sitting next to O'Brien on a set staged to look
like NBC's Late Night set, smiled dryly and continued with his
discussion.
Gates also announced several partnerships with
telecommunication companies such as SBC Communications Inc.
and television networks.
Microsoft and music network MTV last month inked a deal that
will eventually allow people to send cable programs from rock,
pop and country music channels and Comedy Central to their
laptops, hand-held computers and other devices.
Although he accepted guffaws from audience members in the
theater, the technical hiccups didn't prompt Gates to engage in a
hard-hitting analysis of computer reliability and security.
It will likely take Microsoft years to understand the consumer
electronics market and produce simple, glitch-free products for
consumers' living rooms, analysts say.
"Microsoft was founded by programmers and is still run by
programmers, and the bias of programmers is that software can
do anything," said Paul DeGroot, an analyst at Kirkland, Wash.-
based Directions on Microsoft. "While Microsoft's goal is to turn
the PC into a superhub that does everything -- plays music,
works as a cell phone, stores your photos -- they're running up
against the fact that most people buy discreet components that
do particular things."
This was also announced on Channel 4 KOMO News - ABC in
Seattle, WA. as well...
Redmond, we have a problem...
Excuse me? Is this an implication that communists are the main people against government-granted monopolies that disrupt the free market economy? Yes, such as (software) patents?
And how does this compare with the fact that the EU commission is trying to jump through hoops currently to please Microsoft, among others, and disregard the will of the democratically elected parliament in the software patent issue?
I don't like to underestimate Bill's intelligence, therefore I must conclude that he's simply talking PR bull. And, in the spirit of respecting his intelligence, I must also assume that we both know that him resorting to reality-challenged communist rhetoric is rather desperate.
First they ignore you. Then they fight you.
No. It is an acknowledgemet of the similarity between anti-patent arguments, and the communist belief that people may not retain the right of ownership for products they invent and build.
As far as your "disrupting the free market economy" goes, I think you have it completely backwards. Anybody is free to disrupt the market economy. Release an amazing new product, and you will potentially introduce tremendous disruptions. Or how about this... introduce a large collection of products that people don't pay for... that is far more disruptive to the market economy. Communistic governments try to retain tight control over a market economy. Free markets allow market players much more freedom.
I think Bill's analogy was correct. Unfortunately the term "communism" is a loaded term that most people don't interpret correctly because they have an emotional response. "Ignorant" is another good example. Call somebody ignorant, and they are insulted because they do not adhere to the true meaning of the word.
I am still left asking why any dvr would need an internet connection for simply recording a movie. My vcr never needed it and a dvr is in that regard, the same thing.
In fact, would the IP laws have been the same as they are today, some of us would today be running Wordstar and Visicalc on Altair computers, but most of us would still only be able to dream about using a computer.
The IP laws have been reformed since and are still in the process of becoming more and more restrictive. The so-called communists that Gates refers to are only trying to reverse this in order to bring back the balance that allowed the whole industry to exist in the first place.
Hmm sounds like Billy boy is brown nosing to the RIAA and MPAA. I mean instead of talking about fair rights he basically called anyone who wants to restructure IP rules communists. Lovely. It also suggests the mindset of where Microsoft will prob take DRM in Windows in the future. e.g. Favor the big corp's agenda rather then fair use to the end user.
Look at the "get your pictures printed" wizard in Windows XP - it's the way that MS wants everything working in the future. XP sees that you've plugged in your digital camera and offers to get prints of your pictures ordered. The software grabs the photos, and ships them off to one of 3 photo developing labs, you enter your credit card number and *poof* you get your pictures delivered in about a week - and Microsoft gets a nice kickback for every picture developed (that's why the MS photo developing partners are so much more expensive than other online photo labs).
Right now you have a choice about who does your photo developing, but with each revision of Windows it will become more and more difficult to make your own choices.
I predict that in future products MS will allow you to buy DVD movies from some on-line retailer at a discount much deeper than the going rate, but you'll have to pay a $2 "viewing fee" every time you play the movie back (and you'll only be able to play it in MS DRM'd machines). It'll all be very slick, and you'll hardly notice as your cerdit card bill gets bigger and bigger every month and more and more "services" are added to your PC/Media Center/Game console.
There'll be people that might think it's just great - and that's fine for them, but I think that myself and a lot of other people see which way things are headed and have already chosen to abandon MS's vision of the future. We've chosen to secure our own freedom of choice. We'll use Linux, BSD, and Macintosh systems that are all free of Bill's "vision".
http://vnuuk.typepad.com/ces/2005/01/gates_keynote_t.html
http://www.vnunet.com/news/1160317
I'll wait for Shorthorn 2006
(entire keynote unedited by C/NET)
http://games.slashdot.org/games/05/01/06/1337228.shtml?tid=109&tid=211
power cord to my iBook, call my husband away from our 21"
screen iMac, and pull the children away from their Flower Power
iMac...
People ask me all the time who I call for home networking and
the blue screen of death...I tell them to call Steve Jobs in
Cupertino, CA. He's the best "computer guy" that I know...
- communists?!?!?
- by rdean January 6, 2005 7:14 PM PST
- Bill seems like a bright enough guy, but occasionally he says things that are just so wrong-headed it's baffling (ala "640k ought to be enough for anybody"). However, knowing that Bill is a militant capitalist (indicated by statements to the effect of "the only incentive to create is money") at least makes it possible to understand where the statement comes from.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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- Very telling indeed...
- by January 10, 2005 7:56 AM PST
- "Bill seems like a bright enough guy, but occasionally he says things that are just so wrong-headed it's baffling (ala "640k ought to be enough for anybody"). However, knowing that Bill is a militant capitalist (indicated by statements to the effect of "the only incentive to create is money") at least makes it possible to understand where the statement comes from."
- Like this View reply
Processing -
Showing 1 of 3 pages (136 Comments)If Bill really believes that the proponents of Intellectual Property Reform are communists, he's stupid. I don't believe he's stupid. I think he wants to protect the revenue stream from Windows Media DRM, so he's going to disparage anyone who would undermine the need for draconian DRM schemes.
Just because someone believes in Intellectual Property Reform does not make them a communist. Intellectual Property Reform is overdue.
- It was designed to protect small inventors from larger companies who would copy inventions and undercut the small inventor's selling price, thus eliminating any hope of them being able to profit from their invention. What we have today is a bunch of big companies (Microsoft and IBM being the two gorillas) being granted patents on "Method for converting oxygen to carbon dioxide" that they then turn around and use as a bludgeon against small inventors. Furthermore, some patents are written without the claimed invention having been realized (thus it wasn't invented so much as imagined). These problems undermine the value of patents as protections of new and useful *inventions*.
Beyond that, there is the fact that the patent system is not just about enriching the inventor. The other side of the coin is that it is also about advancing the state of the art. At least in the realm of new technology, the USPTO is woefully understaffed to be able to make the kinds of assessments to reliably determine what inventions constitute an advance in the state of the art and are therefore worthy of patent. James Gleick once wrote an article "Patently Absurd," which I remember mainly because it included a description of a patent that a gentleman had received on entertaining a cat with a laser pointer. I don't think I need to say more than that.
- Copyrights seem to me to be less problematic than patents, but they still need some work. The framers guaranteed copyright protection in exchange for the release of the work to extend the sciences and useful arts. The recent enactments affecting copyrights, DMCA and copyright term extension, both create new problems (including prohibitions on getting into things to see how they work and the possibility for interminable copyrights) while trying to solve valid concerns.
The intellectual property system in the U.S. needs more than tweaks, and I'm not a communist for believing that.
Gates never said that. That is an Urban Legend.
And last time I checked, being a "militant capitalist" was what America was founded on...and the last time I saw that term was from a tirade out of North Korea...