In celebration of the iPod's upcoming fifth birthday, Newsweek writer Steven Levy recently talked with Steve Jobs about the iPod's cultural impact, including its design, cool factor, and affect on how we listen to music. When asked wheter he saw Microsoft's upcoming iPod competitor, Zune, and it's propsed community-building abilities as a threat to the iPod, this is what Jobs had to say:
"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."
Is Jobs take just, or is Microsoft in a good position to be a dominant contender in the MP3 player space?
Related Stories: | Topics:Work/Life, culture, Science and Technology, Digital Music Players, Steve Jobs, Audio and Video Devices, Electronics |
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Recent Comments | 14 Total
October 17, 2006 at 9:44pm by thedirector
Jobs is just trying to lightly dismiss one of the most potential significant technology advancement to the music player with sarcasm. He’s probably just jealous that Apple didn’t think of it first.
October 17, 2006 at 10:13pm by Rich
I disagree. It's a level of complexity that Apple has tried to avoid with the iPod. That's not to say that iPods won't have similar features in the future. Apple rejected video on the iPod for quite some time, until they figured out a way to make it work the way they like it.
Maybe Microsoft has figured it out. Or maybe it's premature, and Apple knows it.
October 17, 2006 at 10:21pm by Rich
BTW, the link to the Levy/Jobs conversation is messed up.
October 18, 2006 at 12:26am by Max Leibman
Does it matter if Jobs jest is just? He's Steve Jobs. He virtually has to say something like that. (And if he's right about how long it takes, he's on to something.)
I am struck, though, by the romantic "sharing headphones"-style of sharing music is being defended by Jobs, and the very modern wirelessly sharing a song with a friend is Gates & Co's approach. Bill might finally be stealing a march on Steve's cool factor.
October 18, 2006 at 3:23am by Eric Yao
I think Jobs is right, it is not only a matter of music. The future is video, therefore speed is importment.
October 18, 2006 at 5:14am by brent
personally, i don't see the point of sharing music in close proximity.. (a) it restricts me to either be near a person or worse, wait until the download is complete (b) music in that context, listening on your headphones, is kinda insular. iPod's branding may have made it a social phenomenon, but the act of using one, is blissfully anti-social (with exception of iTrip and networking one's iTunes - biggest issue with both: you can't keep the music!) Is Zune THAT much better in that you get 3 plays? I seriously doubt it.
October 18, 2006 at 5:50am by Iain Tait
One word: Earwax!
Yuk ;-)
October 18, 2006 at 12:39pm by M Lamkin
Microsoft rarely (and I'm being generous here) gets anything right the first -- or second time. However, they have the muscle, financial wherewithal and marketing presence to become a v*e*r*y serious player here -- no pun intended.
Jobs' sarcasm is warranted -- but perhaps only for the moment. . .
October 18, 2006 at 1:08pm by Lynne d Johnson
Rich,
Thanks for the catch on the link. It's fixed now.
Lynne
October 18, 2006 at 1:12pm by milo
Sounds like Jobs is afraid of loosing bucks.
October 19, 2006 at 12:40am by ronn
Jobs knows he has nothing to worry about. All of Microsoft's loyal partners will worry though. And with good reason. The Zune isn't an iPod killer, just a killer of PlaysForSure players that went with the MS program.
I still see plenty of kids (and several adults) sharing headphones. In fact, rarely does a day go by without a couple on the subway, in a park, somewhere sharing phones.
And does anyone actually think Jobs & Co. are sitting, waiting and worrying about MS/Zune? I think there is a very, very good chance that the next generation iPod is ready to short-circuit the Zune.
November 15, 2006 at 2:12pm by Evan Reiser
This might be slightly unreleated but here's an interesting article comparing the zune and iPod audio quality using frequency analysis. Pretty objective and technical.
http://microsoftisawesome.blogspot.com/2006/11/zune-is-in-tune-frequency...
November 15, 2006 at 5:38pm by srin
Microsoft always comes out very late.Apple has already established a name.Infact the start menu in Ms windows is concept introduced in imac.
MS are copycats in general....!!!!
December 2, 2007 at 4:28pm by Daniel
Jobs is absolutely right! who wants a song for 3 plays? why not listen to it as many times as you want with sharing headphones. The zune is overrated, so, it has wifi, but you have to go into starbucks or some rest stop to use it. Why not use a phone and access it anywhere? The iPod touch has far better video experience than the zune! there is a reason that the ipod is the #1 mp3 player in the industry!