Microsoft: "We Were Smoked" By Apple iTunes

ROFL!!

They're only human, after all.

In their defense, I do like the Zune software more, especially in terms of actually playing music.

It isn't horribly slow, mostly. It's also much more elegant and looks better.

This is news? Must be a slow day.

i Tunes has alot of cool features and the store is very well done but it is lacking in so many ways like folder monitoring for one

iTunes is awful. I loathe it with such a passion. Bloated and clunky and buggy as sin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

Hmmmm news any one.

I can't stand iTunes. I have had a large number of issues with it. It just isn't a good piece of software. But when has mediocrity ever stopped Apple from succeeding?

I absolutly hate Itunes in it's entirety. I hate Apple for locking me into itunes for updates
and syncing my Iphone. I want a program that will let me do what ever i want without locking
me into their narrrow street. I absolutly hate it. Give me a program that sets me free with my
iphone...........

Wow, are Microsoft execs still kicking themselves over iTunes!?

These are from 2003. They are being mentioned because they were recently dug up, as mentioned at the beginning of the article.

Jobs: "So record companies, got this idea called iTunes"
Record companies: "Umm, I dunno, we've never really struck a deal like this before... not even with Bill gates."
Jobs: "Oh, ok... just thought you guys were cool, that's all"
Record companies: "No no, we're still cool!"
Jobs: "Then bite my Apple! Bite it!"

What are all the major bugs about itunes that people are talking about? I'm not saying they don't exist, I'm just curious to know what others have found. It runs just great on my PC, using about 100 MB's of RAM and 4% of my Q9450. I'm running W7 x64, and I've never come across any major issue

Pretty neat stuff. Anyone else notice that Bill Gates writes like a high school kid (or an internet forum poster)?

He never graduated from college, what do you expect?

Curiously, I have never bought any music or anything else from iTunes; I guess the iTunes software was too much of a deterrent to me. I could always find the music I wanted on Amazon digital dowlnoad, and that was also at a time when Amazon kicked the loathed DRM that iTunes still embraced.
Overall, I still believe that horrible piece of soft called iTunes was and still is the main reason for not being interested in getting my music through them.

Have you stopped and considered getting a better phone? Maybe you are locked in a contract, but if not, there are MUCH better alternatives out there. Look up HTC or Samsung or Nokia, they all offer better, multitasking phones without a restrictive program to activate/upgrade them. As a bonus, you can get a smartphone package from the phone company that is cheaper that the equivalent pack for iPhone because they include MMS/messaging.

Seriously, by the 3rd paragraph i was like WTF?

One of the richest men on Earth but he can't write worth a sh*t!

***note***
He can pay someone to write his thoughts for him

Seriously, people are attacking the grammar in this?

It's not an email for mass distribution; it's totally off the cuff and was clearly never reread or edited. It was sent on the fly to someone Gates was brainstorming with.

I'm a writer. I take grammar seriously, I've even taught it, but a lot of the emails and chat exchanges I have with my writing partner are in an incoherent shorthand that makes this email look like literature.

I've never had a single problem with iTunes. But like usual, biased Apple hate = hate everything and anything they create. The fact is Apple has always been the innovator and Microsoft has always walked the trails Apple blazed. Apple II ushered in the PC era. The Mac introduced the GUI interface and mouse control. Take your pick between Apple, Atari, or Commodore for popularizing advanced graphics and audio.

Microsoft competed and succeeded by being cheaper. It had the advantage of IBM PC clone manufacturers. The systems were inferior to the competition, but cheap. And they began to swallow up the marketshare, and unlike Apple, Microsoft embraced games even though Apple systems were usually better equipped at handling the best games. Steve Jobs wanted Macs and Apple computers to be seen as serious business and educational tools, and not as toys.

But still, Apple continues to innovate and popularize new technologies, and Microsoft continues to chase them. Only now, Apple has retained a firm stranglehold in those sectors, and Microsoft fanboys are crying about it. So basically, Microsoft is like a really successful Chinese knockoff company.

I don't understand why anyone over 16 would have blind hatred for any company, and treat any success like they just raped and murdered your family and any failure like you won the lottery.

It was cool to read an email written by Bill Gates lol.

Actually, reading this email, I'm pretty impressed with Bill Gates. You can ramble on about his grammar (interestingly, the people complaining write horribly themselves), but his leadership style is very effective.

He recognizes his rival's abilities, and respects them. He's clear with his emotional response to it, and his issues and convictions as to how they related to Microsoft. He also makes it clear the parts of it he doesn't understand. In fact, he's not acrimonious at all towards Microsoft employees for not getting this done before Apple. He is looking forward rather than backward.

He's direct with what he wants, but not heavy handed with it, and makes it clear he understands people have many ideas on it.

If you want to fault him for too many paragraphs, or not triple-checking the grammar, than you might be missing the point. His leadership ability is certainly one of the reasons Microsoft did so well. It's very interesting to actually see it in the form of this email.

Is it just me or does Gates sound like a bit of a bumbling, fumbling moron?????

Apple hasn't blazed any trails for anyone, all they have ever done is build Road Blocks............

Bill Gates
the Billionaire that sounds down to earth

Too bad iTunes runs like crap

I never bothered with iTunes or any similar application. No big deal.

the Zune HD is actually a more user friendly product than the Ipod touch and Iphone. The video formats are more abundant, it is HDMI makes it easily accessable for todays players and HTPC's, and although there is little 3rd part suppost as most of the developers make stuff for the Ipod and iphone, MS should be able to market this product as well so PC developers can create 3rd party apps and games for the ZUNE.

I don't download music or pay for in that way so I can't comment on that but I _love_ the ZuneHD.

In almost (read: every single one) every way it is better than iPod Touch except that it isn't made for dummies.

I think Apples does excel in giving you something made for dummies and non-power users while also limiting and locking down everything it can do.

My ZuneHD is

Ooops seems it doesn't like me using ascii characters. Anyway, my ZuneHD is the greatest blessing to new gadgets in a while.

I think though since Apple was first on the scene in terms of mainstream acceptance, it will take time for 'regular' users (i.e. those who don't read tech sites and forums) to give other products a real look.