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Published On: May 17, 2004 12:09 PM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: May 17, 2004 12:09 PM
What is Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina holding in her hand - it can't
be!
Oh, my, why didn't I buy Apple shares
when they were less than USD20? H-P shares increased 5% after its CEO announced
it would rebadge and sell Apple iPods!
It's
true folks. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, one of
the world's premier technology events, H-P CEO Carly Fiorina announced she and
Apple CEO Steve Jobs had inked a deal for H-P to rebadge iPods in its company
colour of blue (yep, she's holding up the first H-P iPod), and distribute it
throughout the world. It has far deeper and wider distribution networks than
Apple.
That's half the story - and for those who have no truck for Apple, the news gets worse. H-P will now include iTunes software on its PCs, and link directly to the iTunes Music store. That's one big thumb in the eye to Microsoft, and to Walmart too (H-P is a big supplier of PCs to Walmart who has started its own Windows-only online music store - you don't really expect me to include a hyperlink, do you?). As well as to Dell, who dropped selling the iPod in favour of putting its own name on a rebadged Creative DJ player.
Why is this a big deal enough to blog, you might ask? Well, unless your head has been in the sand lately, there has been a small war going on for the hearts and minds and wallets of the music-loving public. In 2000, Apple and Steve Jobs took their eyes off the ball by not equipping the Macs of the day (they were the fruity iMacs) with CD burners. This was at the time Napster and other file-sharing apps were just becoming an underground sensation. Kaaza wasn't yet on the map as the inheritor of peer-to-peer sharing when Napster was put to an early death.
Jobs doesn't like being second from all accounts, and while the iMacs were the first mainstream PC to use USB and Firewire connections and drop floppies (to the collective gasp of the mainstream PC world) he got badly burnt (pardon the pun) by not seeing the coming music sharing phenomenon.
When he did, he grasped the nettle with a vengeance, instigating the "Rip! Mix! Burn!" advertising campaign that riled the music industry initially, since it seemed to give Apple's imprimatur to digital piracy. Not so, according to Jobs, when Apple introduced iTunes (the app developed after Apple bought Cassidy and Green's SoundJam app), it was intended for Mac users to listen to their own music on their own Macs.
Soon after, iPod was born to mixed reviews ("too expensive - it'll never fly": yeah, right! Go to this link for a great laugh at how these people got it so wrong!), and the rest as they say, is history. Jobs was able to satisfy the big 5 music publishing houses that Apple could provide a sustainable business model to legally sell music tracks over the internet using open standard protocols (AAC), and a proprietary digital security feature, Fairplay (a form of digital rights management or DRM) limiting the replication of downloaded music.
Microsoft and many others watched and waited for Apple to innovate then fail.
When the small installed base of Mac users began downloading music files by the million (yes, million), the PC and music industry awoke that something was happening here, and "we better get some of the action."
Microsoft being Microsoft wanted to use its own proprietary music files, known as WMA. But guess what? Apple's best-selling iPod will not play WMA files, and many el cheapo players will not play AAC files.
So the world is once again divided. But it is not 95% Microsoft and 5% Apple, especially since Apple's iTunes and iPod are compatible with Windows 2000 and XP (don't try this at home on the now-orphaned Windows 98. UPDATE: Today Microsoft said it was responding to public pressure to continue support for its older platforms. Seems there are lots of Windows 98 and ME users out there. Lots.).
With the #2 PC maker H-P backing the iPod (Dell is #1), the line in the sand is drawn ever more deeply and evenly. The desktop monopoly of Microsoft's windows platform with its embedded Windows media player and proprietary WMA files does not mean Microsoft has won the music war - not by a long shot. In fact, Windows' other main rival for media preferences, Real, will also be using the AAC protocols in its music store, with the expectation that it will be compatible with iPod, whether badged for Apple or H-P.
Suddenly, the proverbial 900lb gorilla, as Microsoft is often referred to, seems a little wobbly atop the Empire State Building. Do remember, we are talking about a multi-billion dollar world-wide industry here, and the stakes are very high. With 2004 looking like the year the PC and home entertainment systems (hi-fi, TV, cable, etc) will converge, one way or the other, you will be affected by the current war of standards.
Suddenly, Apple is cool again in the minds of the techno-literati, as well as the youth market. This will be extended when the music-creation software mentioned in an earlier blog - Garageband - is released.
Now Apple could have used any name for its new software. But it chose to purchase the name from a website for a one-off fee. That website is home to musical artists who are not aligned with any of the big 5 music houses, and with the new software allowing amateur and pro musicians easy means to create music, I think young people will buy Macs just to use Garageband, iTunes and iPods (even though the latter is available on Windows.) Of course, apps like Garageband exist on Windows, but the emphasis is on like. You don't get 5 apps for USD49, including iMovie and iPhoto, on windows, and certainly, not with the ability to seamlessly work with each other and the hardware.
So back to Carly at CES, where her iPod announcement caught all the instapundits by surprise.....
Here's Carly holding up the shiny back of the iPod and up close it shows the H-P logo...
Now some people said MacWorld was a snoozefest lacking exciting announcements. Can you imagine the crowd reaction if Carly had walked on stage at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco and made a joint announcement with Steve Jobs! People would think they had been smoking joints!
Of course, once the smoke clears, it all makes sense how these two companies, which have a long association and are geographically close and probably related with the same innovation DNA, can work together in a mutually satisfying way.
So, after all that if you want to see and hear Carly make her CES announcement, here's the link. You can see Bill Gates talk about what Microsoft is up to at the same site. Watch him (You'll need Real Player to view) offer backing to an audio-visual handheld device, also from Creative. Hint: You'll need an awfully large shirt pocket to slip it into, and MS can forget the female market for these. Enjoy!
That's half the story - and for those who have no truck for Apple, the news gets worse. H-P will now include iTunes software on its PCs, and link directly to the iTunes Music store. That's one big thumb in the eye to Microsoft, and to Walmart too (H-P is a big supplier of PCs to Walmart who has started its own Windows-only online music store - you don't really expect me to include a hyperlink, do you?). As well as to Dell, who dropped selling the iPod in favour of putting its own name on a rebadged Creative DJ player.
Why is this a big deal enough to blog, you might ask? Well, unless your head has been in the sand lately, there has been a small war going on for the hearts and minds and wallets of the music-loving public. In 2000, Apple and Steve Jobs took their eyes off the ball by not equipping the Macs of the day (they were the fruity iMacs) with CD burners. This was at the time Napster and other file-sharing apps were just becoming an underground sensation. Kaaza wasn't yet on the map as the inheritor of peer-to-peer sharing when Napster was put to an early death.
Jobs doesn't like being second from all accounts, and while the iMacs were the first mainstream PC to use USB and Firewire connections and drop floppies (to the collective gasp of the mainstream PC world) he got badly burnt (pardon the pun) by not seeing the coming music sharing phenomenon.
When he did, he grasped the nettle with a vengeance, instigating the "Rip! Mix! Burn!" advertising campaign that riled the music industry initially, since it seemed to give Apple's imprimatur to digital piracy. Not so, according to Jobs, when Apple introduced iTunes (the app developed after Apple bought Cassidy and Green's SoundJam app), it was intended for Mac users to listen to their own music on their own Macs.
Soon after, iPod was born to mixed reviews ("too expensive - it'll never fly": yeah, right! Go to this link for a great laugh at how these people got it so wrong!), and the rest as they say, is history. Jobs was able to satisfy the big 5 music publishing houses that Apple could provide a sustainable business model to legally sell music tracks over the internet using open standard protocols (AAC), and a proprietary digital security feature, Fairplay (a form of digital rights management or DRM) limiting the replication of downloaded music.
Microsoft and many others watched and waited for Apple to innovate then fail.
When the small installed base of Mac users began downloading music files by the million (yes, million), the PC and music industry awoke that something was happening here, and "we better get some of the action."
Microsoft being Microsoft wanted to use its own proprietary music files, known as WMA. But guess what? Apple's best-selling iPod will not play WMA files, and many el cheapo players will not play AAC files.
So the world is once again divided. But it is not 95% Microsoft and 5% Apple, especially since Apple's iTunes and iPod are compatible with Windows 2000 and XP (don't try this at home on the now-orphaned Windows 98. UPDATE: Today Microsoft said it was responding to public pressure to continue support for its older platforms. Seems there are lots of Windows 98 and ME users out there. Lots.).
With the #2 PC maker H-P backing the iPod (Dell is #1), the line in the sand is drawn ever more deeply and evenly. The desktop monopoly of Microsoft's windows platform with its embedded Windows media player and proprietary WMA files does not mean Microsoft has won the music war - not by a long shot. In fact, Windows' other main rival for media preferences, Real, will also be using the AAC protocols in its music store, with the expectation that it will be compatible with iPod, whether badged for Apple or H-P.
Suddenly, the proverbial 900lb gorilla, as Microsoft is often referred to, seems a little wobbly atop the Empire State Building. Do remember, we are talking about a multi-billion dollar world-wide industry here, and the stakes are very high. With 2004 looking like the year the PC and home entertainment systems (hi-fi, TV, cable, etc) will converge, one way or the other, you will be affected by the current war of standards.
Suddenly, Apple is cool again in the minds of the techno-literati, as well as the youth market. This will be extended when the music-creation software mentioned in an earlier blog - Garageband - is released.
Now Apple could have used any name for its new software. But it chose to purchase the name from a website for a one-off fee. That website is home to musical artists who are not aligned with any of the big 5 music houses, and with the new software allowing amateur and pro musicians easy means to create music, I think young people will buy Macs just to use Garageband, iTunes and iPods (even though the latter is available on Windows.) Of course, apps like Garageband exist on Windows, but the emphasis is on like. You don't get 5 apps for USD49, including iMovie and iPhoto, on windows, and certainly, not with the ability to seamlessly work with each other and the hardware.
So back to Carly at CES, where her iPod announcement caught all the instapundits by surprise.....
Here's Carly holding up the shiny back of the iPod and up close it shows the H-P logo...
Now some people said MacWorld was a snoozefest lacking exciting announcements. Can you imagine the crowd reaction if Carly had walked on stage at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco and made a joint announcement with Steve Jobs! People would think they had been smoking joints!
Of course, once the smoke clears, it all makes sense how these two companies, which have a long association and are geographically close and probably related with the same innovation DNA, can work together in a mutually satisfying way.
So, after all that if you want to see and hear Carly make her CES announcement, here's the link. You can see Bill Gates talk about what Microsoft is up to at the same site. Watch him (You'll need Real Player to view) offer backing to an audio-visual handheld device, also from Creative. Hint: You'll need an awfully large shirt pocket to slip it into, and MS can forget the female market for these. Enjoy!
Posted: Sat - January 10, 2004 at 12:17 PM |