News

Microsoft Teams with Philips, Creative, Samsung to Create 'iPod Killer'

Wednesday, August 17th, 2005 at 3:25 PM - by Staff

Microsoft has joined forces with Philips, Creative and Samsung in a bid to create the fabled "iPod killer." In reporting that news, technology news site Softpedia wonders "How should the ideal competitor for iPod look?"

Of course, as writers Alexandru Macovschi and Tudor Raiciu note, "there are hundreds of sites and forums on the Internet whose main topic is what should be changed or added to iPod." Ultimately, however, as they also point out, MP3 players with such features -- video capability, a larger screen, a radio function, etc. -- have failed to defeat the iPod, so there must be something more to the phenomenon.

They write: "The only problem everyone fails to see is that iPod's success has nothing to do with hardware or with software." No matter what this Microsoft-Philips-Creative triumvirate comes up with, they won't unseat the iPod because, as Mr. Macovschi and Mr. Raiciu explain, "the iPod's success is due to marketing strategy and historical conjuncture."

Essentially, the iPod came along shortly after Napster went under, "meeting the requirements of millions of users that had filled their hard drives and CDs with hundreds or even thousands of MP3s downloaded off Napster." Ultimately, they write, "iPod is the result of a once-in-a-lifetime moment, which cannot be recreated even if they add two wheels and a 5TB hard drive."

Instead, the companies searching for that proverbial iPod killer "can either support cell phone producers to launch as soon as possible models with large capacity hard drives that have insanely low prices, or give their money to charity for better purposes, such as curing cancer or helping third world countries."

18 comments from the community.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 3:44 pm

Why do so many people in business/marketing seem to have this mentality -- if I'm going to win, you have to lose?

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:08 pm

<i>Another</i> would be 'iPod killer'? LOL. There should be a burial heap for all the MP3 players that have tried for that title, and failed.

Even cellphones with HD-based MP3 players built-in won't kill the iPod, because multifunction devices are inherently a jack of all trades, master of none. While the iPod does one thing supremely well: play music.

There's really nothing Microsoft, Phillips, Samsung, or anyone else can do to 'kill' the iPod. The best they can do is copy it as closely as possible and throw a bazillion marketing dollars out there promoting it. It still won't sell like the iPod, but it might finish a less distant second.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:37 pm

The iPod's success is nothing to do with marketing strategy or historical happenstance.

The iPod succeeded because it was a smoothly integrated solution, embracing the hardware device, iTunes and iTMS. It delivered something that customers found that they wanted.

To think that all you need to do is to bolt bits onto another MP3 player to create an iPod killer is to show that you don't understand why iPods sell.

The marketing was great, but what really sells iPods is word-of-mouth. Even the Queen of England got one because of word-of-mouth.

You only get word-of-mouth if the product has the Wow factor. You only get the Wow factor if you exceed the customer's expectations.

So this story is basically saying that a consortium consisting of Microsoft, Samsung and Creative reckons they will exceed customer's expectations ?

That WILL be the day !

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:39 pm

Have ANY of these clueless morons who write about "iPod Killers" actually used one for more than 10 minutes? They say "it's not the hardware or the software", but in fact, it's ALL the hardware and software that makes it a seamless, painless, wonderful experience, from the first import of music, to the buying of songs on the iTunes Music Store to the effortless updating of songs and playlists and searching for songs.

Then they say it's a "one time situation'. But iPod was not the first hard drive MP3 player. So why did it get so much of the market? Because of that TOTAL EXPERIENCE that the Winblows companies will never match. They think like PC companies, with their separate pieces of the puzzle. But they never fit together just right. Too late LOSERS!

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:39 pm

So many iPod killers. So many failures.

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bryson said:

member since 05 Mar 2002 with 79 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:10 pm

Just watching Microsoft TRY to compete with Apple is a glorious thing. Here's a news flash for those idiots. Instead of worrying about music players and xbox's and everything else under the sun, how about making a frickin stinkin OS that isnt full of holes and actually works.

MS will never be as good as Apple. Never.

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Tiger said:

member since 17 Jun 2003 with 1011 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:21 pm

That's it. Distract the world by announcing your new "iPod Killer" strategy so they don't notice their computers are crashing around them. How good is it for Microsoft when Charlie Gibson on Good Morning America said they had to resort to their "backup" system in the newsroom this morning...two manual typewriters.

Who wants to bet you start seeing Powerbook laptops on the sets of major news organizations in the not so distant future?

Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice...

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ccsmile0129 said:

member since 08 Feb 2005 with 11 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:43 pm

.. .. ..say whatever u want about "iPod Killer" but w/o come up something like iTunes Store, Microsoft, Philips, Creative and Samsung can only create something like.. ..uh.. ..iRiver Killer i guess :p

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acdc1174 said:

member since 16 Apr 2004 with 722 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 5:53 pm

It really is a shame. With those three companies' creative, R&D, and techncal ability, all they can think to do is look backward and attack "what was" and to some extent "what is". If I had THAT kind of brain-trust/creative pool/production and marketing power at my disposal, I would be looking to create the FUTURE of portable digital media...not chase Apple's success.

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Rainy Day said:

member since 07 Jun 2005 with 607 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 7:05 pm

Reminds me of Monty Python’s quest for the Holy Grail.

At least Billy Bob Gates will be pumping some of his ill-gotten booty back into the economy.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:24 pm

M$ kinda reminds me of an old fat guy sitting on a Lazy Boy watching an Info-mmercial, saying, "Why didn't I think of that?!?!"

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:01 pm

So, since Creative, Samsung, Phillips, and Microsoft miserably failed to create an iPod-killer on their own, now they're teaming up against it. Will their combined powers of cluelessness be enough to stop Apple!?

Here's a hint, out of touch CEOs who don't have the business skills to run a hotdog cart: people buy the iPod because it's SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE AND NOT PACKED TO THE BRIM WITH EXTRENUOUS JUNK LIKE FM-TUNERS. When people want an MP3 player, they want an MP3 player. Not a pocket radio or a cellphone. If you want to compete with the iPod, make QUALITY SOFTWARE and QUALITY HARDWARE and then TIE TO TWO TOGETHER. Idiots.

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Billy K said:

member since 06 May 2004 with 297 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:09 pm

Hey! I know how to kill the iPod...ADD MORE FEATURES!

That's what people want - something CHEAPER with MORE features!

That's the only way these people know how to make products - especially Microsoft. That's why their products are so bloated and difficult to use. The only company that had a chance was Sony (who *can* make some good stuff), and they took themselves out of the game.

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MacAnswers said:

member since 15 Aug 2005 with 3 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:11 am

Didn't Apple buy a big chunk of Samsung a few years ago?

If so, then what the heck is Samsung and MS doing collaborating?

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Aug 18, 2005 9:39 am

Apple made an investment in Samsung LCD production in the late 90s in order to get a reliable supply of LCDs. I think that agreement ended more than 2 years ago.

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Aug 18, 2005 11:29 am

I know what Microsoft should do to make a great iPod killer...

It should have an awful, blue-and-gray interface that is very difficult to use.

It should crash at least three times a day.

It should be vulnerable to 50,000 viruses when it is released, but have the capability to support many more in the future.

It should be totally vulnerable to hackers stealing any personal information from it and/or wiping out your music.

It should require registration codes or net authentication in order play each song.

At least half of the features should be impossible to find, only available for an extra hidden fee, and/or not be actually implemented.

It should weigh five pounds and have some bonus features, like providing a nasty electric shock to the user after the warranty expires.

It should have hoards of third-party, 700-page "how-to" books written about it.

It should only run Microsoft-proprietary file formats.

It should be very inexpensive and have every imaginable feature so that people won't pay much attention to all of the above.

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A guest said: (hide)

Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:09 pm

i think yall should make the ipods so that there not soe costly i meen gossshhh i cant afford a stupid ipod with yalls prices so im stuck with a million CDs and every time i want to use a new cd i have to shut everything down and get another one please here me out and change the stupid prices.

P.S.

if yall do i will so tell all my friends about this awsome place

FROM:D.R.C.

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Intruder said:

member since 07 Jul 2004 with 3144 posts, TMO Mac Specialist, send him a message or view his profile

Thu Nov 01, 2007 10:53 pm

Anonymous wrote:
i think yall should make the ipods so that there not soe costly i meen gossshhh i cant afford a stupid ipod with yalls prices so im stuck with a million CDs and every time i want to use a new cd i have to shut everything down and get another one please here me out and change the stupid prices.

P.S.

if yall do i will so tell all my friends about this awsome place

FROM:D.R.C.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

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