[opendtv] News: Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 07:46:44 -0500
I could not resist posting this one...
Regards
Craig
http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,66460,00.html?tw=rss.TOP
Hide Your IPod, Here Comes Bill
By Leander Kahney
02:00 AM Feb. 02, 2005 PT
Microsoft's leafy corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, is
beginning to look like the streets of New York, London and just about
everywhere else: Wherever you go, white headphones dangle from
peoples' ears.
To the growing frustration and annoyance of Microsoft's management,
Apple Computer's iPod is wildly popular among Microsoft's workers.
"About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music
player have an iPod," said one source, a high-level manager who asked
to remain anonymous. "It's pretty staggering."
The source estimated 80 percent of Microsoft employees have a music
player -- that translates to 16,000 iPod users among the 25,000 who
work at or near Microsoft's corporate campus. "This irks the
management team no end," said the source.
So popular is the iPod, executives are increasingly sending out memos
frowning on its use.
Of course, Microsoft's software is used by dozens of competing music
players from manufacturers like Creative Technology, Rio and Sony.
Its Windows Media Audio, or WMA, format is supported by several
online music stores, including Napster, Musicmatch and Wal-Mart.
Microsoft's PlaysForSure program markets this choice as a boon for
consumers.
Nonetheless, Apple's iPod commands 65 percent of the portable player
market, and its online iTunes Music Store 70 percent of online music
sales, according to Apple.
"These guys are really quite scared," said the source of Microsoft's
management. "It shows how their backs are against the wall.... Even
though it's Microsoft, no one is interested in what we have to offer,
even our own employees."
So concerned is management, owning an iPod at Microsoft is beginning
to become impolitic, the manager said. Employees are hiding their
iPods by swapping the telltale white headphones for a less
conspicuous pair.
"Some people are a bit concerned about being traitors, not supporting
the company," he said. "They're a bit stealth about it."
How "stealth" varies from division to division. At the company's
Macintosh Business Unit, which publishes a wide range of software for
the Mac, owning an iPod is almost de rigueur.
But at the Windows Digital Media Group, which is charged with
software for portable players and the WMA format, using an iPod is
not a good career move.
"In the media group they all smoke the company dope on that one," the
manager said.
Mary Jo Foley, editor of Microsoft Watch, said she had no knowledge
of the iPod's popularity on Microsoft's campus, but has noticed a lot
of iPod chatter among Microsoft's legions of bloggers.
"I have seen lots of Softies blog about it," she wrote in an e-mail.
Microsoftie Chris Anderson, for example, just blogged about buying
himself an iPod, three days after buying his wife one.
"I couldn't resist anymore," he wrote. "The industrial design on the
iPod is absolutely amazing. The usability of the device is
light-years beyond anything else I've seen."
Robert Scoble, who calls himself the "Microsoft Geek Blogger" and is
one of the company's most widely read and vocal mouthpieces,
sometimes appears obsessed with the iPod.
He recently penned an open letter to Bill Gates about how to build an
iPod-killer (first thing: start a blog). "Even I want an iPod," he
confessed.
The Microsoft manager said he's heard from several executives who
dutifully bought Microsoft-powered players, tried them, failed to get
them working, and returned them in favor of an iPod. He went through
the same experience, he said.
He had no idea if Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, own
iPods -- he's never seen what gadgets they use. "I've never seen
either of them with any device, but I only see them in meetings," he
said.
"There are frequent communications within the company about why it's
a bad choice," the manager said. "So many people have chosen the
iPod, executives feel they should send out memos about it."
For example, an internal e-mail circular sent to several senior
managers in mid-December talked about iPod shipments to Apple's
nearby store in Bellevue1.
The e-mail said: "FWIW, the gal at the Bellevue Square Apple Store
said that they are getting in two shipments of 200 iPods every day to
keep up with this week's demand, and are nearly constantly selling
out."
The note prompted a curt reply from Dave Fester, general manager of
the Windows Digital Media division, who wrote the group: "I sure hope
Microsoft employees are not buying iPods. We have great alternatives.
Check out http://experiencemore.";
Fifteen minutes later, the manager responded: "I don't know what I
was thinking. I'm sure that Microsoft employees are not buying iPods,
or Macs or PlayStations."
In 2003, Fester stirred up considerable controversy claiming Apple is
locking in consumers with proprietary file formats, despite
Microsoft's long history of using the same tactic.
As for hiding his own iPod use, the manager said he flaunts his iPod,
despite the constant comments -- and occasional arguments -- it
prompts.
"I don't really care if it pisses them off," he said. "I'll argue why
they're doing it wrong. If you want me to stop using it, give me a
product that works and is as easy to use."
Neither Apple nor Microsoft responded to requests for comment.
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