Microsoft and the iPod... It's not as simple as you think

Michael Gartenberg | December 20, 2004, 09:35 AM

Scoble offers insight to Bill Gates about portable media players. He's also taking a lot of heat for the advice. Including Ed Kaim's nomination for most insulting post of the year.

I don't think it was insulting as much as it was naive. For example, One of the many reasons that Microsoft could never embark on this strategy is that Microsoft must remain neutral to their OEMs who actually make products. This is a constant source of frustration among teams at Microsoft who feel that sometimes their OEMs just don't deliver the right products to showcase their software. They are correct in that opinion. There's no need to sign up more OEMs at the moment, there are plenty of folks making devices. They are just devices that aren't in the same demand as the iPod. Unless Robert is suggesting that Microsoft get into the player business on the hardware side (which will not happen) Microsoft will continue to be at the mercy of the hardware OEMs and there's no way that they can play favorites and leverage off their business model. (for all of you screaming the word XBox, that's an entirely different story. The videogame market is totally different with a different set of economies.)

While the iPod isn't perfect, it does remain better at what it does than competitive products. It focused on the core attributes that were most important to consumers and then carefully balanced those attributes. It's not just about adding features. Remember, the iPod and other like it are consumer electronics products. They get used differently and the masses buy them differently. Success or failure in that market is measure in millimeters, both literally and figuratively. At this point, it gets even harder as challenging the iPod isn't about just competing from a technology perspective. The iPod itself is a cultural phenomena at this point and Apple has preserved the brand equity. Note, the iPod is not a generic term for MP3 player. Consumers are very specific that they want an iPod. Not anything else.

Is there hope here? Of course. There are a lot of different ways for Microsoft to go after Apple and for Apple to remain on the defense. The overall penetration of these devices is still relatively tiny and it's hardly game over. The answer to every marketing question though isn't "start a weblog" and "target the blogosphere". Apple did neither and still owns 90% of the market :)

Hi Bill. I've been thinking about how to make Windows Media cool. You know, cooler than wearing white headphone cords...
[Scobleizer: Microsoft Geek Blogger]