Accidental Light

No great surprises but it looks like Microsoft will be releasing soon (or next year depending on where you get your information) their own portable media player or, if you like, iPod killer. Many potential iPod killers have been released over the years the latest being the Toshiba Gigabeat which it claims “wipes out” the iPod advantage, which, of course it does nothing of the sort as the “iPod advantage” is in being the most damn sexy bit of technology money can buy. It also plays music as an added bonus.

The mistake all these guys are making is trying to fight Apple on the turf that they created (ok, Creative were there first but their players sucked). They are fighting them within their own frame and are so destined to lose. This frame is very roughly: “look how cool I am”. To win here you have to be cooler than Apple, cooler than Jonathan Ive and Steve Jobs and that ain’t happening.

The frame that is being created by Microsoft (because they are getting it increasingly) is “Connected Entertainment” (their words not mine -but they damn well should be). This could mean in reality any number of things but independent almost of what is actually does mean it is an extremely powerful frame. If they embed WiFi, which they seem to be doing, then anything is possible from IM’ing your friends about the new track you are listening to and transferring it to them, to your player sniffing out people on the street who are listening to music that is connected to the music you are listening to. Very powerful frame.

And Apple do not seem to get this - why should they, they are all powerful. They don’t really get connected.

We can add to this the DRM issue between MS and Apple. Apple Fairplay DRM is for use by Macs and iPods and that’s it. Anyone else who tries to use it or clean-room recreate the software gets their ass sued off of them. Typical Apple.

With MS anyone, as far as I can make out, can use license or whatever it may be the “Plays for Sure” DRM, Typical Microsoft.

If DRM, as looks likely, is the next “OS” battle then make damn sure that your OS can run on as many devices as possible as then everyone can share in your profitability and you become immensely and insanely rich. Regardless of ones individual views on DRM it is clear as night and day a DRM system that works only in one manufacturers silo is is a suicide note written in bits.

So, we have an “open” and a “closed” DRM system (we know which one will win) and we also have MS creating a new and exciting frame for portable media players. This could be the start of the end game. Apple could easily fight back by opening up FairPlay now and even licensing out the iPod OS.

But a snowman has a better chance of dancing the tango in hell-fire than we have of that happening.