Zuning out


Why the product won't live up to the hype - it restricts the end user too much
I have been following Roughly Drafted's coverage of both Micro$oft's Zune and Vista. The latest entry on Zune has some interesting things to say, especially since it looks like Zunes are not flying off the shelves just yet.

But here is the bit that stood out to me.

This isn't the first time Microsoft has gambled using future profits it knew it would never make. The company licensed its web browser from SpyGlass in exchange for ongoing royalty payments, but then shipped SpyGlass (aka Internet Explorer) for free as a price dumping attack on Netscape. That allowed Microsoft to destroy existing competition without risking--or developing--anything.

The biggest loser was Microsoft's naive partner, but consumers also ended up with another product category overwhelmingly dominated by Microsoft. Once competition was destroyed, Microsoft's monopoly product fell behind and became another unresponsive, unaccountable mess of viruses, spyware, and security flaws.

Microsoft has an established pattern of dominating product categories, then falling back into a comfortable position of delivering bad, anti-consumer products which slow progress and development.

It's called embrace and extinguish. Microsoft has attempted to put out every market that's ever been considered hot, from cross-platform and open source development to handheld computing and TV media devices.

The company talks about choice, but really works to prevent consumer choice. It is allied with content producers to push products and services that put consumers at a disadvantage, and has worked to kill interoperability and open content.

Microsoft is looking for suckers willing to sign away their rights and undermine the rights of others: to join in, all you have to do is buy a Zune. A poisoned payoff to the RIAA is included in the price.

Remember, Micro$oft's success is because of lawyers, not because of innovation.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - November 14, 2006 at 09:14 PM  Tag


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