If at first you don’t succeed, don’t succeed again. It is generally accepted that Microsoft is not at its best with hardware. This morning I tried to use the Microsoft keyboard on a computer in Bangkok. Probably where they all ended up. Almost totally impossible to use.
Legend it that the only person who ever used it at Microsoft was Bill Gates and even he gave up in disgust.
Then Microsoft tried to take on the iPod and the result was the Zune, an ugly, illbegotten piece of hardware which went nowhere. The illustration is from MacWorld but it gives the general impression of attitude from the customers. This has not stopped Microsoft. It is trying again and will build a new version of the Zune media player in China in a factory it is reported that Microsoft is building specially for it.
In fairness, all reports are that it will be very much better than the first attempt. But will it be good enough to even dent the iPod market? Probably not.
Jason Reindorp, Microsoft’s marketing director for Zune (a person who deserves our sympathy) will be selling a machine which will be thinner and will include smaller-capacity flash-based players, similar to the popular iPod nano. What no one is saying out loud is that machines that are similar to the iPod are not going to take a substantial amount of the market.
Source: MacDaily News