Jobs Unfazed by Zune

twofish writes "In an interview at Newsweek marking the approaching 5th anniversary of the launch of the iPod, Apple CEO Steve Jobs seems unconcerned by Microsoft's wannabe iPod killer Zune. Earphone sharing will prove a more potent force for social networking than the iPod rival's wireless song-sharing feature, he reckons. 'I've seen the demonstrations on the internet about how you can find another person using a Zune and give them a song they can play three times. It takes forever,' he says in the article. 'By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left! You're much better off to take one of your earbuds out and put it in her ear. Then you're connected with about two feet of headphone cable.'"

Re:Incredible Speaker

[jamesmrankinjr]

And you better believe Microsoft would weep with joy if people started using "Zune" as a verb.

The correct verb form of "Zune" is "squirt".

Usage:

I want to squirt you a picture of my kids. You want to squirt me back a video of your vacation.

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/o ct2006/tc20061011_940241.htm

Peace be with you,
-jimbo

Re:Incredible Speaker

[Paradise Pete]

It always amazes me how smoothly Jobs manages to deliver presentations, even when he's put on the spot.

He's a brilliant negotiator and manipulator. Take a look at this video [youtube.com] of him addressing the Cupertino city council. Here's this big shot CEO taking his personal time and making the effort to come down to the meeting simply to give them some good news.

He doesn't ask for anything. Nothing. But from this small gesture he's now completely won over the city council. And you know that later on when Apple has some special requirements for the new campus that this little trip will pay huge dividends.

Re:Incredible Speaker

[shashi]

That's basically what Jobs has done all along. He's shown that he's never one to completely disregard in the future what doesn't work today. He's just a perfectionist and doesn't want to throw in the latest bells and whistles until he feels it is ready for your everyday user to consume. That's one thing that Microsoft doesn't get—they want the most features possible and so they end up releasing a lot of stuff, that while it sounds cool, often doesn't work as advertised until a couple of service packs later.

I also wanted to address a point from the grandparent, which your point actually addresses (albeit a little broadly):

You know damned well that when (not if) iPod comes out with wireless, his tune on that will change in a hurry. Kind of like Intel was slow until Apple was using it.

That's a bit of a misinformed statement. Intel was slow. PowerPC was kicking Intel ass up through the early G4's. Unfortunately, IBM didn't keep up with R&D for their consumer PowerPC chips to stay competitive with Intel. So, like a good businessman, Jobs did was right for the consumer and switched his product to use the more competitive parts.

I assure you that once Steve Jobs feels the time is right for things like iPod wireless, or iPhone, or whatever else "everyone" is clamoring for, he'll do it.

Re:Apple being unfazed

[blugu64]

We are talking pre mac here....check out this ad that apple placed in the WSJ when the original IBM PC was released back in 81.

http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/newads2/serio uslyIBM_l.jpg [macmothership.com]