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CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LIV: Jobs calls Robbie Bach a drunk
Posted Jan 17th 2008 8:38PM by Joshua Topolsky
Proving once again that the truth is stranger (and more entertaining) than fiction, Steve Jobs himself delivers one of the finest Oh no he didn't moments ever. Apparently riding high on the thrill of introducing the MacBook Air, a hit of oxygen from his personal stash, and the espresso colonic he'd received earlier in the day, old Jobsy went "off" on Microsoft's Robbie Bach when questioned about the executive's statement that the Zune was a "worthy alternative" to the iPod. "Was he inebriated?" Jobs asked CNBC reporter Jim Goldman, and then went on to inquire, "Do you even know anyone who owns a Zune?" Uh, let's be honest -- that is way harsh. Robbie, we feel your burn... and eagerly await a response.
This is why I got a Zune in the first place... Every time I start warming up to Apple, there's always some fanboi arrogance that rubs me the wrong way. But it's quite another thing to hear this fanboi crap coming from Apple's High Priest himself...
They are a great company in many ways, such as creating huge markets out of thin air. And their products can more than speak for themselves. But, isn't this a little whack for a CEO to be this loose with the tongue?
More importantly, how does this make the 2 million people who already got Zunes feel about getting an iPod the next go-around?
I refuse to by apple because its crap. All of it. No one understands the shitty operating system, no one likes the shitty commercials, and no one likes iTunes. Quick Time is the best thing to ever come out of apple and it is shitty, too.
I wouldn't mind having a Apple computer for graphic design. However, almost anything else they do is fad-tastic. The iPod is nice, but I'm quite happy with my 4 gig Sansa Express.
Job's "Zune Zing" was not inappropriate. The Zune does not handle Podcasts well. It is a wanna-be player in the world of MP3 players and attempts to create the realm of iTunes instead of embracing the Plays4Sure community already setup by MS. Jobs comments were spot on even though they were a bit catty in tone and mean in overall quality.
As far as the Apple mojo, their Kool-Aid turned real sour in the last year with the iPhone and Leopard. The MS Vista fiasco created even more turmoil into the world of iPod compatibility. Leopard looked more like Vista when released with bloatware built into the system. Sure Spaces and Time Machine are cool, but they are not extraordinary OS revolutions. If anything, they are more evolutionary. And the iPhone is a great gadget which was released at peril of alienating all iPod customers on the Wintel platform. I found myself rebuilding my Vista PC (again) because of the latest update of iTunes released in conjunction with the iPhone did not play with Vista and when it played with XP, it did not play well.
(aside) Of course, last year was a dark year in the realm of OS's with the release of Ubuntu 7.04 aka Crapping Cow. What a disappointment.
SP1 for Windows Vista 32 (currently a beta tester and upgraded to RC1 a few weeks back) is going to be huge improvement in overall system operatbility. It does not magically fix Vista's sluggishness, but as I remember, XPs sluggish feeling did not get helped until really fast Pentium 4 HyperThreading machines came on the scene. Vista has been much better with the latest release of Core2Quad and Core2Extreme PCs.
The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.
cgarison wrote:Job's "Zune Zing" was not inappropriate. The Zune does not handle Podcasts well. It is a wanna-be player in the world of MP3 players and attempts to create the realm of iTunes instead of embracing the Plays4Sure community already setup by MS. Jobs comments were spot on even though they were a bit catty in tone and mean in overall quality.
Mine handles podcasts just fine... It automatically syncs and dl them every time I connect it.
My biggest gripe is the Zune Marketplace is not as vibrant and doesn't have nearly as much content as iTunes. I do agree that Microsoft should do more of their own innovating and being less of a "Me Too!" follower of Apple. Frankly, they should because they are the only company who has the resources to directly challenge Apple and make a dent in their market share.
But the overall hardware quality of the Zune 80 is exellent IMO. It has an aluminum casing and a very bright, clear screen for video. I've never had a problem with it.
I just think that Jobs' comments were way off the cuff for a CEO to make. It sounds to me like he's drank his own Kool Aid.
The new Zune is lightyears ahead of the old Zune. The issue with the Zune is that MS did the same tactic to attack the digital music market as they successfully used when the Xbox was created as a superior gaming console to the Playstation.
I know that I am not wanting to part with my 5G iPod Video. I just hate the direction the iTunes software has gone since the introduction of the iPhone. It has gone from brilliant to kludgey and now the video for Apple TV is going to screw me even more.
Any suggestions for a replacement for iTunes that has an RSS aggregator would be appriciated.
The first step in a successful revolution is to defeat all competing revolutionaries.
My iPod Nano is perfect for doing cardio at the gym -- I received it as a birthday gift in 2006, and it has been wonderful. But I'll take a Windows XP computer over a Mac any day...
the ipod is overpriced crap, I've been wanting an 80gig zune for a while now, I also want a psp but i'm not in love with the idea of hauling all my media around on memory sticks...