Zune? Soapbox? Where are the 10′ versions?
Seattle PI, Microsoft getting on its video Soapbox:
Microsoft’s MSN division is developing its own free site where people will be able to submit and watch videos. Dubbed “Soapbox,” it’s set to be released today for testing by invited users before it’s rolled out more broadly in the coming months.
One of the reasons I left Microsoft was because too often Microsoft’s strategy is to wait for a startup/competitor to test a market. If the startup proves to be successful, Microsoft then swoops in with a lowest common denominator version for the application and goes from zero to majority market share. Personally, I found this very frustrating because I love innovation, but I of course understood why it made fiscal sense and it’s why I continue to hold a sizable portion of my investment portfolio in Microsoft stock. Now keep in mind Media Center did not follow this pattern; we defined the PCs role in the living room. However, at the beginning of the year I rolled off core Vista functionality to work on future looking Media Center realted projects and eventually grew tired of our in ability to ship even copy cat functionality.
What does this have to do with Soapbox? It’s relevant because I do not hear people asking, ‘Where’s the Media Center version of Soapbox?’ I also don’t hear people asking, ‘Will Media Center play my Zune music?’, ‘Can I purchase Zune music through Media Center?’, ‘Why does iTunes let you buy TVs and movies and Microsoft doesn’t?’, ‘Why is Microsoft’s Apple compete story competing with what Apple released three years ago?’
Where is the connected home story so often pitched by Bill Gates? Sadly, I think there is a large possibility that new comer to the living room game, Steve Jobs, is going to kick Microsoft’s ass. (Notice how he’s carefully side stepping resource and legal time sinks like CableCARD support! But our UI really is superior). Though I have to say I do not think Apple’s pay per download business model will be the business model that succeeds. Just compare iTunes TV show download numbers to the amount of streams that content providers like ABC get for their on-demand advertising supported content. And so, I think the long term business model will be one built on advertising innovations (as much as I hate ads and want to be able to pay to remove them the majority of American’s disagree with me).
Comments(4)
“But our UI really is superior”
I think it’s “their UI” now ;)
MCE… a couple of litle niggles
I've had the MCE up and running for about a year now and it's working pretty sweet. It started
Actually… a lot of people already asked about MCE and XBox 360 integration concerning the Zune. You just have to read the right blogs.
‘Where’s the Media Center version of Soapbox?’
Why invest time in something that probably won’t do so well. We do not need another video-sharing portal. If it does for some slim chance in hell succeed then someone will write a plug-in for Vista MCE, just like there was one for YouTube (http://www.engadget.com/2006/07/17/get-your-youtube-fix-on-your-media-center-pc/). I believe if they launched with a MCE Soapbox plug-in people would discover there is no good content and go back to watching lonelygirl15 on YouTube. Wait until Soapbox gets some traction, if at all, and then everyone will be clamouring for one. Oh, plus, do you *really* want to watch crappy little videos stretched across a 42″ HDTV? Seriously?
‘Will Media Center play my Zune music?’
Asked by many and answered. Yes.
‘Can I purchase Zune music through Media Center?’
Hmm, good question. I could see some uses here. Of course this gets pretty close to using your TV as a computer which is the last thing I want. I believe most consumers do not want an interactive TV experience, they want a sweet, crytal clear, HD passive experience in which they are in control, hence time-shifting. This is also why I believe “Media Center” PC’s hooked directly to TV’s are a waste. The future is a media server tucked away while it streams via extenders all over your house.
‘Why does iTunes let you buy TVs and movies and Microsoft doesn’t?’
Easy, because right now anyone that *does* buy such things via iTunes is pissing away their money. Seriously, that price for that quality? It’s a horrible price point. Also, I believe that such things *are* coming, via Live. I think the Battlestar summary was a hint of what will come. Give me a HD-episode, no adverts, for $0.99 and I’ll bite. I’ll even do SD at $0.50. Anymore though and I’ll just wait until that season hits DVD and queue it up in NetFlix. I’m not quite sure who Apple is really trying to appeal to with their model honestly. It targets a very specific type of person that somehow has excess money, loves TV so much they can’t bare to miss an episode yet doesn’t already have a Tivo/MCE/DISH DVR box. That seems like a very small market as everyone I know that meets the first two criteria already has a DVR solution.
‘Why is Microsoft’s Apple compete story competing with what Apple released three years ago?’
It’s not. They’re taking what people have shown they want (a crappy thing like iTunes) and improving on it by at least adding subscriptions, plus hopefully it’ll be a lot less buggy than iTunes 7. They take the iPod and give you wireless, which is a huge step forward, while integrating the whole mess with Live.
As far as Apple taking the living room by storm I’m not quite sure. The whole Computer-to-TV model isn’t quite as simple as an iPod and they are having to play the same game Microsoft is known for, watching everyone else then making their move. Everyone says “PodCast” or “iPod-thingy” or “what kind of iPod is that?” but when it comes to the living room everyone says, “Did you Tivo that show last night?”. I even do it and I only know one person with a Tivo, everyone else has a DISH or MCE box. Apple won’t be able to corner the market. Perhaps stimulate it, perhaps get the idea of buying a separate piece of hardware to stream content in people’s heads, but I believe that if the Zune takes off at all they’ll have a new breed of extender out, the ZuneMedia Extender, that will come out with the 2nd gen of Zunes (the Microsoft owned and designed, not rebranded). Just a guess of course, but it would make sense.
I don’t see either company dominating and I see their hardware filling very different roles. It’s not Apple vs. Microsoft, it’s what do you want out of your connected experience.
I too think that the Media Centre PC will be relegated to a server role, I currently store movies, music and photos on a MCE PC which is basically in a cupboard. I stream everything to one of the xbox360’s in my house, including TV and my movie database of 400+ WMV9 movies (yes it was a pain encoding them).
I DONT want a PC attached to my TV, I much prefer the 360 as its more hardware-centric and also doubles up as my gaming system. I’m looking forward to them rolling out the HD DVD drive, but am not that keen on browsing from my sofa, RSS Feeds are fine by me.