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This has to go down in history as one of the dumbest excuses ever made by a company. Apple released some ipods with a windows virus recently. (Speaks a lot about their quality control) They released a public apology in which they partially blamed windows for being susceptible to viruses.

Its preposterous! Just accept the fact that you screwed up and get on with life. It seems the Apple management is run by 5 year olds who can’t take the heat.

Verbatim from the Apple website:

We recently discovered that a small number – less than 1% – of the Video iPods available for purchase after September 12, 2006, left our contract manufacturer carrying the Windows RavMonE.exe virus. This known virus affects only Windows computers, and up to date anti-virus software which is included with most Windows computers should detect and remove it. So far we have seen less than 25 reports concerning this problem. The iPod nano, iPod shuffle and Mac OS X are not affected, and all Video iPods now shipping are virus free. As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it.

I think the IPod absolutely sucks. All my friends have ipods. I bought a few ipods as gifts but never felt like owning one. Why ?

1. I have a NetMD player that serves my needs. The only time I need a music player is at the gym. I have access to my music at all other times.
2. The ipod is fragile. I’ve dropped my NetMD player a few times. Still works. Its a rugged piece of equipment. Sometimes I pray the damn thing breaks so I have a reason to buy myself a new music player
3. The itunes software totally BLOWS.
4. The Ipod craps out in under 2 years. ( I know this because I had to buy my sister 2 ipods so far)

The 4th reason is the main reason. When I buy electronics, I expect most of them to last atleast 10 years. Even though my NetMD player has some moving parts in it, it has outlasted my sister’s ipods. My sister takes care of her ipod while I toss my player into my gym bag. I know a lot of people who have ipods that stopped working after a year or little over a year. What did they do ? Buy a new one. Most of these people thought their ipods broke because they mishandled their ipods or because they got a lemon. Here is the truth. The expected life of an ipod is 2-3 years. And if you are a heavy user expect less. Most people can afford to buy an ipod every 2 years and they do. This allows Apple to sell more players every quarter and the stock does well. The stock has been riding high lately. But all is not well.

Microsoft is releasing the Zune on November 14th 2006
There are other players in the market, but no one has been able to eat Apple’s share. Ipod is what all the cool kids have. I can bet top dollar that Zune is going to be what the cool kids are gonna have. Why ?

1. Customizable UI – This is big. No this is HUGE. A look at myspace should tell you why.
2. FM Radio – This is a missing feature. Another biggie. Many users have complained that they miss this in the ipod.
3. More colors
4. Better video playback – Bigger screen for video
5. TV output connectivity
6. Wi-fi – Send songs to upto 4 other players at the same time. This is another huge feature. The kids now are used to the youtubes and the myspaces. They want to share media. They want their devices to be more social, more connected. Zune lets them.
7. DJ Mode – Broadcast what you’re listening to
8. Faster charge times
9. Zune tag – Something like an ad-hoc network neighbourhood for Zunes. It allows you to select a name for your Zune. This information is sent to all other Zunes who are in your vicinity and you in turn can see them on your player.

I’m sure Microsoft will do a better job with the software integration than the itunes piss job. Microsoft has stayed true to its mantra of embracing and extending. Flashback anyone !

If the Zune has a longer life than the Ipod, I’ll definitely buy one. If I were forced to buy a music player, I’d buy the Zune. Better feature-set. And dare I say it is the first truly cool product Microsoft has released. Did anyone think Microsoft would get such a big share of the gaming market when they released the original Xbox. No ! Look at things now.

The Zune is actually a HOT buy. Lets see how much Microsoft eats into Apple’s share.

A betting man would be shorting AAPL right now. A gun slinger would be buying long term puts on AAPL.

Here is a video demonstrating the Zune. Enjoy !