Ballmer: 'iPod users are music thieves'

[AmigoMac]

First the *smart* Bill and the spyware story, that was funny , now the "Monkey boy" ... iPod users are thieves

...

i hope his son to ask him an iPod for X-mas, if he has not one already and daddy doesn't know

 

[caveman_uk]

This'll be because the ipod plays mp3's? Well, doesn't every player (except Sony's and they're going to) play mp3's? Even WMP on windows will play mp3's. So if we're thieves then so is everyone else.

Anyway isn't this a bit rich coming from Microsoft?

 

[cluthz]

Yeah, and all casette recorder and minidisk owners are thieves too.
DRM is a bad thing! They don't allow you to backup our own music and make it difficult to put it on your iPod (or other digital media).
They are stealing your rights to backup your own leagally buyed music.
CD reability has already become a problem, my first cds (about 15 years old) are getting yellow spots and I have trouble playing them.
What could i do if i don't back them up?

 

[Lancetx]

Take this as a good sign. Obviously the iPod is really cutting into M$' bottom line if he's going to the trouble to bad mouth the iPod and it's users publicly.

 

[garybUK]

Wow this man has children, I do feel sorry for them...

Ballmers bedtime story to his children: Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

Oh and what do they want to be when they grow up? Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

haha sorry, couldn't resist.

 

[AmigoMac]

Wow this man has children, I do feel sorry for them...

Ballmers bedtime story to his children: Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

Oh and what do they want to be when they grow up? Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

haha sorry, couldn't resist.

... that made my day...

 

[munkle]

Take this as a good sign. Obviously the iPod is really cutting into M$' bottom line if he's going to the trouble to bad mouth the iPod and it's users publicly.

Ballmer/MS must really be sweating on the iPod to stoop so low. And enough with the repetition of words to get your point across,

We are going to continue to improve our DRM, to make it harder to crack, and easier, easier, easier, easier, to use," he said.

And not only is he a great public speaker but he's a joker too.

"My 12-year-old at home doesn’t want to hear that he can’t put all the music that he wants in all of the places that he would like it," he joked.

Ha,ha,ha fricken hilarious!

 

[sonyrules]

Wow this man has children, I do feel sorry for them...

Ballmers bedtime story to his children: Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

Oh and what do they want to be when they grow up? Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers, Developers

haha sorry, couldn't resist.

Thats awsome...

 

[MacDawg]

Quite a broad, sweeping stereotype...

But then again, when has M$ ever "gotten it" on anything?

 

[Abstract]

So if MS makes their own player and music store, are their customers thieves as well?

 

[5300cs]

Ballmer: 'iPod users are music thieves'

This coming from one of the biggest thieving companies in the industry?

Funny, I've talked to about 5 people who have actually PAID for windows. Maybe we should change it to 'Windows users are thieves'.
Can someone find some statistics as to the percentage of pirated copies of windows out there?

 

[kettle]

Is that a tell tale puddle forming at his feet?

It does sound like it.

 

[the_mole1314]

The funny thing is as if M$ players are any better. They play MP3s and most of the illegal music traiding goes on on Windows machines. What I love the is double talk and saving his ass. If your DRM is so easy, why do people have problems importing protected WMAs into WMP 10? Why does buymusic.com have irregular licensing, or why does, most importantly, does nobody care about the MSN Music Store? It seems he's fighting for his music life. The future of music is in downloading stores, and Microsoft missed the target. The next field will be movies, and they are jocking to get into that early. But I guess that Apple will move into that too once all computers come with DVD drives.

 

[Stewie]

I find it hard to image how MS can protect music from being stolen when they can't even protect their OS or their flagship office products from being pirated.

 

[rainman::|:|]

Some severely obsessive-compulsive people may feel the need to repeat words a certain number of times, it brings them comfort. Just thought I'd throw that out.

paul

 

[Counterfit]

The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'.

I would say that less than 1% of the music on my iPod is from something other than a CD or the iTunes store. And some of that was legally downloaded (like the two Beatallica albums )

 

[aricher]

Balmer's just a post-fratboy meathead crybaby.

 

[virividox]

whatever

most of my music is legal!!!

 

[Raid]

First the *smart* Bill and the spyware story, that was funny , now the "Monkey boy" ... iPod users are thieves

Man, I think I remember the day's when people used to be called on their rhetoric... he's making a general statement about a group of people using a specific product. It's not that his statement is without merit in some cases, but it certainly doesn't apply to one product.

He's using these comments to try and pump up microsoft's DRM system... it's a lost cause and he knows it, but he won't collect his muti-million dollar bonus this year if he gives up. From a security standpoint, it doesn't matter if a DRM is proprietary or not, it will be cracked in a matter of months anyway. What matters is that no one company should dictate the use of a good or service that was legally purchased; and instead of being told that stealing music is wrong, how getting the labels to defend their pricing and costs?

 

[keysersoze]

Stupid Stupid Monkey Man.

 

[fistful]

What would Jesus say? "Who cares!"

 

[rueyeet]

We’ve had DRM in Windows for years. The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'.....

Most people still steal music. We can build the technology but there are still ways for people to steal music.

"Most people" still steal music. Well, hmmm. Most people use Windows, too. I take it the pre-iTMS presence of DRM technology in Windows didn't accomplish squat, then.

His observation should probably be amended to, "The most common format of music on a Windows computer is 'stolen'." (an observation borne out by nearly all of my Windows-using friends and acquaintances).

 

[sushi]

"Most people" still steal music. Well, hmmm. Most people use Windows, too. I take it the pre-iTMS presence of DRM technology in Windows didn't accomplish squat, then.

Good point! If DRM has been in Windows for years, what have they done with it? Squat from what I can see.

His observation should probably be amended to, "The most common format of music on a Windows computer is 'stolen'." (an observation borne out by nearly all of my Windows-using friends and acquaintances).

So many Windows users that I know will say, "Why should I pay 99 cents for a song on iTMS when I can DL it for free?"

Sushi

 

[sushi]

Some severely obsessive-compulsive people may feel the need to repeat words a certain number of times, it brings them comfort. Just thought I'd throw that out.

So true!

If you say something enough times it them becomes reality.

Sushi

 

[keysersoze]

So true!

If you say something enough times it them becomes reality.

Sushi

Does that really work??

I have some things I want to be reality....off to mumble to myself!