Steve Ballmer warned the world that “The most common format of music on an iPod is “stolen”.”

Was he talking about .WAV?

http://lifehacker.com/5131478/windows-7-beta-patch-fixes-mp3-bug

I suspect they did a terrible deal with the record labels (who don’t like the idea of being locked into Microsoft any more than they’re enjoying being locked into Apple) and that’s why the MSN UK guy knows he’s selling a complete turd and is past the point of despair.

The only way they could have made it worse would have been to use the Zune branding.

ps: typing this from Shiretoko (Firefox 3.1 nightlies) in Windows 7. It runs surprisingly well in a 512MB VirtualBox … if I have nothing else running on the host system. Uses power like nobody’s business, though. And, of course, it’s very pretty.

And just to snafu Ballmer’s sunday

I’m still preparing a post about mass-closure of services/products from Microsoft. The ‘media’ is asleep… and too bust doing ‘damage control’ for Microsoft.

http://www.osor.eu/news/it-venice-region-settles-on-open-source-and-open-standards

” The Veneto Region, around the Italian city of Venice, has decided to move to open source software and open standards, the Italian Internet news site Zeus reports. “

And forcing the crap that results from this down their customers’ throats will (or already has, in the case of Vista) in a boycott of consumers – sooner or later, everybody, incl. John Doe knows that the Windows flag sticker on a PC stands for something bad.

I love to see how they pull themselves apart in slow motion. How incredibly stupid can a CEO be? How incredible stupid can shareholders be that tolerate a CEO like Ballmer who so obviously lost touch to the real world like Comical Ali? ( http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/ in case you forgot who he was).

Well, folks, please lean back, watch, relax and pass along the popcorn.

Microsoft doesn’t understand who their customer is, and that’s a problem.

They actually treat OEMs and Hollywood as their customers. Users just don’t have much choice. These are not the customers.

About 80% of the Windows licences are sold to OEMs, not the users. They are being tied to PCs.

Q: If I buy these songs on your service – and they’re locked to my phone – what happens when I upgrade my phone in six months’ time?

A: Well, I think you know the answer to that.

Q: Can you really expect people to buy music that’s locked to a device they upgrade every 12 to 18 months?

A: I didn’t realise phones were churning that quickly in the marketplace these days

In short, not only does Microsoft’s DRM tie the music that you’ve just paid for to your mobile phone. When you upgrade that phone – at the end of your contract, for example – you’ll have to put your hand in your pocket *again* if you want to carry on listening to that music!

Just how stupid do they think people are?

What I think gets lost in conversations about Windows 7 is one key fact: even if Windows 7 were to be the perfect OS from the Microsoft perspective and all the hardwire drivers and eye candy worked perfectly, Windows 7 would still be bad deal for the customer.

Until all companies agree to completely GIVE UP on any and all forms of DRM, I will keep “stealing” music (since breaking DRM is a crime, in any case I would be an “intellectual property thief”, whatever that means).