Microsoft vs. Apple (as usual)

In a speech yesterday, Bill Gates announced, for the nth time, that Microsoft plans to develop software and hardware that will enable the company's products, including Windows, to serve as the center of consumers' "digital lifestyle." Whatever that is. This article (which appears in the company's hometown paper, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer) rightly points out that MS may have some real trouble reaching that goal - as evidenced by at least two major computer glitches during Gates' speech.

Neither this article nor others I've seen points out that Apple's Macintosh products already do all the key things that Gates says MS will do soon. Any recent Mac, whether desktop or laptop, has the hardware and the software to manage still photos, movies, and music as well as other kinds of digital files (like boring old text or spreadsheet documents). Macs don't suffer from viruses and spyware the way Windows machines do, either. And perhaps most importantly, the success of the iPod shows that Apple knows how to insert itself into new markets that can be oriented to the Mac platform. Next week, it's likely that Apple boss Steve Jobs will announce a new Mac and updated software designed to attract iPod users and others who are interested in a simpler, more integrated home computer. In light of Gates' speech, this must be considered a shot back across Microsoft's bow.