Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Microsoft and the Future of Television

Pastor Mac - 2002.03.13

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

Robert X. Cringley, writing for PBS, looks at the future competitive arena for Microsoft. I'm including three paragraphs below because they are the most salient:

So the New Microsoft has to go where the Old Microsoft didn't. This means new markets, which eliminates at least for awhile any antitrust concerns. It also means new enemies, which appeals to Gates. It probably gets boring beating up the same kid every day after school. The New Microsoft will operate in five areas - financial services, video games, television, GPS, and wireless. .Net is the beginning of Microsoft's thrust into financial services, using the old technique of "embrace and extend" to hopefully grab a piece of every transaction everywhere. This is Microsoft number one priority and Gates is determined to see it through before the Windows and Office franchises evaporate, as they ultimately will. With close to $40 billion in available cash, Microsoft will spend whatever it takes to make this happen.

The other market segments - video games, TV, GPS, and wireless - are close enough to what Gates perceives to be Microsoft's core competencies. They are markets where Microsoft has not played or has been a small player. They are markets that are big enough to be interesting or growing fast enough to qualify as successors for Windows and Office. And most importantly, they are segments where Bill feels current leadership is weak and unfocussed.

So look over the next two to three years for Microsoft to use the same "embrace and extend" strategy in each of these areas. We'll see Xbox followed by more and different Xboxes at a rate of evolution that will be staggering. Expect the same thing with Ultimate TV. Look for a major thrust in Windows for mobile phones. And while I'm not exactly sure how GPS will be rolled into this package, I know it will be. In each case, Microsoft will be trying its darndest to build itself into the future, trying to create new de facto standards, which is to say new cash cows. And they will succeed. Current leaders in all these segments should be wary. That or sell out now, because -their future - no matter what happens with the DoJ, any private lawsuits, and those nine errant states - their future is going to be ugly.

I've written before about the direct broadcast satellite industry and the possibility of Apple producing a Cube-like home server as the foundation block of the Digital Hub. Dish Network has used Microsoft to produce a set-top personal video recorder called the DishPlayer. The DP has been a support nightmare for Dish, and there is presently a lawsuit between Dish and Microsoft over continued software updates and bug fixes. Does this sound familiar?

Take careful note of the middle paragraph. Dish is whining about DP bug fixes and M$ wants to do more than build a set top box - they want a steady revenue stream from every aspect of the TV experience. DP was simply an alpha release, UltimateTV is a beta (which they'll abandon just like DP), and then roll some more features into another set top box, including high speed Internet access via MSN, and hype it via a "partner" as the must-have home entertainment hub device.

Likely the "embrace," that is the "partner," will be a media delivery specialist such as Dish or a cable provider. The "extend" will be a feature or function proprietary to the box, such as leveraging Windows Media Player in content storage or playback - or even .Net in some form. The last part of the dance will be "extinguish," when a sufficient user base becomes dependent on the technology and will follow Microsoft regardless and the "partner" is abandoned.

Competing with M$ in this arena (or even allowing M$ to collaborate) could be a kiss of death for anyone, most especially a post-merger Dish. "Embrace & extend" - then pull the rug out. Java, W3 standards, C++, now personal video?

Please, Steve, pick up the phone, call Charlie Ergen at Dish Network, and relaunch the Cube as the home server it's screaming to be.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Recent My Turn articles

Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: 17" MacBook Pro Core Duo, Apr. 2006 - The top-end MacBook Pro includes a 1680 x 1050, 2.16 GHz Core Duo CPU, and supports Apple 30" Cinema Display.
Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best iPod nano Deals, 11.25. Refurb 8 GB 4G nano, $99; new, $126; refurb 16 GB, $129; new, $150; new 5G/8 GB, $134.60; 16 GB, $161.12. Shipping included.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 11.25. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1 GHz Combo, $400; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $449; 1.67 GHz hi-res, $600.
Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.