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  Buy RMDM its a once and a lifetime opportunity
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15265.  Day-Trader  
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 More options Dec 10, 3:45 pm
From: Day-Trader <theryanfinancialgr...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:45:38 -0800 (PST)
Local: Thurs, Dec 10 2009 3:45 pm
Subject: Buy RMDM its a once and a lifetime opportunity
As previously announced Innotrek has been working on highway safety
and surveillance with the local Hubei Government over the past year,
and had received very positive response from pubic and the officials.

Wynn Wang, CEO of RMDM said "This is the news and approval we as a
company and our shareholders have been waiting for! To say that we are
delighted to have received this designation and approval would be an
understatement. Simply put, this is a gold mine and a feather in our
cap for RMDM as an organization. This elevates RMDM to a whole new
level, new status, new rank and a positive bullish outlook. It also
opens up many new revenue models and possibilities for RMDM, and our
Innotrek Division. For example, we have already commenced and are well
under way in seeking government funding for this public project in
2010. We started this application some time ago based on our firm
belief and assumptions that we will receive this approval. We are
confident that our funding will be forthcoming shortly. Things are
moving at break neck speed with us and our entire organization is
motivated and looking forward to the bright future. As a company we
researched some numbers and valuations and we have been advised that
this approval should increase the valuation of our company easily by 5
to 7 million dollars. We will seek independent advice on valuation and
report on this to our followers shortly"


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  Warren Buffett talks about Microsoft Corporation
15264.  SandraThomas  
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 More options Dec 10, 2:21 pm
From: SandraThomas <sandrazscho...@googlemail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:21:40 -0800 (PST)
Local: Thurs, Dec 10 2009 2:21 pm
Subject: Warren Buffett talks about Microsoft Corporation
sounds not good...http://tiny.cc/ifrs1

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  BZCN about to take off
15263.  Day-Trader  
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 More options Dec 10, 9:37 am
From: Day-Trader <theryanfinancialgr...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:37:51 -0800 (PST)
Local: Thurs, Dec 10 2009 9:37 am
Subject: BZCN about to take off
BZCN is about to start its second run.  You may still be able to buy
in around .0016 - .0018  I told you about this stock a while back and
it ran all the way up to .0054  They work with E bay and provide
liquidation services for many companies.  It is the perfect holiday
stock to own.  They do most of their business during the months of
December - February.  BZCN also opened a new outlet store called
Luckys 7 in California.  That store sells brand name clothing for
less
like our TJ MAX or ROSS.  They are expanding and in a growth phase.
The perfect stock for a recession.  They save companies and customers
money.

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  The diversionary complaints of Ruper Murdoch are a red herring, if you want the truth with respect to what he is whining about, READ THIS !
15262.  nickoblake  
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 More options Dec 9, 11:28 pm
From: nickoblake <nickobl...@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 20:28:35 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 11:28 pm
Subject: The diversionary complaints of Ruper Murdoch are a red herring, if you want the truth with respect to what he is whining about, READ THIS !
The diversionary complaints of Ruper Murdoch are a red herring, if you
want the truth with respect to what he is whining about, READ THIS !

http://surftofind.com/stage

GET IT? The networks are no longer credible because they are not in a
position to investigate the truth. They are merely trying to please
their base -the right wing and left wing wackos who dominate the
airwaves.

Needless to say, we get to the truth through the Internet, not through
all the clueless, right wing and left wing wackos !


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  How will Microsoft deal with snowballing Windows 7 complaints?
15261.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:41 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:41:48 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:41 pm
Subject: How will Microsoft deal with snowballing Windows 7 complaints?
By David Goldman. Excerpted from CNN Money.

Top 10 Windows 7 complaints

Problem                                              % of complaints
1. Problems with installation                         31%
2. Missing applets or components                     26%
3. Aero theme is not running                          14%
4. DVD drive not found                                  8%
5. Hidden extensions                                            6%
6. Too many minidumps                                   6%
7. Aero snap problems                                   3%
8. iPhone won't sync with Windows 7                     2%
9. Custom icons get changed with new theme      2%
10. Taskbar problems                                            1%
Source: iYogi

Microsoft launched Windows 7 in late October to much fanfare. But,
just like with previous Windows upgrades, complaints about bugs have
already started rolling in.

A whopping 31% of clients have reported problems with upgrading to
Windows 7, according to a recent survey of more than 100,000 customers
conducted by consumer helpdesk firm iYogi.

"Most of the problems that customers have with Windows 7 have to do
with installation, or application and data migration," said Vishal
Dhar, co-founder of iYogi. "These are all fixable problems, but
they're annoyances and they're time consuming."

One common gripe, experienced by 9% of installers, is that the half-
hour to an hour-long upgrade process gets to the "62% completed" point
and then freezes. It's a problem that Microsoft is aware of, and can
be fixed by rebooting the computer, going into advanced settings, and
typing in a code that instructs the computer to ignore plug-ins.

However, issues didn't stop with the upgrade process. Many users still
experienced glitches even after successfully installing Windows 7 on
their machines.

Most common among those complaints was that basic "applet" programs,
like Mail, Movie Maker and Photo Gallery, were missing. That's because
Windows 7 deletes those programs and makes users download them from
the Windows Live Essential Web site. IYogi said 26% of their customers
were confused about that extra step.

Others had problems getting their computers to work properly: Eight
percent said their DVD drives couldn't be found and 2% couldn't sync
their iPhones with Windows 7.

One in seven users also complained that the sleek new "Aero" theme
doesn't work. The Aero theme enables users to see through a window to
view the desktop or other programs that are open behind it. According
to iYogi, most of the 14% of users that have problems with Aero don't
have the graphics capabilities on their PCs to handle the program.

Other common complaints included an inability to view file extensions,
too many "mini-dumps" (memory images saved on the computer when it
crashes), problems with the "Aero snap" feature, changes to custom
icons and problems with the new taskbar.

According to Zeus Kerravala, an analyst at Yankee Group, one of the
biggest annoyances with the new operating system is that the "ribbon
menus" at the top of programs have been redesigned and must be
relearned. In previous Windows versions, the menus remained very
consistent (File, Edit, View, Insert, etc.), but in Windows 7, they
can be wildly different from application to application.

"It took me a long while to figure out how to print," said Kerravala.
"Microsoft tried to improve the user interface, but there's a learning
curve because it's inconsistent."

Microsoft also did away with many favorite applications like Windows
Movie Maker, which is particularly surprising given the propensity of
cell phone videos and Flip video camera movies.


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  Microsoft requests you not mention or use Apple products at their events
15260.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:33 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:33:46 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:33 pm
Subject: Microsoft requests you not mention or use Apple products at their events
By Chauncey Dupree4.

Microsoft reportedly told journalists gathered for a company press
event in Germany not to use or mention Apple products.  Our German is
a bit rusty and Google is even worse, but according to Handelsblatt
and our bad translation:

"While at a Windows Mobile 6.5 demonstration in Munich, Germany a
journalist was warned by a Microsoft spokesman not to mention or use
Apple products...since it was a Microsoft event the journalist had
previously told everyone that he had never owned an easier to use cell
phone than the iPhone."

Now, you can say what you like about Microsoft's huge market share -
not just in terms of PC sales but also in virus and Trojan horse
production - but even in Apple's darkest days we don't think Cupertino
ever insisted on no mention or use of Microsoft-powered products.
Looks like a fin de siecle to us...

Anyway, returning to the story, here's Google Translate's laughable
translation of part of it - perhaps some of our German-speaking
readers can, erm, actually translate this.

"The offense: The journalist had dared to talk during dinner to
mention that he had never seen a possessed so easy to use phone like
its iPhone. Und das auf der Vorstellung des Windows Betriebssystems
Mobile 6.5. And on the idea of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating
system. "The emotion surprised me," says a PR consultant was present
at that time. "It shows that the nerves are raw."

"We've messed with Mobile 6.5," quoted Paul Jozefak, members of the
Microsoft Venture Capital Summit, the Chief Executive Officer Steve
Ballmer. "I wish we had Windows Mobile 7 in the market." This should
come 2010th."

So there you have it - the world's biggest software company, sticking
its head in the sand.


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  Linux grabs netbooks share, and Microsoft sings the blues
15259.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:28 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:28:40 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:28 pm
Subject: Linux grabs netbooks share, and Microsoft sings the blues
By David Anderson of Telemanagement.

According to ABI Research, 32% of the 35 million netbooks expected to
ship in 2009 will come with a version of the Linux operating system.
Microsoft Corp says the number is as low as 4%, at least in the US.
Hmmm.

If we take ABI’s numbers, that’s about 11 million netbooks running the
free, open-source operating system, with the remaining 68%, or 24
million, on Windows.

Microsoft is right in saying that Windows dominates in the US market,
but is perhaps being a little optimistic when it says that over 93% of
worldwide small notebook PCs run Windows today.

The global trend is certainly not Microsoft’s friend: ABI believes
that by 2013 Linux will surpass Windows on netbooks, primarily due to
demand in emerging markets. Microsoft, of course, is hoping that
Windows 7 will boost its fortunes after the disastrous launch of
Vista.


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  Bing and Yahoo's search share is slipping
15258.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:26 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:26:23 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:26 pm
Subject: Bing and Yahoo's search share is slipping
As its rivals stumbled in November, Google grabbed more than 71% of
searches.

By Sharon Gaudin of computerworld.com.

While Microsoft Corp.'s Bing might be getting a lot of attention,
Google Inc. is still king of all things search.

Google's search rivals have been pulling out the stops over the past
several months, trying to take a chunk out of its market share. But so
far it's not working, according to numbers released today from
Experian Hitwise, an online market tracker.

In November, 71.57% of all searches were done on Google, Hitwise
reported. That's an increase of about one percentage point over
October, when Google captured 70.60% of all searches.

November wasn't as good a month for Yahoo Inc.'s second-place search
site or Microsoft's third-place Bing.

Yahoo dropped from a 16.14% market share in October to 15.39% in
November. That represents a 5% decrease the number of searches
conducted using Yahoo. And Bing's market share also slipped, going
from 9.57% in October to 9.34% last month.

That has to be good news for Google, which has been pouring a lot of
effort and money into expanding its search tool's capabilities.

Just yesterday, Google started giving users real-time search results.
Both Google and Microsoft announced in October that they had struck
individual real-time search deals with Twitter. Microsoft went one
step further and struck a deal with Facebook, as well.

The move into real-time search shows how significant social networking
sites like Twitter and Facebook have become to the online community.


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  Taking Aim at Microsoft's SharePoint
15257.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:23 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:23:03 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:23 pm
Subject: Taking Aim at Microsoft's SharePoint
Google Apps Takes Aim at SharePoint with Groups Feature.

By Harry McCracken of PC World.

Google is filling in one of the more gaping holes in its Google Apps
Web-based productivity suite: It’s announcing that it’s adding Google
Groups, a business-focused variant of the consumer service that’s been
around since 2001.

Like the existing version, the Google Apps variant of Groups is built
around searchable, unlimited-storage discussion forums. Businessfolk
can create new discussions without the intervention of IT staffers’
engage in threaded conversations; share items such as word-processing
files, spreadsheets, and video; and get updates via e-mail. But IT
departments get the ability to manage discussions and establish
policies for groups within the organization.

All this sounds like it’ll help Google Apps compete more directly with
SharePoint, the Microsoft collaborative system that doesn’t have the
name recognition of Word or Excel, but which is nearly as deeply
entrenched in a lot of businesses. Maybe that’s why Google isn’t
including this version of Groups in its freebie Standard edition at
all: It’s only in the Premier edition ($50 a year) and the Education
one (free, but only for schools). Users of Google Apps Standard
edition can continue to create private groups in the consumer version
of Groups.


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  ASUS ousted as most reliable computer maker in new study
15256.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:20 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:20:29 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:20 pm
Subject: ASUS ousted as most reliable computer maker in new study
From electronista.com.

Apple has taken the lead as the most reliable computer maker thanks to
ASUS' over-dependence on netbooks, a new RESCUECOM study says. Where
ASUS led the rankings in the third quarter of 2008 and in the spring
this year, Apple has surged back to earn a reliability score of 374
for the third quarter this year, or more than twice ASUS' third-place
166 score. Much of ASUS' fall is attributed to first-wave Eee PC
netbooks getting older and failing in relatively large numbers due to
their poorer build quality.

"Now that many of the netbooks by ASUS have been out for a while,
there is obviously a higher need for service," the repair firm's CEO
David Millman says.

While the results are dependent on the ratio of computers shipped
versus the number of requests for help that RESCUECOM receives and can
fluctuate, the company notes that it's counting not just the
construction of the system but the post-sale support from the
manufacturer itself, taking some of its own influence out of the
equation. Apple accounted for about 9 percent of US PC shipments in
the summer but only made up 2.4 percent of calls.

Apple's lead was considerably narrower over second-place Lenovo, which
reached 320 points, but fared much better against much larger
competitors. Toshiba reached fourth place with a score of 165, while
HP and its Compaq label were a distant fifth with 134. HP's ratio was
especially poor; while it shipped 24.9 percent of computers, it
represented 18.5 percent of support calls.

The shift partly supports Apple's distaste for netbooks. Executives
have often commented that they don't believe they can produce a high-
quality system at the sub-$500 prices demanded by the category. It has
also avoided going significantly under $1,000 even for full-size
notebooks due to similar concerns and has lately focused on components
that are more likely to last, such as the stiffer unibody shell in all
MacBooks and a preference for slot-loading optical drives that don't
have a tray to break.


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  Why is Germany funding fixes for Microsoft malware problems?
15255.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:16 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:16:00 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Why is Germany funding fixes for Microsoft malware problems?
By Nick Farrell. Excerpted fromtheinquirer.net.

THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT The German government has decided to spend a lot
of its citizens' tax money helping them recover from malware directed
at Microsoft machines.

Spiegel Online reports that the government wants to prop up another
industry giant. The German Federal Office for Information Security
(BSI) plans to team up with Internet service providers (ISPs) to
establish a call center helping Windows users who have malware
problems.

Starting in 2010, ISPs will track down customers with infected PCs.
These customers will then be directed to a special website offering
advice on removing the malware. If this does not work there will be a
call center where a staff of about 40 will try to fix the problems.
There is no indication about how much the German government intends to
spend on the project.


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  Chicago-area residents file a class action lawsuit against Microsoft
15254.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 10:08 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:08:35 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 10:08 pm
Subject: Chicago-area residents file a class action lawsuit against Microsoft
By Caroline Rowalnd of WGN News.

Chicago-area residents have filed a class action lawsuit against
Microsoft after losing data on their sidekick phones.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, claims that
the plaintiffs- Terrence Taraszka, Katie Taraszka, Adam Beckelman and
Michael Guerrero- lost email, text messages, contacts, phonebooks,
calendars, nots and other media when their Sidekick phones suffered a
technical glitch.

Thousands of Sidekick users lost data when Microsoft and Danger,
Inc.'s data servers failed in October, 2009. Danger, Inc. makes the
Sidekick phones, and T-Mobile distributes them. Microsoft bought
Danger, Inc. in February 2008.

Microsoft has said they had been able to recover most or all data and
would begin to restore it. But the lawsuit claims that the plaintiffs
had not had their data recovered.

Each of the plaintiff's are seeking up to $74,999 in damages.


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  Microsoft: Blocking Google is not an option
15253.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 9:56 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:56:33 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 9:56 pm
Subject: Microsoft: Blocking Google is not an option
The Microsoft Empire is not going to do a deal with the Mongolian
Media Empire of Rupert Murdoch.

By Ed Berridge of .theinquirer.net.

It's starting to look like Microsoft simply thinks it is a bad idea to
block Google.

While the Financial Times has quoted outfits that have been approached
by Microsoft about de-indexing from Google in return for cash, it is
starting to look a bit flaky.

Satya Nadella, senior vice president of research and development for
Microsoft's Online Services Division, was quoted at a conference as
saying Microsoft has no real intent focused on getting content de-
indexed from Google. The quote was not picked up by the mainstream
press, but perhaps they didn't Google it well enough.

So why would we believe him? After all he is a Microsoft employee and
still breathing. Well, for a start publishers that get themselves
delisted from Google are committing suicide. Bing is not that big, nor
will it be, even with Microsoft's best efforts.
To make it worth their while, Microsoft will have to come up with wads
of cash and this creates a bad situation for the software giant. The
conventional media is losing money hand over fist and has not come up
with a viable way of gaining revenue from New Media yet.

This would mean that they would look to Microsoft for more and more
money. Soon Microsoft would be left propping up an industry that is
going to the wall.


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  Why Is There No iLife-Equivalent for Windows?
15252.  Ima Ufo  
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(1 user)  More options Dec 9, 9:50 pm
From: Ima Ufo <thetruthaboutm...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:50:54 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 9:50 pm
Subject: Why Is There No iLife-Equivalent for Windows?
By Joe Wilcox of oddlytogether.com.

Seriously, it’s kind of a “d`uh” question. Apple released iLife for
Macintosh in January 2003. Every year or so, the suite gets better,
with no Windows developer offering anything comparable. Isn’t it about
time?

I fault Microsoft for not developing something equivalent, although, I
concede, the company has the makings of a placeholder offering while
working on something better (more on that in a few paragraphs).
Microsoft should have stepped in when its partners didn’t.

Microsoft’s problem is simple: The company has fundamentally
misunderstood business and consumer content creation needs for the new
century. As such, Microsoft has set out on a trajectory that scarily
reminds of IBM 20 years ago. Sure, there are individuals at Microsoft
who understand what’s going on. But companies have personality—
character formed by management, business policy, existing products and
the situation of customers, among other factors. The Microsoft Hive
Mind just doesn’t get it.

Perhaps Microsoft can be forgiven for its corporate shortsightedness.
One of the company’s two most profitable products, Office, is widely
used by businesses and, to a less degree, consumers. But who really
creates documents anymore? Be honest, how many wordprocessing
documents have you produced in the last week? Month? Year? Now compare
that to the number of photos you shoot in any day, week or month.

Crumbling Stacks

Microsoft controls the last-generation application stack: Office-
Windows-Windows Server. Office productivity suites defined PC
computing during the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. There is enormous
infrastructure and huge revenues tied up with this aging, and quickly
becoming ancient, application stack.

The application stack of the present and future is in the cloud. Most
people generate content on a non-PC device, manipulate or edit on a PC
and share via the Internet—perhaps by email or more likely FaceBook or
other online community or repository. Granted, text is often created
on a PC, but who really uses Word, other than a few stuck-in-the-past
businesses—and, of course, Microsoft?

Wordprocessing is a commodity. The basic formatting features most
people need are available in most any product using text—blogging
platform, email client, instant messenger and online community, among
many others. None of these products require a separate, dedicated
wordprocessor, with Microsoft’s Outlook being one of very few
exceptions.

The majority of content produced today is either textual, using
features already part of the aforementioned products, or audiovisual.
For example, the PowerPoint of the 2000s is the Web-hosted photo
slideshow. Photos and videos easily top the list of content that most
people regularly produce and want to share with others. Music is
another, although for most of it there are sticky copyright
considerations.

The New Stack’s Heights

Apple understands and has taken a commanding lead in both consumer and
professional markets for digital audio, photo and video content
creation. Apple controls an applications stack, too: Final Cut Studio-
Mac OS X-Mac OS X Server, and it’s hugely popular among people that
professionally produce content. There’s a smaller application stack,
with iLife at the front end.

Microsoft needs to understand how important iLife is to the Mac, and
how much more important an iLife-equivalent would be to Windows.
Microsoft is a company of beancounters, of persistent analysis to
justify this or that. By the numbers, Office and Windows are hugely
successful products. But marketshare is shortsighted. In product
branding and marketing, it’s not how many but whom that matters. Who
is using your product. The whom is where iLife gives Apple huge pull
against the Microsoft juggernaut. By controlling the dominant digital
media content creation stack, Macs are hugely popular among important
influencers.

Journalists are a great example. So are bloggers—and just about any
Millennial vlogger on YouTube or video competitors like Vimeo or
Viddler. Bloggers and today’s journalists often must product audio,
photo, video and written content for the same stories. Real-time
production demands tools that produce good content quickly, and many
journalism schools have decided iLife is right choice.

University of Missouri School of Journalism requires students to have
wireless-capable laptops and strongly recommends they use Macs rather
than Windows PCs, because of iLife:

The faculty has designated Apple Computer as its preferred provider
for two primary reasons: (1) Apple’s OS X operating system is based on
Unix, which makes these computers far less susceptible to viruses than
other computers. Viruses are a serious problem on university campuses.
(2) Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro computers come bundled with iLife, a
suite of applications ideal for learning the basics of photo editing,
and audio and video editing. We’ll use those programs in several
classes. Incoming students will receive information on recommended
models and pricing in February of each year.
In May, the school added a new requirement: All incoming freshman must
have either an iPhone or iPod. Supposedly, the requirement won’t be
enforced. Oh? Then why have it at all? The point: Apple now has a
virtual technology lock on journalists coming out of the University
Missouri.

The school isn’t isolated in its Mac recommendations. For example, The
Journalism School at Columbia University equally recommends Macs or
Windows PCs, except: “For students involved in multimedia
applications, we recommend using a Mac. Macs come with a variety of
basic video, audio and photo editing tools.”

Bloggers and journalists are important influencers, who write about
Apple and Microsoft products. There is inherent bias for the products
they use. At one time the favoritism worked for Microsoft, but now for
Apple.

I call out journalists, but pretty much anyone producing mixed media
content will find a friend in iLife and not even a friendly
acquaintance on Windows PCs. If there is a comparable Windows product
to iLfe, someone show me. I haven’t seen it.

Tool Up or Perish

The question: Could Microsoft put together a digital media suite?
Absolutely, Microsoft should do so, seeing as how none of its
developer partners has. Businesses and consumers don’t buy operating
systems. They buy applications. Where’s the killer application for
Windows 7? I don’t see one.

Perhaps, Microsoft considers Windows Live Essentials to be an iLife-
equivalent. That’s a joke, right? Essentials isn’t nearly essential
enough as put together now. Here’s the bare minimum Microsoft needs to
match Apple’s digital media content products (not all from iLife):

Windows Live Photo Gallery (iPhoto)
Windows Live Movie Maker (iMovie)
Songsmith (GarageBand)
Windows Live Writer/Spaces (iWeb)
Windows DVD Maker (iDVD)
LifeCam Show Visual Effects (Photo Booth)
Zune Software (iTunes)

I’ll rate each Microsoft products against its Macintosh equivalent:

Windows Live Photo Gallery is a remarkably robust and flexible basic
photo-editing product. The software isn’t as visually appealing as
iPhoto `09, nor is all its power obvious. But it’s an excellent
product for editing, managing, organizing and sharing photos. Joe’s
Grade: Good Enough.

Windows Live Movie Maker (Beta) is a bland and disappointing video-
editing application. There is absolutely nothing fun about Movie
Maker. Its features raise the question: “What features?” Joe’s Grade:
Fail, with impunity.

Songsmith isn’t a GarageBand-equivalent, but it doesn’t need to be.
Songsmith does something different: Create musical accompaniments
based on the singer’s singing. For now, Songsmith is good enough as an
alternative. But Microsoft needs to provide tools for editing and
producing audio podcasts, which GarageBand does well. Joe’s Grade:
Good enough, for now.

Windows Live Writer isn’t an iWeb-equivalent. Microsoft’s software is
much better. Apple provides tools for easily producing and publishing
a Website. But there are limited designs and no real options for
blogging. Live Writer lacks the flash, but is far more flexible and
can produce correctly formatted posts for many, many blogging systems.
Microsoft should add more whizzbang and better integration with Live
Movie and Photo products. Joe’s Grade: The Better Choice.

Windows DVD Maker, which is included in “premium” Vista and Seven
editions, isn’t even close to the same league as iDVD. Apple offers
better templates, better graphics, better transitions, etc., etc. I
don’t consider DVD authoring as a high-priority consumer product. That
said, Microsoft has got to do better. Joe’s Grade: Fail.

LifeCam Show Visual Effects. Photo Booth is a fun, Mac OS X feature
that spices up video conferencing and shooting home movies with the
WebCam. Microsoft’s Visual Effects are a pretty good alternative, but
people must buy a Microsoft WebCam to get them. Now how dumb is that
when most laptops now ship with WebCams. Microsoft should plug the
visual effects into Windows and make them available for use with any
OEM-shipped WebCam. Joe’s Grade: Good Enough, if available.

Zune Software is no iTunes—and thank Microsoft for that! The once
exciting iTunes is now confusing bloatware. By comparison, Zune 3.0
Software is remarkably streamlined and much easier to use; the three-
column view works. Sure, there are missing features, like the graphic
equalizer and cross-fading. The missing EQ is OK, because Zune offers
a purer sound than does iTunes, which pumps up the bass. Joe’s Grade:
Good Enough, for now.

But good enough isn’t good enough. Microsoft needs to package its
digital media creation ...

read more »


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  Re: BZCN about to take off
15251.  David Rothman  
View profile  
 More options Dec 9, 3:39 pm
From: David Rothman <davidzscho...@googlemail.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 12:39:26 -0800 (PST)
Local: Wed, Dec 9 2009 3:39 pm
Subject: Re: BZCN about to take off
just found this article... http://tiny.cc/ifrs622

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