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But I don’t wanna be a pirate!

Steve Ballmer spoke to a group of London journalists this weekend and essentially told them that iPod users are thieves. “We’ve had DRM in Windows for years. The most common format of music on an iPod is ‘stolen’.” 

The only thing we’re stealing, Steve, is your market share.

Ballmer also said, in reference to the race to win the market for a new digital hub device, “There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device.”

He’s kidding, right?



Steve Ballmer spoke to a group of London journalists this weekend and essentially told them that iPod users are thieves....
 

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xero

I wonder if we could get a class-action law suit going for slander.

October 06 2004 at 11:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Aristan

Because Windows users have never stolen music. That'd be wrong. And we all know that Windows users are the most honest people ever. If Apple doesn't have the market base to push digital devices, why does it matter if their, according to Balmer, small consumer base steals music? Anyway, I prefer 'Bucanneer-American'. (PS, voting for Kerry... I've seen his powerbook.)

October 04 2004 at 4:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
jbelkin

Remember when they dismissed the internet and said/believed that when MSN launched, everyone would jump on board and that would be the end of any talk of the 'internet.' They are clueless that they cannot contro/corral/cajole/buy up/manipulate consumers as they could with IT and PC manufacturers. Hell, when consumers were given a choice between AOL or MSN, they chose AOL. When consumers have a choice, they NEVER chose MS. Xbox. Tablet PC. MS Watch OS. The largest Euro WMA store was happy to sell 500,000 in ONE YEAR ... Apple outsold them in TWO WEEKS of launching in THREE countries! I think it's also telling that "only" 20 million have downloaded the XP SP2 'critical and important' update/upgrade ... guess those airport kiosks, wedding registries, cash registers and telemarketers can't really upgrade their 'terminals' like an ACTUAL and ACTIVE user. Aren't there 13 million OSX users? THough the scariest thing about that article is that Ballmer had a 12-year old kid - if he can lose 5 lbs of sweat jumping aound on a stage, did they need a wet/dry vac and SEMA to pump out his house after a night of monkey ... well, you can fill in the rest

October 04 2004 at 3:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sabre

Yeah, fucking windows had everything before Apple... Fuck 'em. Apple is the best!!!

October 04 2004 at 12:16 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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