Bill Gates on the iPod
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From: Bill Gates
Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 9:54 PM
To: Will Poole
Cc: Alexander Gounares; Amir Majidimehr; Chris Jones
Subject: Scenario leadership
This whole Apple music experience is one that is interesting to me and makes me wonder where the scenario thinking is in Windows.
What is the best scenario paper I have seen? None. Even on Photos which has a lot of people I really haven't seen anything.
Because we are going to be so late with a music service we are going to be behind others almost forever it seems like.
All of the hardware people have will be tied to other services.
People won't want to give up their hardware.
Therefore out player and our leadership and even getting people to connect to Winfs will lose out.
I don't see enough that we are doing that will help us be viewed as a leader.
Part of the scenario involves devices and the installed base of devices. What is our strategy their?
Software updates to the installed base? Musicmatch and Napster have the lead (with Apple).
People I know (a rich group I admit) are getting ipods with thousands of songs on them.
Herb Allen has given dozens of his friends Ipods with thousands of songs (he bought them).
Warren Buffett just loves the thing.