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Q: Depending on your perspective,
Microsoft is either entering this market late I b/c they
missed the original boat or they timed their entry perfectly,
letting competitors build product demand and interest and
then entering the market with a much more sophisticated
product once you know the interest is there. As I mentioned,
I was originally in the former camp but did a 180 after
seeing your presentation. Where do you think the market
is for such products right now? If things are done �right�
how much can you see the market growing? Do you think the
market has essentially been built and now it�s mainly a
matter of filling that demand, or do you think the market
still has a lot of growing to do? Mainly what I�m asking
is do you think it�s simply a matter of introducing a cool
product at a price point people like or does the public
still need to buy into the whole premium portable media
content idea?
A: The portable
media device space is still very young and is growing so
I think we are just scratching the surface. We think that
PMC will create a shift in expectations of consumers with
a corresponding spike in demand for portable media devices
that consume more media. I think there is still some education
that needs to happen. DVD players are the fastest growing
consumer product in history and they still took a few years
to really ramp up. We see a nice ramp in store for PMC devices
but realize that we have some education to do with our consumers.
The great news for us is the fact that we have a lot of
PC users out there, Windows Media Player is the most downloaded
application on the Internet and most consumers are quite
comfortable with digital content in the form of music and
pictures. This means that most users are familiar with our
platform and we think they will see the value we provide
with PMC. We need to extend this comfort to video and to
help increase the flow of video content to the PC and to
the PMC device.
Q: I have many different devices already,
a Smartphone, a few PDA�s, a few MP3 players and an iPOD.
The thought of having another device is fine (actually cool)
to gadget geeks, but do you think you might face some resistance
from people who can�t stand the thought of having to be
responsible for another gadget?
A: Gadget clutter
is a real problem and we are working hard with our partners
to build devices with compelling form factors that reduce
the number of devices a person has to carry. (I love buying
gadgets and would hate a world where I only need one device)
Our current thinking is that most people are willing to
carry around a device that is primarily used for entertainment.
Entertainment and communications seem to be the primary
drivers for carrying devices around.
Q: Many people have already embraced
the notion of premium portable media content and players
as evidenced by the many portable DVD players on the market
and the price drops that we�ve seen recently. Why would
the average person, who often buys such things to simply
keep the family entertained on long trips for instance,
want to spend another 3 or 4 hundred dollars on a "Music
and Video" player?
A: What if I could
replace your portable DVD player with a device that can
carry 80 hours of the same content that you can playback
on your DVD player? Better yet, what if I could replace
your portable DVD player that can not only do that but also
give you access to all kinds of other video content that
you can�t get on DVD? Your favorite TV shows, all of the
music that each family member likes and all of the photos
from your all of your previous family vacations? That is
what makes PMC so compelling, digital content frees you
from the hassle of physical media and having to remember
which content to bring on your trip.
Q: One of the most compelling parts
of your presentation was your display of getting premium
content onto the device. The thought of not having to leave
my house to get a movie, the thought of never getting my
hopes up that something is in stock only to find the last
copy was rented etc is really one of the strong points from
my point of view. And as such, I think this concept is absolutely
critical for initiatives like Personal Media Center. If
the content providers aren�t there, of if the ones that
are don�t have good selections/prices/service etc, I think
this will probably just end up being an expensive, albeit
cool, CD player substitute. On the other hand, if you can
get movies quickly, cheaply and conveniently (even if prices
were a few dollars more than video stores), it seems like
the whole distribution system for media is about to be revolutionized.
Am I correct here? If so, I didn�t get the impression that
MS was going to get into this part of the business, are
they ? What is Microsoft doing (if anything) to make sure
that the content providers are going to be in place, going
to be able to supply the market adequately and going to
woo customers.
A: You are right,
supply of video content for the PMC is a big part of the
story that we want to tell. MS has no plans to get into
this business but has a whole platform for delivery of digital
media to PCs and devices. We think Windows Media and MS
DRM offer a really good story for online distribution of
content and so far the response from content providers has
been very good. We are doing everything we can on the PMC
team to open up the flow of video content and have already
announced deals with Disney, Major League Baseball and CinemaNow
to offer content for PMC devices with more deals on the
way.
Q: Many people have already embraced
the notion of premium portable media content and players
as evidenced by the many portable DVD players on the market
and the price drops that we�ve seen recently. Why would
the average person, who often buys such things to simply
keep the family entertained on long trips for instance,
want to spend another 3 or 4 hundred dollars on a "Music
and Video" player?
A: What if I could
replace your portable DVD player with a device that can
carry 80 hours of the same content that you can playback
on your DVD player? Better yet, what if I could replace
your portable DVD player that can not only do that but also
give you access to all kinds of other video content that
you can�t get on DVD? Your favorite TV shows, all of the
music that each family member likes and all of the photos
from your all of your previous family vacations? That is
what makes PMC so compelling, digital content frees you
from the hassle of physical media and having to remember
which content to bring on your trip.
Q: One of the most compelling parts
of your presentation was your display of getting premium
content onto the device. The thought of not having to leave
my house to get a movie, the thought of never getting my
hopes up that something is in stock only to find the last
copy was rented etc is really one of the strong points from
my point of view. And as such, I think this concept is absolutely
critical for initiatives like Personal Media Center. If
the content providers aren�t there, of if the ones that
are don�t have good selections/prices/service etc, I think
this will probably just end up being an expensive, albeit
cool, CD player substitute. On the other hand, if you can
get movies quickly, cheaply and conveniently (even if prices
were a few dollars more than video stores), it seems like
the whole distribution system for media is about to be revolutionized.
Am I correct here? If so, I didn�t get the impression that
MS was going to get into this part of the business, are
they ? What is Microsoft doing (if anything) to make sure
that the content providers are going to be in place, going
to be able to supply the market adequately and going to
woo customers.
A: You are right,
supply of video content for the PMC is a big part of the
story that we want to tell. MS has no plans to get into
this business but has a whole platform for delivery of digital
media to PCs and devices. We think Windows Media and MS
DRM offer a really good story for online distribution of
content and so far the response from content providers has
been very good. We are doing everything we can on the PMC
team to open up the flow of video content and have already
announced deals with Disney, Major League Baseball and CinemaNow
to offer content for PMC devices with more deals on the
way.
Q: I�d like to expand upon the last
one a little bit. I have a Media Center computer. Two years
ago no one ever heard of the things. Today, your computer
aficionados are certainly showing some serious interest
in them and I think they are becoming more mainstream. So
the integration of a distribution service, coupled with
a premium content portable device obviously has the potential
to truly revolutionize the way we watch movies and listen
to music, and possibly play video games. So I can easily
seeing this getting quite partisan. The Real/Quicktime/Windows
Media battle certainly got heated at times, and this looks
like there�s a lot more at stake. Do you foresee the fragmentation
going on here with highly proprietary distribution systems
and networks, or do you see a way for everything to play
nice together. The reason I ask is that there�s iTunes now.
Lets say that there is an equivalent PMC focused site. I
might like MS�s stuff, my sister might be a Mac nut so here
we are with content from different places. If her devices
won�t play my stuff and mine won�t play hers, then we might
not, as a family make purchases or subscriptions we would
otherwise make if we could both �have our own way�. Do you
see this as a possible problem? Why or why not? What type
of support do you plan on having for other formats if any
at all?
A: I can�t really
speak for what�s going on across the company with respect
to media formats but our bet for PMC is on Windows Media.
By supporting Windows Media natively, we have access to
the majority of sites that are supporting online purchase
and distribution of content today. We are looking at ways
to help increase the penetration of Windows Media so that
we avoid the consumer confusion problem of all kinds of
different content in all kinds of different formats. Another
point is that our OEMs are free to put other formats on
the device as they see fit to meet the demands of their
business.
Q: Can you give me your thoughts on
Digital Rights Management? I�ve seen the Legal Napster and
its comeback and I�m glad to see a service that�s consumer
friendly and legal/responsible. Is PMC going to have any
mechanisms for monitoring compliance or is it essentially
going to only be in the utility realm? I can see content
providers getting a lot more excited if it did protect them,
but I can also see consumers being intimidated by it (even
the ones that don�t steal stuff) if they think it�s going
to not work well or unfairly limit them. I know we could
talk on the subject of DRM for a year but I was basically
wondering if there�s any new changes on the horizon.
A: I think you
summarize it nicely, DRM only works if the consumer experience
isn�t compromised. DRM is built into PMC and I can�t go
into details yet, but can say that it has been designed
with the consumer in mind. We will support DRM services
and are including new DRM functionality that will enable
new purchasing options for content for devices that haven�t
been seen in the marketplace yet. We think this new functionality
is going to offer a whole new degree of flexibility and
content availability to users that will really change their
whole view on DRM. Make the experience easy enough to use
and give consumers an experience that they can�t get today
and DRM goes from being a pain in the butt to being a useful
and appreciated technology.
Q: I own an XBox and I really like it.
I can�t think of one thing that I don�t like about my Xbox
nor anything I think MS messed up. For that matter, I think
it was one of their better products all around. To that
end, I can�t understand why it�s not the market leader and
I�m guessing it probably will be soon. It also seems like
PMC could be leveraged with Xbox to create some really killer
stuff. Are there any plans on the horizon to either expand
Xbox�s functionality into PMC or full windows media center
or to build some game functionality into PMC?
A: We are just
now kicking around some ideas for future versions of PMC.
No solid plans yet that I can share with you. Gaming is
definitely on our list of things to investigate since it
is another form of entertainment when you are on the go.
Q: What is the timeframe on the rollout?
I�ve seen different estimates but I never put too much weight
into them b/c marketing people are, well, marketing people.
More importantly, when it�s released, will it be available
everywhere or is it going to be a targeted and/or regional
rollout?
A: The actual
release date is up to our partners but we expect devices
to be on shelves by the early Fall.
Q: What does the horizon look like for
exposing the API to programmers? I�m guessing that PMC is
going to have its own version of the CLR and .NET developers
will at some point be able to build cool stuff for it? I
know that there�s a LOT of interest here, and when developers
can write commercial and/or personal programs for it, you�ll
have an entire market segment defined just to have this
ability. So seriously, is MS have real plans to include
developers in this whole initiative? If so, ballpark, when
do you think we�d start seeing whitepapers and documentation
on the API? When do you see an implementation available?
A: This is another
area we are starting to investigate. In v1, we really wanted
to focus on the end-to-end experience and getting a product
out to market by this holiday season. In our next version,
we are going to think more about differentiation, in both
HW and SW. No firm timelines yet but we will be refining
and sharing our plans with our partners this summer.
Q: Are their any plans to bundle services?
For instance, if I buy a PMC, is there going to be service
plans for instance that will allow me to download x number
of movies or y songs? I know there�s going to be commercial
content, but I�m wondering if MS is encouraging any type
of bundles with any other service providers? I�m guessing
it may be a bit early to really discuss this, but I figured
it�d be worth asking
A: We are leaving
these deals up to the OEMs for v1. We are doing some match
making between our OEMs and different services. We really
hope that our partners will take advantage and make some
good bundling deals happen since it strengthens the overall
offering.
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