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journal: win
Microsoft Acquires iView Multimedia
Will Mac users be content with software only from Apple?
iView has been purchased by Microsoft. iView’s flagship product is MediaPro, which is a great digital asset management application.
I’m sure the next version will be Windows-only, which is only fair considering Shake and Logic Pro are now Mac-only.
Will Mac users be content with software only from Apple?
More Info
http://www.iview-multimedia.com/microsoft/
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thinkback
that letter says that Mac version will continue to be developed
Yes, the letter from iView says that. But what is important is what Microsoft is saying:
Microsoft will fully support the existing Mac products, will continue to sell Mac versions of the current iView product line and will offer upgrade pricing to all Mac users of future products that may be available based on the iView products.
Future products that are for Windows, no doubt.
I really am disappointed that Adobe was allowed to purchase Macromedia. That competition brought about great innovation in both of their product lines.
| Jun. 28, 2006 | ||
| 12:33 pm |
There’s really no reason to think that they’ll stop Mac developement at this point. Generally, when they buy something and stop development on it they give it away for free. Think: Lookout, Groove, Foldershare, Onfolio, Expression etc.
When they continue selling the product after purchase that means they are using it as a revenue stream. Think: Virtual PC
Apple stopped Windows development on Shake and Logic because they wanted those two applications to draw people to their platform. Microsoft doesn’t really need to do that because they have 95%+ marketshare.
| Jun. 30, 2006 | ||
| 5:17 am |
I agree, the US market regulation is seriously crippled and it’s bad for us. I don’t know what this iView is though.
//---
PC fans use to say that Microsoft have 95+% [B]market[/B]-share, but obviously they can’t count.
Conservatively:
5% Macs (sold, not owned)
5% Linux in different flavors
2% Solaris
3% for the rest except Windows
---------
15%
which should mean something more like 85% market-share for MS Windows.
| Jun. 30, 2006 | |
| 6:13 am |
World market share for Macs is around 2-3%, closer to 2 based on how many Macs Apple sold last quarter and how many PCs were sold to the world last quarter.
However, the total market share isn’t what a company like Adobe or iView look at. The Mac’s market share of the products they sell for the Mac is much higher than 2-3%.
But Kuaidang’s (you know you can just type that in the name field, right?) point is correct, I think, in regards to motive. However, I’m not saying MIcrosoft would kill off MediaPro Mac to try to help their market share. It’s too small of a base for that. But I also don’t agree that Microsoft purchased it to sell to make money. I think they’ll leverage the technology either into their OS or into a new product, which they will sell for Windows only. Microsoft will save a lot more by buying another’s code base than they ever will from sales revenue for the Mac version of MediaPro. That’s just my opinion and I could be wrong.
I don’t see the MBU anywhere in these press releases and the wording suggests to me that future products will be Windows only.
| Jun. 30, 2006 | ||
| 8:39 am |
Microsoft doesn’t seem to mind selling software for Mac. But I bet they’ll develop the Mac-only software to work with Windows too. It seems that Mac users are so persistant despite the compatibility problems they run into to use Apple’s hardware that they aren’t going to switch for Apps like these, they’ll simply quit using them and find something else.
| Jun. 30, 2006 | |
| 2:43 pm |
1.
Well, that letter says that Mac version will continue to be developed. However I hate how big companies continues growing and growing and merging-absorbing other companies and letting less and less options for customers to choose from. Competency is supposed to be the “flag” and ultimate mechanism that leads the economy and humanity to nirvana in Capitalism; however, it looks like in our reality, a free market and competition cannot co-exist in the long term.