Getting an iPod?

I'm (proudly) a Microsoft Digital Media MVP.
The Windows Media / Mobile platform is in big trouble. This is just another possible win for the iPod. I don't own an iPod, and I don't yet want to own an iPod (perhaps I should get one of them free iPods?) – but the writing is clearly on the wall. Will easier podcasting support push *ME* over the edge?
True, podcasts are not just for iPods. But that mythos is about one point revision away from being shattered – with the complete opposite accepted as gospel truth. Apple “wins” again, both in mindshare and brand identity. They'll soon “own” podcasting, and Microsoft Windows Media is going to struggle in the brand game and likely re-invent their own flavor, or they'll tell the world that they were really the first to market with an extremely proprietary, extremely mismanaged, extremely abandoned, extremely unexciting Sync & Go. Doesn't count. :)
Today's iTunes announcement is not going to shift hard-headed geeks away from their current portable media hardware choice – but it's going to make it 99% more difficult to convince n00bz that they can use a kludgey process (at best) to get the experience that the iPod delivers right out of the box.
I hate Sony with a passion – but I now own a PSP. The PMC missed the mark, as I stated many months ago. Portable gaming is much more of a market than portable audio & video – and I can have the best of “all worlds” with the PSP. Not perfect, but it's certainly one of the best solutions on the market to date. And don't even get me going about the lack of software from Sony (although PSPWare works well on OS X, and they're developing a Windows client soon enough).
In the short-term, this move is not likely to hurt Microsoft. However, brand is not a short-term prospect. “Next version” is far too late for incorporation. Look at how short of a time it's taken for podcasting to take hold, then Apple to take notice and incorporate it into their cross-platform (!) client. Having Bill Gates mention “podcast” in his speech is one thing – rolling out a solid revision of an existing product is something entirely different. Remember, Microsoft is all about building platforms – hardly the mantra you hear from Apple's camp (or from its staunch supporters). Microsoft doesn't even seem to be on the same map… let alone, in the same galaxy.
Remember when folks used to say “a Mac version of this product is coming soon?” Seems that the shoe's finally on the other foot, and Longhorn is seeming less likely to recapture this bleeding market. I only disagree with one item in Jake's post today: it's a aircraft carrier, not a battleship. :)

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