Engadget has a post about a $50 iPod from Microsoft, and it is the tenth or eleventh post about this that I have seen come across my newsreader (NNW natch) in the last twenty four hours. I think that this is typical Microsoft. Announce really early, too early, and announce with ridiculous statements. A fifty dollar music player with iPod level storage and features? Not possible. It’s a typical tactic to cast doubts and fear on the marketplace. Good old MSFT, we can always count on her for the same tactics. Prediction: Their music service will suck ass. Their players will suck too, or at least not be as good as the iPod. They will lose tons of money trying to establish themselves, and attempt to leverage Windows to get more traction. In the end, they won’t be successful for the same reasons that Apple won’t. The labels control the industry, and they won’t let some distributor, no matter how big the company is, into their little piece of turf.

Update: Well, it turns out that the gentleman from Microsoft was misquoted. Well, I apologize for assuming the worst about Microsoft, I was wrong.