In a three-page article entitled “Gates vs. Jobs: The Rematch,” Saul Hansell of the New York Times looks at Apple’s digital music dominance and how Microsoft and others are aiming to take over the No. 1 position. “[The iPod] dominates its market in a way that no Apple product has done in a generation, raising the possibility that the company is becoming more than just a purveyor of computers with high design and low market share.
Read MoreThe Wall Street Journal reports [paid sub. required] that Apple today slammed Microsoft’s new MSN Music service as “missing many features” and reiterated that its iTunes Music Store is by far the No.1 service. Apple noted that the iTMS has so far sold 125 million songs to Microsoft’s zero, and said that users of the MSN store face the disadvantage of not being able to play the songs on an iPod.
Read MoreBillboard reports: “The music industry is pushing bitter technology rivals—most notably Microsoft and Apple—to shake hands in the interest of promoting digital downloads. Hardware makers and digital format developers, including many traditional adversaries, are engaged in private talks aimed at meeting the music industry’s goal of compatibility among competing digital music devices by 2005…
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