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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

HP/Apple deal is a blockbuster

I've criticized the HP/Apple deal, and for good reason: How HP is going to get Apple's proprietary Protected AAC format working with its innumerable PCs, set-top boxes, iPAQs, and other devices is a great unknown at this moment. But let's face reality for a second: This deal is HUGE, and Carly Fiorina is, as one Microsoftie put it recently, a rock star. Here are some good reports about the HP/Apple deal:

Apple press release: "Working to provide consumers with the most compelling digital content whenever and wherever they desire, HP and Apple today announced a strategic alliance to deliver an HP-branded digital music player based on Apple’s iPod, the number one digital music player in the world, and Apple’s award-winning iTunes digital music jukebox and pioneering online music store to HP's customers."

The New York Times: "The agreement - which was completed only after an extensive bargaining session that ran long into Wednesday night between Carleton S. Fiorina, Hewlett's chief executive, and Apple's Steven P. Jobs - represents a significant departure for both companies. For the first time, Mr. Jobs has stepped away from the self-enclosed Apple-only strategy he has pursued since he returned to run the company in 1997."

BBC: "The agreement marks a change for Apple which has formerly been reluctant to licence its technology ... In the past Apple has jealously guarded its technology and resisted the temptation to let others make computers based on its hardware."

[ Posted at 8:59 PM | Permalink ]