The next iPod will run OS X?

It's still rumor (and Apple is famous for keeping it that way for as long as possible), but it has been reported that the next version of the iPod will be based on Mac OS X. Given that the iPhone already runs on Mac OS X, however - a sure sign that they have figured out how to do it - I should think that the move is all but guaranteed. Why divide your development efforts when you can base it all on the same platform that is used in both the iPhone and your desktop computer products?

I know I'm a Microsoft employee and am not supposed to approve of the sensible business decisions of a fierce competitor (one that grows more fierce every day), but come on, you'd have to be very, very, very stupid to think this was a bad move. One platform, one set of drivers, one set of developer interfaces...the Mac universe is starting to look rather platform-like. What are the odds of desktop Windows making a similar lateral move into devices?

In other news, a decision on Microsoft's appeal of the EU's antitrust decision is set for September 17. Though I know that the decision is unlikely to take into account current events, I find it very hard to believe that anyone still believes that Microsoft is a large, unassailable monopoly. Instances of competitors beating Microsoft to the punch occur almost daily, and I bet every reader of this blog could rattle off 10 of them without giving it much thought.

It has always been my contention that large and dominant companies have enough inefficiencies that there is ALWAYS plenty of room for competitors to beat them...provided those competitors make smart business decisions. I think that fact should be obvious in 2007, even if it was less obvious in the late 1990s.

Apple is proof that you can compete with Microsoft.