Gates believes that for iPod the end is near

Gates has launched Windows Mobile 5, an operating system Microsoft has a lot of high hopes for.

By now, this information is no longer news. What's really news is that the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has interviewed Microsoft's leader about the meaning of the new release and about Gates's vision on Windows Mobile 5.0.

The interview's main subject was the new operating system and its performances, but things became really interesting in the domain of digital music, where Apple is the indisputable leader.

Gates has once again stated that iPod's success was a big surprise for him, and if he had been asked what the most successful device in the domain will be, he would have gone with the cell phone.

Obviously the German journalist didn't miss the opportunity to ask Gates if his statement should be interpreted as a prediction that Apple's success is about to end.

His response was: �As good as Apple may be, I don't believe the success of the iPod is sustainable in the long run. You can make parallels with computers: Apple was very strong in this field before, with its Macintosh and its graphics user interface -- like the iPod today -- and then lost its position".

Considering that Apple owns 70% of the music market, and has just launched 4 new markets in Europe and has sold 500 million songs, we would rather not comment on Bill Gates's statement. We prefer letting the iPod users express their opinions.