NEW YORK: Apple Computer Inc. is not worried over the threat posed by Microsoft Corp.'s digital music player Zune, chief executive Steve Jobs has said in a magazine interview.
Jobs told the Newsweek magazine he is unimpressed with Zune, touted by the software maker as answer to Apple's versatile iPod, as "It takes forever... By the time you've gone through all that, the girl's got up and left!"
He was also unconcerned about Zune's ability to share music wirelessly.
Jobs highlighted the change that iPod brought about in the attitude of people saying music will always be the core even as iPod and iTunes are evolving. He said, "It's hard to imagine that music is not the epicenter of the iPod, for a long, long, long, long, long time ... Music is so deep within all of us, but it's easy to go for a day or a week or a month or a year without really listening to music. And the iPod has changed that for tens of millions of people, and that makes me really happy, because I think music is good for the soul."
He said iPod will not lose its cache because it is too popular. "That's like saying you don't want to kiss your lover's lips because everyone has lips. It doesn't make any sense," he told the magazine.
Giving the interview as iPod is celebrating its fifth anniversary, Jobs said Apple does not strive to appear cool. "We just try to make the best products we can. And if they are cool, well, that's great."
The Apple CEO also explained how he convinced music companies to offer their songs on iTunes and not to raise prices. "Our core initial strategy on the store was that if you want to stop piracy, the way to top it is by competing with it, by offering a better product at a fair price. And it worked."
