It seems Apple has learned something from Microsoft: how an inferior product can still crush the competition.

When Windows and Apple computers first began to find their way into homes, Apple made some key mistakes opening the door for Microsoft to leverage inferior software on inferior hardware to then dominate the personal computing market. Yes, Apple may have priced themselves out of the market for many, but that wasn’t the nail in their market share coffin: poor marketing and business decisions were.

The product that changed Apple, changed Microsoft, and, arguably, changed the world: the iPod.

MP3 players weren’t new when Apple decided to take a run at the market in 2001, but the fusion of hardware, operating system and and later, the online music store was the level of innovation Apple has been known for since first attaching that weird ‘mouse’ device to their computers that IBM PCs scoffed at just before universally adopting them.

The iPod brought Apple back into the limelight as an innovator and Apple has been on top of that wave ever since.

In 2005, Microsoft decides to take a run at both the iPod and iTunes with their Zune hardware and online store.

In many respects, I would agree that the Zune was a far better product than the classic iPod (to compare like products). The wireless synch and built in FM tuner were great ideas, but Microsoft was very late to market, which gave them plenty of time to build a better product, but was never able to overcome the pure marketing presence of Apple’s iPod and iTunes by that time. Nevertheless, the giant persevered until their 2% market share became a glaring eyesore in their bottom line.

Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has finally decided to put an official end to its Zune media player line. “A person familiar with the decision” has informed them that Microsoft will not be putting out any new hardware in the line, and will be henceforward focusing on integrating Zune functionality with the Windows Phone 7 platform.Not exactly unexpected; the Zune hardware hasn’t changed since mid-2009′s release of the Zune HD, although it has received several significant software upgrades. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but whether Microsoft would double down again or cut their losses was far from clear. Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane.

via R.I.P. Microsoft Zune, 2006-2011.Bloomberg

Hate to say I told you so.

Not having learned much from that lesson, Microsoft is now trying to take on the iPhone. Perhaps that’s not a fair comparison since Microsoft had a mobile phone operating system out long before  Apple got into the game, but it seems pretty obvious that Microsofts real competitor with the Windows 7 phone is the iPhone.

Once again, late to market, Microsoft decides to take on what has become a giant in the mobile phone segment. Microsoft takes a good step forward by not trying to be an iOS knockoff, but rather delivers a very attractive, intuitive interface more suited to the efficient delivery of information and content. Given their late entry into the market time, Microsoft certainly had time to improve on the iPhone as an offering and I assumed they would bring a competitive if not superior product to market as they arguably had with the Zune.

Not so much.

As I first wrote here, I was long a dedicated Windows Mobile user. Nothing out there gave me the functionality that a Windows Mobile phone gave me and I carried around some ridiculously large ‘phones’ to have that toolbox. I was initially very curious about the new Windows OS phone and then utterly appalled that Microsoft would ship this device devoid of the same functionality the world had ridiculed Apple for leaving out of the initial iPhone iOS. Bravo!

Galen Gruman at pcworld.com wrote an article entitled “Windows Phone 7: Microsoft’s Disaster”; he is clearly not a fan. Mr. Gruman recognizes the potential squandered by Microsoft as I do, but takes an even dimmer view of the functionality delivered.

You know how in monster movies, the lumbering creature always manages to outrun the frantically running victim? That seems to be Microsoft’s hope in competing with Apple: Despite a late start and slow development, it will crush the iPhone out of sheer size. Microsoft’s creature of choice is Windows Phone 7, available on devices from Samsung, LG, and HTC.

In a twist on the monster metaphor, the competition is not between beauty and beast. Windows Phone 7 has a very elegant user interface that is nearly as beautiful and intuitive as what Apple produces. The competition is really between capabilities, of which the iPhone has many and Windows Phone 7 has fewer.

Read the entire post here.

InfoWorld

Microsoft will still sell units since it does appeal to those who would rather slit their own throat than approve of, let alone buy, an Apple device, but with Android a clear contender in the smartphone category, having only one leg isn’t much help in running a competitive race.