Michael Roberston有過害怕的時候麼？企業家，作為一個職業或者一個幸運兒，他一直在和巨人們在做艱難的斗爭，但是想想看，他已經實現了他的部分價值：預測了Apple公司手持音樂設備壟斷地位將被打破；試圖將開源軟件嫁接到專利軟件上的舉動，還有近來對微軟公司推出的手持設備Zune的诟病，這些都曾經令業界人士大為驚歎。
但是你要注意，這個家伙總是能夠在風雲際會的時候全身而退。2000年的時候，他第一次的創業公司MP3.com被告上法庭，以為他允許用戶上傳和共享MP3文件，這使得的他最終放棄了這家公司，但是為他帶來的是3.7億美金的收入，另外加上不菲的分紅。最為重要的是他逃脫了法律的糾紛。
第二次創業，他選擇的對手是微軟公司，他發行了名字為Lindows的Linux發行版，一徹頭徹尾的Windows桌面系統，不過內核是Linux的。雖然當時無論來自Linux社區還是Windows社區的開發人員和使用者，都對這個不倫不類的怪物系統感到好笑。但是他的目的達成了，以為Lindows和微軟的產品搭上了邊。最後和微軟在法庭又是一陣唇槍舌戰，之後就是雙方妥協，Lindows改名，微軟支付給Robertson先生2000萬美金，這一次，他又名利雙收。
最近，Robertson先生重裝上陣，推出了MP3tunes，目標就是Apple公司的iTunews在線音樂商店，在和微軟干架之後，Linspire的市場動作更是具有侵略性，價格大跌，外加開放CNR服務(在線點擊升級服務)免費。不光這些響當當的大公司被他搞的沒脾氣，他現在又盯上了另外一個行業，那就是電信行業，因為他正在推出他的新產品SIPphone。
下面是對Robertson先生的采訪實錄：
Q: Let’s talk about Linux—what’s the thinking behind your open-source startup, Linspire?
A: Desktop Linux hasn’t really moved to mainstream yet. I personally have invested tens of millions of dollars in moving it in that direction, because I think it’s critical for the computing industry…
Q: And you have a novel approach even within the Linux community in that, you do incorporate some proprietary code to help improve the multimedia experience for users. Some have argued that might violate the spirit of free and open software. Do some people in the open-source community need to loosen up?
A: I think without question if you want to go mainstream you have to recognize that people want to watch Flash movies or play MP3 tracks or Windows Media Tracks; you have to see that and if you don’t, you’re simply hurting yourself. The purists have really protested any sort of mainstreaming of Linux, and because of that, you can’t walk in to the average computer store today and buy a Linux laptop. We’ve had five or 10 years of doing it the purist way, and now I think it’s time to combine the power of open source with proprietary code, because [it] simply is fundamentally core to the Internet experience.
Q: Open-source guru Eric Raymond tells us he spoke to Kevin Carmony about some kind of project. He was a little mysterious; what can you tell us?
A: Well, I think Eric has that same pragmatic view that we have: that unless you can make Flash and Windows Media and MP3 play on Linux, if you can’t do that, the Linux is a second-class citizen and it will never get widespread adoption. And so that leads to the question: how do you make Flash, MP3, Quick Time, how do you make it work on any Linux computer? I think if you answer that question, you really increase the likelihood of Linux becoming mainstream. Eric has visited us, and we’ve shared some ideas, and hopefully some products offerings will come out of that.
Q: And so we’ve got to ask you, you’ve recently made CNR–your software update service for Linspire–free. If I’m an Ubuntu user, am I going to be able use this in order to fill up my machine with capabilities like the ability to do DVD playback, Flash, Quicktime? Is that a possibility?
A: If you’ve ever tried to install software on Linux, [you know] it’s really difficult. There’s no easy installer, like an XP user would be used to, and Click and Run goes beyond that, right? One click and everything is downloaded and installed, icons on the desktop, etc. So, absolutely, I think that’s something that makes a lot of sense and so we’re definitely looking at something like that.
Q: And that might be what Eric Raymond was hinting that he was excited about, the ability to have a pipe that could move some of those capabilities into the broader Linux community.
A: I think so, yes.
Q: Let’s talk about another big industry; let’s talk about the phone industry and SIPphone. Tell me about where you want to go with that and if there are any kinds of links between that and a Linux and what you’re doing with music.
A: Well, I called the company SIPphone… SIP is to Voice over IP what MP3 is to music. It’s a way that everything can work seamlessly together… SIP [Session Initiation Protocol] is about empowering consumers. I don’t like it that Verizon controls my phone number, I want to control my phone number, I want to be able to answer it on a Wi-Fi tablet like the Nokia 770—or I want to answer it on my Dell notebook from a hot spot in a caféin Paris. And the way I think we get to that world is making sure that all of these voice devices work together. And the only way that happens is if you use an open standard like SIP.
Q: What about Skype?
A: I admire what Skype has done in bringing PC voice to the masses, but Skype is simply an Apple; it’s a monopoly, you know. Skype is the Apple II phenomena. It will eventually go away, they’ll be overrun by the open systems like SIP.
Q: So you think then because its not as open as you would argue it should be, Apple’s time as an effective monopoly will be short?
A: Oh, of course, there’s no question about it. We’ve seen this movie with the Macintosh. I started my technical career as a Macintosh consultant, and I admire a lot of what Apple’s done, but we’ve seen this movie. “Closed” technology will eventually lose to open technology even if it’s inferior. There is no question Apple makes the best MP3 player today. Will they make the best music phone? No way. Will they make the best DVR [digital video recorder] with music features? No way. Will they make the best Wi-Fi device? Probably not. They don’t have any Wi-Fi experience. So, they’ll potentially get overrun in the same way that the original Mac, which created the PC industry, was overrun as well. Now it may take a while, because Apple does have a significant lead, but things change very quickly in the technology world, quicker than I think a lot of people anticipate.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about that, about your take on iTunes.
A: I want to be the one to choose where my music plays, and I think for that world, the only way that it can happen is if your music lives online, so that can be digitally wrapped to all of these locations, number one. Number two: that we have format that is capable of playing on a lot of different places… or at least a technology; it needs to be able to convert it to play in all devices, and number three: it has to be wrapped in an open API, a language where any device can talk to your music locker. And when you look at what Apple is doing, Apple’s doing the opposite of each one of those.
Q: So what are you trying to do with MP3tunes?
A: It’s a not-so-secret strategy that I have. I want to store the world’s music. Because if I can store the music locker for millions of people, then every hardware device manufacturer out there is going to want to make their device talk to an MP3tunes locker, and we’ve made that possible by publishing an API [application programming interface]… and if I do that, I think I can pull the music industry towards an open system that works seamlessly across any device.
Q: Is Universal’s announcement that they’re going to offer a music system free and ad-supported, a step toward that vision?
A: Well, no, because they’re still wrapping everything with DRM [digital rights management] and when you wrap something in DRM, that’s not productive because, what you are basically doing is, thinking this music is only going to work on a small slice of devices, and furthermore, one company is going to control what that device list is. So, if it’s Windows media DRM, then Microsoft kind of controls what devices will play; if it’s Apple, then AAC [advanced audio coding] stuff, then obviously Apple is going to control that. … Now, the more ways that people can “buy” music, the better, and viewing ads all on radio is a proven model, but it doesn’t get you to that universal playability of music.
Q: You are not afraid to mix it up with the music industry. Do you expect any more legal tussles with them or do you think you’ve got a solution that’s going to help you avoid a replay of that?
A: Well, it should be noted that I have tangled with the music industry and I lost…
Q: Yes.
A: I think that I shouldn’t sugarcoat that; I lost…
Q: So have a lot of people…
A: …and paid many tens of millions of dollars in court-awarded or settlement damages. So, my record there is not good. Having said that, at the end of the day, while they were in court saying, I was this terrible guy and didn’t respect the law―none of which was true by the way―they bought my company and then they made me wealthy and gave me the ability to pursue other things, like this new thing.
Q: Indeed.
A: So hopefully, I’m wiser and in a better legal position than I was with the original MP3.com.
Q: So the common theme here is, you’re using open standards to pry open big industries, whether it’s desktop computing, whether it’s telephony, whether it’s digital music.
A: Exactly… open standards ultimately gives people the most choices, the lowest cost; eventually it will give them the highest innovation, and so… I’m betting on the collective wisdom of the voice world using SIP, or [that] the music world using MP3 will ultimately overrun any one company.
Q: You’ve gone to court with both Microsoft and the music industry. So what kind of fight would you be afraid of?
A: I probably wouldn’t want to go up against, like the Department of Justice, because they can put you in jail [laughter]. I don’t want to go to jail. It’s one thing to get penalized money. It’s at a whole different level when you could go to jail.
Q: So, monopoly is not your end game?
A: Yeah, right.
Q: What are the odds, then, that one of those partners for your MP3Tunes venture will include your friends at Microsoft, with their upcoming Zune device?
A: The Zune is going to be stillborn. I think it’s going to be a disaster and I think it’s not going to be the open Wi-Fi device that would really be able to fundamentally challenge Apple’s iPod by taking music to the next level. That next level is, I’m listening to music that I like, I should click one button on a web site, it should immediately be on my player. That’s what should happen.
It’s not going to happen with the Zune; it’s going to be a closed architecture. You’ll not be able to load tracks directly from online. You might be able to stream them from another device, but then who cares? I think it’s going to be an utter disaster and failure.
