They have a good point, but seriously beating iTunes isn't exactly hard. QuickTime has been the most pain in the ass media player on the PC for a long time, it was even worse than Real for a long time. I mean Real is full of crap that slows down your computer, but QuickTime used to be outright slow. Apple has certainly improved, but I don't see iTunes as much more than a well written library program with an MP3 playe…
Let me just pick off one statement, since I don't have hours..
'If I had the money I could easily build and design a better, sleeker MP3 player than Apple'.
Wow. Amazing that the market has misjudged your value to such a high degree. What is a fellow like yourself doing wasting his time saying 'I could' on HN, when you could be fending off starry-eyed investors held in thrall by your unblemished track record for leading the development of jewel-like portable electronics?
Sarcasm aside, have you ever designed a consumer electronics device? I doubt it.
But perhaps I've misjudged. Feel free to prove me wrong with:
Detailed renderings of your design. And by design, I don't mean an Apple fanboy rumor mockup - it should be something than can be manufactured in a price-competitive way.
A UI design that works better than the iPod.
Your design for an iTunes equivalent.
Schematic for the embedded electronics, providing better battery life in a small package. Provide plots for battery characterization (charging, discharging) for your prototype.
The user input device should be more intuitive than Apples', and not infringe on existing patents.
Demonstrable ability to hire, build and manage a team that can engineer the above.
Build the back end for the music distribution service. Make sure it scales to the zillions of users you'll surely attract.
Negotiate good pricing with various labels.
Build a payment system for music.
Select and manage contract manufacturing, negotiate the contracts, and keep breathing down their necks.
Predict demand and order accordingly. Make sure to corner the market on FLASH chips so that you wield a price advantage.
Last, but certainly not even close to least, market it.
I've probably missed a bunch of stuff (shock testing for one).
Perhaps you'll respond with: 'I was just talking about the device itself, not all that other stuff'. To which I would say, the 'other stuff' is just as important as the device. Unless you define market success as having a single prototype of a shiny piece of hardware that no one wants.
Even that takes a lot of skill, talent and hard work.