by , 12:50 PM EST, February 2nd, 2005

Apple's iPod is infecting every corner of the world including, to Microsoft's dismay, its own corporate campus.

"About 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a portable music player have an iPod," one high-level manager who asked to remain anonymous told Wired "It's pretty staggering."

That translates into about 16,000 iPods on Microsoft's Redmond, WA campus that's home to 25,000 employees. In an after to curtail the white headphone trend, Microsoft executives have taken to sending out memos frowning on iPod use. After hearing the nearby Apple retail store was selling out of hundreds of iPods regularly, Dave Fester, general manager of the Windows Digital Media division, sent a note to the group saying "I sure hope Microsoft employees are not buying iPods. We have great alternatives. Check out http://experiencemore."

Many employees have taken to hiding their iPod use by swapping out the white headphones for a pair of third-party black ones, although workers in the Macintosh Business Unit proudly tote their iPods with them.

"These guys are really quite scared," said the source of Microsoft's management. "It shows how their backs are against the wall.... Even though it's Microsoft, no one is interested in what we have to offer, even our own employees."