One of Samsung’s staff has come out to say that they are not much concerned with the appearance of an ‘iTV’ from Apple.
Now if I think back to the comments from ‘the industry’ prior to Apple delivering the iPhone they weren’t too different.
Things like, “they don’t understand the market sector’, or, ‘their phone is too expensive’, or, ‘we have better battery life’, and so on.
Now Samsung swings into action with their AV product manager saying that TV sales are driven by picture quality and that Samsung can’t be touched in that respect.
He said “TVs are ultimately about picture quality. Ultimately. How smart they are…great, but lets face it that’s a secondary consideration.”
I dunno, if there’s a TV on the market that lets me access my media content by voice control as well as giving me a consistent interface across my phone, tablet and so on with a good picture quality…I’ll consider it.
Here’s the thing. Go to one of Gerry Harvey’s “yell and sell” palaces and you’ll see a wall full of TV’s and the picture quality varies wildly. In fact you’ll find that the staff adjust brightness and contrast to benefit whatever they’re trying to shift. I’ve seen it.
I’ve had the staff adjust all the setting to be the same on several TV’s I’ve been looking at and found that the nicest suddenly became ‘not so nice’.
I’m not saying that Apple will dominate the market, but, Chris Mosely from Samsung should acquaint himself with the word hubris, just like Monkey Boy did after his comments in the video above.
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
More about PC Sales
Just following on from my last entry.
According to this piece in The Register:
Apple was the only major computer maker to increase its shipments into the UK PC market during the final three months of 2011.
The article was quoting figures from Gartner that excluded iPad sales, despite that Apple showed a growth in shipments of 17.2% when comparing Q4 2010 to Q4 2011.
Comparatively HP dropped 27%, Dell dropped 32.2%, Acer lost 62.4% and Toshiba lost 5.4%.
The big question is if this is being driven by:
According to this piece in The Register:
Apple was the only major computer maker to increase its shipments into the UK PC market during the final three months of 2011.
The article was quoting figures from Gartner that excluded iPad sales, despite that Apple showed a growth in shipments of 17.2% when comparing Q4 2010 to Q4 2011.
Comparatively HP dropped 27%, Dell dropped 32.2%, Acer lost 62.4% and Toshiba lost 5.4%.
The big question is if this is being driven by:
- Everyone wants a Mac because Windows is so yesterday.
- Everyone is waiting for Ultrabooks running Windows.
- Everyone has decided to skip Windows 7 and wait for Windows 8.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Apple in the Workplace
I recently heard about a company that was moving away from their Mac environment to a Windows based environment. Their IT staff argued against the idea but the CFO argued it was what all corporates are doing. The Board of this public company committed to spending several hundred thousand dollars to change platforms, but, without a single functional improvement, just a platform shift.
It turns out that the bean counter was wrong and the IT staff were right.
This article from the Sydney Morning Herald Cracks appear in Windows’ corporate dominance seems to bear out what the average person is seeing - Apple gear everywhere
The most interesting section of the article was:
Microsoft has traditionally dominated the corporate workplace and more than 85 per cent of corporate computers still run some version of Windows software. But products based on Apple operating systems - including Macintosh computers, iPads and iPhones - are increasing in demand.
Apple declined to comment on its hiring moves. But Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett said a rash of recent job ads by Apple is “strong evidence that Apple is responding to the demands of companies for a direct, formal relationship” with the company rather than buying products from the Apple Store.
The growing appetite for Apple products in the workplace underscores the changing nature of the corporate market. Workers want lighter laptops, tablet computers with longer-lasting batteries and smartphones with apps in the office environment. And information technology departments and buyers are listening.
Last year, 46 per cent of companies in North America and Europe issued Macs to employees, according to a survey from Forrester Research.
More importantly the demographics were telling:
Younger workers and those near or at the top of the corporate ladder were more likely to use Apple products in the office, according to the survey. Forty-one per cent of Apple users were directors, 43 per cent earned more than $US150,000 a year, and 28 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 24.
In other words the future decision makers were packing Cupertino hardware as were company directors and corporate professionals.
This doesn’t bode at all well for Microsoft and their Windows platform.
In Australia the Commonwealth Bank has made the decision to jump platform from Dell to Apple for their laptops.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the current and future decision makers is being fought right now and Ballmer and his crew of happy Microsofties are not doing too well.
It turns out that the bean counter was wrong and the IT staff were right.
This article from the Sydney Morning Herald Cracks appear in Windows’ corporate dominance seems to bear out what the average person is seeing - Apple gear everywhere
The most interesting section of the article was:
Microsoft has traditionally dominated the corporate workplace and more than 85 per cent of corporate computers still run some version of Windows software. But products based on Apple operating systems - including Macintosh computers, iPads and iPhones - are increasing in demand.
Apple declined to comment on its hiring moves. But Forrester Research analyst Frank Gillett said a rash of recent job ads by Apple is “strong evidence that Apple is responding to the demands of companies for a direct, formal relationship” with the company rather than buying products from the Apple Store.
The growing appetite for Apple products in the workplace underscores the changing nature of the corporate market. Workers want lighter laptops, tablet computers with longer-lasting batteries and smartphones with apps in the office environment. And information technology departments and buyers are listening.
Last year, 46 per cent of companies in North America and Europe issued Macs to employees, according to a survey from Forrester Research.
More importantly the demographics were telling:
Younger workers and those near or at the top of the corporate ladder were more likely to use Apple products in the office, according to the survey. Forty-one per cent of Apple users were directors, 43 per cent earned more than $US150,000 a year, and 28 per cent were between the ages of 18 and 24.
In other words the future decision makers were packing Cupertino hardware as were company directors and corporate professionals.
This doesn’t bode at all well for Microsoft and their Windows platform.
In Australia the Commonwealth Bank has made the decision to jump platform from Dell to Apple for their laptops.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the current and future decision makers is being fought right now and Ballmer and his crew of happy Microsofties are not doing too well.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Stallman eulogises Jobs
Richard Stallman has jumped the shark!
I came across this article the other day Stallman blasted over Jobs eulogy.
Here is what Richard Stallman said in his blog post:
Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died.
As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing.
Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.
This post is a great example of whats wrong with the Open Software movement. Its out of line and ignores the realities of the world for a narrow point of view.
Most of the world doesn’t see the Apple ‘ecosystem’ as a ‘jail’, they see it as a solution to their problems.
Android is great but after living with a Samsung Galaxy SII for a while I have to admit that Android for all its promise is fundamentally flawed.
To make it work I need to play with it, software doesn’t always work from model to model, the bluetooth pairing with my car is patchy, most time it works - sometimes it doesn’t - when it doesn’t its a major pain and the voice command system isn’t great.
On the other hand the iPhone just works. I’ve had no trouble with stuff working as I expect, the bluetooth pairing is rock solid, the voice command system works, including with my car’s bluetooth which the Samsung doesn’t want to use.
If the Apple jail is all about making the technology accessible, and as easy to use as a toaster, you know what, great! Lets have more of it because most people don’t want to fuck with technology just to make a phone call from their car, get music moved from their computer to their portable player and so on.
99% of the planet just want it to work without any screwing around.
Its not a jail, its giving people what they want. They just want it to work.
This is something the Open Source movement needs to take to heart. If you want to become more than just a geek paradise, if you want to change the world, you need to solve people’s problems, not give them new ones.
I came across this article the other day Stallman blasted over Jobs eulogy.
Here is what Richard Stallman said in his blog post:
Steve Jobs, the pioneer of the computer as a jail made cool, designed to sever fools from their freedom, has died.
As Chicago Mayor Harold Washington said of the corrupt former Mayor Daley, "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone." Nobody deserves to have to die - not Jobs, not Mr. Bill, not even people guilty of bigger evils than theirs. But we all deserve the end of Jobs' malign influence on people's computing.
Unfortunately, that influence continues despite his absence. We can only hope his successors, as they attempt to carry on his legacy, will be less effective.
This post is a great example of whats wrong with the Open Software movement. Its out of line and ignores the realities of the world for a narrow point of view.
Most of the world doesn’t see the Apple ‘ecosystem’ as a ‘jail’, they see it as a solution to their problems.
Android is great but after living with a Samsung Galaxy SII for a while I have to admit that Android for all its promise is fundamentally flawed.
To make it work I need to play with it, software doesn’t always work from model to model, the bluetooth pairing with my car is patchy, most time it works - sometimes it doesn’t - when it doesn’t its a major pain and the voice command system isn’t great.
On the other hand the iPhone just works. I’ve had no trouble with stuff working as I expect, the bluetooth pairing is rock solid, the voice command system works, including with my car’s bluetooth which the Samsung doesn’t want to use.
If the Apple jail is all about making the technology accessible, and as easy to use as a toaster, you know what, great! Lets have more of it because most people don’t want to fuck with technology just to make a phone call from their car, get music moved from their computer to their portable player and so on.
99% of the planet just want it to work without any screwing around.
Its not a jail, its giving people what they want. They just want it to work.
This is something the Open Source movement needs to take to heart. If you want to become more than just a geek paradise, if you want to change the world, you need to solve people’s problems, not give them new ones.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The iPhone 4S is a disappointment?
So the Apple iPhone 4S was a ‘disappointment’?
According to this press release iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Top One Million in First 24 Hours I’d have to question that sentiment.
So if this is a disappointment all I have to ask the financial auguries is what the hell constitutes a success? Given the track record of the financial ‘industry’ of late I’d have to say that the disappointment sits with them.
Apple moved a million units in 24 hours! That is an astounding figure.
God help the competition if, according to the genius financial analysts, Apple exceeds their expectations with the next iteration of the iPhone.
According to this press release iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Top One Million in First 24 Hours I’d have to question that sentiment.
So if this is a disappointment all I have to ask the financial auguries is what the hell constitutes a success? Given the track record of the financial ‘industry’ of late I’d have to say that the disappointment sits with them.
Apple moved a million units in 24 hours! That is an astounding figure.
God help the competition if, according to the genius financial analysts, Apple exceeds their expectations with the next iteration of the iPhone.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Steve Jobs
To my mind there are two things that defined Steve Jobs for me and they are best exemplified by, firstly, his pitch to hire John Scully
“Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?”
and the Think Different campaign that was launched after he returned to Apple
“Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?”
and the Think Different campaign that was launched after he returned to Apple
You did change the world.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
I want my iPhone 5!!!
From the reaction you’d expect that Apple has just run over a litter of newly born puppies.
The iPhone 4S? They all cry, where’s the iPhone 5 I’ve been reading about in the press and tech blogs? You know the one with the different form factor. The aluminium back. NFC payment facilities.
Lets see. The ones crying foul the loudest are those same tech blogs who have a barnyard full of eggs on their collective faces because their prized and carefully cultivated “highly placed source who cannot be named” turned out to be some putz with no idea and a big mouth.
The market analysts are also shocked and upset. “We were expecting an iPhone 5”, they all cry. “Oh dear God!” they exclaim.
"Our research notes have just been revealed for what they really are!"
The recorded ravings of a bunch of alcohol and fine food addled, overpaid, astrologers and carnival side-show hucksters.
The true worth of their highly priced research notes have just taken a dip in the order of the Greek economy.
To most users its an improvement in performance. Their collection of cases, accessories and suction cup vehicle mount thingies will all work with the new device saving the average consumer a small fortune in buying new stuff and the 4S will be available in even more carriers in the US.
Doesn’t sound like its too bad all in all if you're in the market for a new phone.
Anyway for all you bitter and twisted souls who want to rail and rant at the world to express your frustration at Apple destroying your lives because they didn’t deliver the iPhone 5 you wanted…too late…some has done it for you.
The iPhone 4S? They all cry, where’s the iPhone 5 I’ve been reading about in the press and tech blogs? You know the one with the different form factor. The aluminium back. NFC payment facilities.
Lets see. The ones crying foul the loudest are those same tech blogs who have a barnyard full of eggs on their collective faces because their prized and carefully cultivated “highly placed source who cannot be named” turned out to be some putz with no idea and a big mouth.
The market analysts are also shocked and upset. “We were expecting an iPhone 5”, they all cry. “Oh dear God!” they exclaim.
"Our research notes have just been revealed for what they really are!"
The recorded ravings of a bunch of alcohol and fine food addled, overpaid, astrologers and carnival side-show hucksters.
The true worth of their highly priced research notes have just taken a dip in the order of the Greek economy.
To most users its an improvement in performance. Their collection of cases, accessories and suction cup vehicle mount thingies will all work with the new device saving the average consumer a small fortune in buying new stuff and the 4S will be available in even more carriers in the US.
Doesn’t sound like its too bad all in all if you're in the market for a new phone.
Anyway for all you bitter and twisted souls who want to rail and rant at the world to express your frustration at Apple destroying your lives because they didn’t deliver the iPhone 5 you wanted…too late…some has done it for you.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Random Thoughts II
The PC is Dead! IBM says so.
I’ve been wondering, now that the tablet has become a mainstay in computing what’s the future for the PC as we know it?
IBM’s CTO says the PC has seen it day.
I wonder of this is really the case though? Will people really want to walk away from the box on the desk?
I’m not so sure this will come to pass as easily as some people might think.
Will Samsung buy webOS from HP.
This is an interesting rumour. Samsung are obviously not happy about the creation of Googorola. Add the lawsuits that are coming at them from Apple that have effectively halted sales of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab in different parts of the world - this may not be so far fetched.
Samsung said to be considering webOS acquisition from HP
Its not out of the realms of possibility.
A Torch, a torch, my kingdom for a torch!
Lately I’ve noticed a bit of a furore (tizz in a teacup really) about the fact that the latest version of the WinMoPho operating system, Mango, doesn’t have a native API to turn on the LED to use as a torch.
No real LED torch apps for Windows Phone 7 Mango
I dunno, it strikes me as a bit absurd that with everything else out there that may be interesting to talk about, the lack of an ability to turn your phone into a torch rates, nay demands, column inches.
White Light: Brings a LED Flashlight to non-HTC users running Mango
I never thought not being able to turn a complex piece of communications technology into an axe simple tool would cause such consternation.
Nokia makes Minority Report a sort of Reality
NFC technology scares me. Its not the tech so much, rather its the lack of consideration of the practical implications.
In the rush to be the first to bring NFC to market to grab “mindshare” security invariably gets overlooked.
Nokia: "From now on, all our products will have an NFC chip inside"
There’s lots of evidence that RFID chips can be skimmed from a distance. NFC chips are really just low power RFID chips that Nokia are so considerately putting into all of their doodads.
Makes feel feel all nice and safe knowing that Nokia, the company that so spectacularly gave away the mobile phone market due to blind arrogance has decided that they’re on top of all of this NFC/RFID security stuff.
I’ve been wondering, now that the tablet has become a mainstay in computing what’s the future for the PC as we know it?
IBM’s CTO says the PC has seen it day.
I wonder of this is really the case though? Will people really want to walk away from the box on the desk?
I’m not so sure this will come to pass as easily as some people might think.
Will Samsung buy webOS from HP.
This is an interesting rumour. Samsung are obviously not happy about the creation of Googorola. Add the lawsuits that are coming at them from Apple that have effectively halted sales of the Galaxy S II and the Galaxy Tab in different parts of the world - this may not be so far fetched.
Samsung said to be considering webOS acquisition from HP
Its not out of the realms of possibility.
A Torch, a torch, my kingdom for a torch!
Lately I’ve noticed a bit of a furore (tizz in a teacup really) about the fact that the latest version of the WinMoPho operating system, Mango, doesn’t have a native API to turn on the LED to use as a torch.
No real LED torch apps for Windows Phone 7 Mango
I dunno, it strikes me as a bit absurd that with everything else out there that may be interesting to talk about, the lack of an ability to turn your phone into a torch rates, nay demands, column inches.
White Light: Brings a LED Flashlight to non-HTC users running Mango
I never thought not being able to turn a complex piece of communications technology into an axe simple tool would cause such consternation.
Nokia makes Minority Report a sort of Reality
NFC technology scares me. Its not the tech so much, rather its the lack of consideration of the practical implications.
In the rush to be the first to bring NFC to market to grab “mindshare” security invariably gets overlooked.
Nokia: "From now on, all our products will have an NFC chip inside"
There’s lots of evidence that RFID chips can be skimmed from a distance. NFC chips are really just low power RFID chips that Nokia are so considerately putting into all of their doodads.
Makes feel feel all nice and safe knowing that Nokia, the company that so spectacularly gave away the mobile phone market due to blind arrogance has decided that they’re on top of all of this NFC/RFID security stuff.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Its Finally Finished…almost
I stumbled across an article on the Time online website recently entitled It Just Doesn’t Work: Why New Tech Products Are Increasingly Unsatisfying. It struck a chord with me because I’ve seen so much of technology delivered to market that was so obviously ‘half-baked’.
In the drive to get ‘mindshare’ products are being released to market in ever more rapid cycles. The tech just doesn’t have enough time to get fully baked.
The thing is the tech companies know that most ‘early adopters’ (read: unknowing beta testers) will find ways to justify the quirky behaviour of their shiny new toy even though most people would call it a piece of shit and return the unfinished mess to the manufacturer vowing never to buy another one of their products. Ever.
Its been an axiom of the tech industry that you never buy a product from Microsoft until it gets to Version 3 because the earlier ones just suck.
The article quotes a leaked email from HP’s Jon Rubenstein talking about the, now freshly buried, TouchPad. The part that interested me was:
Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary – especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form - an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.
If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from the New York Times says “there are signs of greatness here.” (I’ve included links to David’s review and others below.) You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember…..it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
People don’t want to wait for ‘the next update’ they want it to work out of the box to the level of their expectations.
The TouchPad didn’t, neither did RIM’s Playbook or Vista or so many other technological balls ups.
Rubenstein also quotes some of the first reviews for Mac OS X in his e-mail:
"...overall the software is sluggish" "...there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last" "...it's just not making sense...."
It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X - a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.
Great pick up Jon!
That was 10 years ago.
Ten years ago people would accept stuff that won’t get out of the starting gate today.
You bet the farm on the expectation that people would patiently wait until you got it right while providing HP with another revenue stream. You lost.
In the drive to get ‘mindshare’ products are being released to market in ever more rapid cycles. The tech just doesn’t have enough time to get fully baked.
The thing is the tech companies know that most ‘early adopters’ (read: unknowing beta testers) will find ways to justify the quirky behaviour of their shiny new toy even though most people would call it a piece of shit and return the unfinished mess to the manufacturer vowing never to buy another one of their products. Ever.
Its been an axiom of the tech industry that you never buy a product from Microsoft until it gets to Version 3 because the earlier ones just suck.
The article quotes a leaked email from HP’s Jon Rubenstein talking about the, now freshly buried, TouchPad. The part that interested me was:
Today we bring the HP TouchPad and webOS 3.0 to the world. The HP team has achieved something extraordinary – especially when you consider that it’s been just one year since our work on the TouchPad began in earnest. Today also marks the start of a new era for HP as our vision for connected mobility begins to take form - an ecosystem of services, applications and devices connected seamlessly by webOS.
If you’ve seen the recent TouchPad reviews you know that the industry understands HP’s vision and sees the same potential in webOS as we do. David Pogue from the New York Times says “there are signs of greatness here.” (I’ve included links to David’s review and others below.) You’ve also seen that reviewers rightly note things we need to improve about the webOS experience. The good news is that most of the issues they cite are already known to us and will be addressed in short order by over-the-air software and app catalog updates. We still have work to do to make webOS the platform we know it can be, but remember…..it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
People don’t want to wait for ‘the next update’ they want it to work out of the box to the level of their expectations.
The TouchPad didn’t, neither did RIM’s Playbook or Vista or so many other technological balls ups.
Rubenstein also quotes some of the first reviews for Mac OS X in his e-mail:
"...overall the software is sluggish" "...there are no quality apps to use, so it won’t last" "...it's just not making sense...."
It’s hard to believe these statements described MacOS X - a platform that would go on to change the landscape of Silicon Valley in ways that no one could have imagined.
Great pick up Jon!
That was 10 years ago.
Ten years ago people would accept stuff that won’t get out of the starting gate today.
You bet the farm on the expectation that people would patiently wait until you got it right while providing HP with another revenue stream. You lost.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Will Apple Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory?
Since the return of Steve Jobs to Apple they’ve just gone from strength to strength with a few missteps along the way.
iMac
iPod
iPhone
iPad
iTunes
MacBook
MacBook Pro
MacBook Air
Apple Stores
the upcoming iCloud that we hope launches better than MobileMe
the App Store
That’s a lot of winners.
Now Apple is making inroads into the corporate market, the potential to become a massively dominant player is within their grasp.
Will they ‘screw the pooch’? Sad to say that a very possible scenario.
If you look at the recent launch of Final Cut Pro X you’d have to say that was pretty comprehensively screwed up. Apple managed to piss off a vast majority of editors with that one. I know they’re saying just wait for the updates and all will be good, but people don’t want to wait for the updates. They want it to be good when they get it.
That’s kind of like buying a Porsche and discovering that the wheels are on a boat from Outer Mongolia so you’ll just have to wait until they arrive and THEN everything will be really good. Promise.
The truth of the matter is that Apple do not, and appear to never have, understood the corporate market. Sure they understand it better than the Gnomes of Mountain View, but they don’t get it like Microsoft do.
I talked about this some time back in this old blog entry at Anthill. Apple just don’t seem to get corporate customers, but, there is a chance that this may change with the Commonwealth Bank deploying 4000 MacBook Air laptops to replace their fleet of Dell laptops.
If they don’t screw things up at the Commonwealth and they can learn about what corporates want, they might, just might, figure out how to crack this market sector.
That being said if anyone can screw up a deal like this its Apple.
iMac
iPod
iPhone
iPad
iTunes
MacBook
MacBook Pro
MacBook Air
Apple Stores
the upcoming iCloud that we hope launches better than MobileMe
the App Store
That’s a lot of winners.
Now Apple is making inroads into the corporate market, the potential to become a massively dominant player is within their grasp.
Will they ‘screw the pooch’? Sad to say that a very possible scenario.
If you look at the recent launch of Final Cut Pro X you’d have to say that was pretty comprehensively screwed up. Apple managed to piss off a vast majority of editors with that one. I know they’re saying just wait for the updates and all will be good, but people don’t want to wait for the updates. They want it to be good when they get it.
That’s kind of like buying a Porsche and discovering that the wheels are on a boat from Outer Mongolia so you’ll just have to wait until they arrive and THEN everything will be really good. Promise.
The truth of the matter is that Apple do not, and appear to never have, understood the corporate market. Sure they understand it better than the Gnomes of Mountain View, but they don’t get it like Microsoft do.
I talked about this some time back in this old blog entry at Anthill. Apple just don’t seem to get corporate customers, but, there is a chance that this may change with the Commonwealth Bank deploying 4000 MacBook Air laptops to replace their fleet of Dell laptops.
If they don’t screw things up at the Commonwealth and they can learn about what corporates want, they might, just might, figure out how to crack this market sector.
That being said if anyone can screw up a deal like this its Apple.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The best Tech Industry Analyst on the Planet.
Each morning people look to their inbox to read the latest piece of financial prognostication from the merchant bank employed augury.
With bated breath they wait to see what pearls of wisdom they’ve gleaned from reading the entrails of some dead animal, or the patterns of the clouds, flights of birds or even the alignment of the planets.
The readers of these inarticulate Nostradamus like ravings then trade their hard earned on the basis of these obscure prophecies. They also pay good money to get these ‘briefings’.
I’ve met the best Tech Industry Analyst on the planet. My 5 year old.
The other day I was in JB Hi-Fiand something struck me.
As I was walking through the computers I noticed that all the kids (and a lot of the adults) were happily playing with the iPads, iMacs and MacBooks. Most of the people in the store were also rocking an iPhone.
The Windows machines - and there were a lot of them (mostly from Dell) didn’t have a soul fiddling with them. JB Hi-Fi (at least at this store) were giving over about 20 meters of shelf space to these machines and I wasn’t seeing anyone show any interest.
In fact they had an Alienware laptop on display. I mean this is a rockstar of a gaming laptop with horsepower to spare, glowing lights, backlit keyboard, awesome performance and no one was giving it the time of day.
Now I don’t know how much Dell pay JB for the shelf space, if anything, but, I also noticed that JB had all Dell stock marked down. Still no one was buying, or even remotely interested.
Here’s why I’d be worried if I were Microsoft. All the kids, and I mean ALL the kids. Wanted to play with the Apple gear. They were waiting for a turn and I’ve seen this in other places too.
I remember many years back, kids would want to line up and play with Windows machines. Yeah. I know. Somebody’s going to talk about games and gaming. The demo XBox and Playstations weren’t being used either.
The kids wanted to play with the Apple gear. I even heard some kids complaining when their parents wanted to leave the store because they wanted to keep playing with the equipment.
If so many kids want to play with Apple equipment and not Windows - in a few years, when they’re making the buying decisions I think Microsoft will be in a pack of trouble.
They’re losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of buyers.
With bated breath they wait to see what pearls of wisdom they’ve gleaned from reading the entrails of some dead animal, or the patterns of the clouds, flights of birds or even the alignment of the planets.
The readers of these inarticulate Nostradamus like ravings then trade their hard earned on the basis of these obscure prophecies. They also pay good money to get these ‘briefings’.
I’ve met the best Tech Industry Analyst on the planet. My 5 year old.
The other day I was in JB Hi-Fiand something struck me.
As I was walking through the computers I noticed that all the kids (and a lot of the adults) were happily playing with the iPads, iMacs and MacBooks. Most of the people in the store were also rocking an iPhone.
The Windows machines - and there were a lot of them (mostly from Dell) didn’t have a soul fiddling with them. JB Hi-Fi (at least at this store) were giving over about 20 meters of shelf space to these machines and I wasn’t seeing anyone show any interest.
In fact they had an Alienware laptop on display. I mean this is a rockstar of a gaming laptop with horsepower to spare, glowing lights, backlit keyboard, awesome performance and no one was giving it the time of day.
Now I don’t know how much Dell pay JB for the shelf space, if anything, but, I also noticed that JB had all Dell stock marked down. Still no one was buying, or even remotely interested.
Here’s why I’d be worried if I were Microsoft. All the kids, and I mean ALL the kids. Wanted to play with the Apple gear. They were waiting for a turn and I’ve seen this in other places too.
I remember many years back, kids would want to line up and play with Windows machines. Yeah. I know. Somebody’s going to talk about games and gaming. The demo XBox and Playstations weren’t being used either.
The kids wanted to play with the Apple gear. I even heard some kids complaining when their parents wanted to leave the store because they wanted to keep playing with the equipment.
If so many kids want to play with Apple equipment and not Windows - in a few years, when they’re making the buying decisions I think Microsoft will be in a pack of trouble.
They’re losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of buyers.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
A Brisbane Board Meeting - Hooray!
The time had finally came. I flew up to Brisbane the day before the Board meeting.
I wanted to prepare. This was going to be an unhappy meeting for someone.
The day came and I got a cab over to their office. It was off Coronation Drive so the morning traffic was a struggle.
I arrived and went in. The Financial Controller was in my face almost from the moment I walked in. She wanted to know what I was going to tell the board.
I said “I’m going to give them my professional opinion on what I think is the best solution for this business”.
She was so arrogantly self-absorbed that she didn’t think for a moment that I might say something that wasn’t in agreement with her agenda.
We walked into the Boardroom and got introduced after a few minutes of pleasantries we sat down and the meeting started. The technology stuff was scheduled for the start so at least I didn’t have long to wait.
The man who started the company, I’ll call him Stavros, turned to me and said “What do you think of our new technology strategy?”
“I think its going to waste a lot of money and it won’t give you anything new or unique.”
The Financial Controller nearly burst her brain.
The Board was surprised.
“Look”, I said, “regardless of what you’ve been told, you will have to spend over $400,000 to execute this strategy and you will have no extra functionality. You’re spending that money just to replace everything with Windows machines. You won’t get anything extra to what you have now. You may have the money to throw at this, but, you can spend $400,000 on computers, or, you can spend $400,000 on something that’ll turn into profit.”
Everyone around the table thought about this for a moment.
The Financial Controller gave me the ‘look of death’. I think I was off her Christmas Card list for good.
She was about to launch into a tirade when she was cut off by Stavros. He asked me if using Windows everywhere was what all businesses did.
“A lot of business do. But its expensive. Let me explain.”
The Board nodded.
“A copy of Windows costs you around $350 for an upgrade. A copy of the Mac Operating System costs you $32.00 for an upgrade. You have about 150 computers and you will have to pay for at least one upgrade in the life of a piece of hardware. The maths is simple About $52,000 for Windows and $4,800 for the Mac OS. You’re putting $48,000 in Microsoft’s pocket for nothing really. The operating system doesn’t do anything except the computer to turn on and be ready to do something.”
Just then the Financial Controller jumped in and said, “But no one uses Mac’s in business except for graphics arts companies. We’re in a different business.”
I was about to answer when the Board member who wasn’t involved in the business said, “But the Commonwealth Bank has just gotten rid of 4000 Dell laptops and replaced them with Mac laptops. They’ve got the new branch in Queen Street and there’s lots of Apple equipment in there.”
The Financial Controller’s face turned the same colour as her lipstick…
Stavros turned to her and said that he wanted to see all her financial projections for this move to Windows including all the benefits. He asked me to have a look at them and report back to him.
This meant one more trip to Brisbane. It ended up being memorable.
I’ll tell you how this story finished soon.
I wanted to prepare. This was going to be an unhappy meeting for someone.
The day came and I got a cab over to their office. It was off Coronation Drive so the morning traffic was a struggle.
I arrived and went in. The Financial Controller was in my face almost from the moment I walked in. She wanted to know what I was going to tell the board.
I said “I’m going to give them my professional opinion on what I think is the best solution for this business”.
She was so arrogantly self-absorbed that she didn’t think for a moment that I might say something that wasn’t in agreement with her agenda.
We walked into the Boardroom and got introduced after a few minutes of pleasantries we sat down and the meeting started. The technology stuff was scheduled for the start so at least I didn’t have long to wait.
The man who started the company, I’ll call him Stavros, turned to me and said “What do you think of our new technology strategy?”
“I think its going to waste a lot of money and it won’t give you anything new or unique.”
The Financial Controller nearly burst her brain.
The Board was surprised.
“Look”, I said, “regardless of what you’ve been told, you will have to spend over $400,000 to execute this strategy and you will have no extra functionality. You’re spending that money just to replace everything with Windows machines. You won’t get anything extra to what you have now. You may have the money to throw at this, but, you can spend $400,000 on computers, or, you can spend $400,000 on something that’ll turn into profit.”
Everyone around the table thought about this for a moment.
The Financial Controller gave me the ‘look of death’. I think I was off her Christmas Card list for good.
She was about to launch into a tirade when she was cut off by Stavros. He asked me if using Windows everywhere was what all businesses did.
“A lot of business do. But its expensive. Let me explain.”
The Board nodded.
“A copy of Windows costs you around $350 for an upgrade. A copy of the Mac Operating System costs you $32.00 for an upgrade. You have about 150 computers and you will have to pay for at least one upgrade in the life of a piece of hardware. The maths is simple About $52,000 for Windows and $4,800 for the Mac OS. You’re putting $48,000 in Microsoft’s pocket for nothing really. The operating system doesn’t do anything except the computer to turn on and be ready to do something.”
Just then the Financial Controller jumped in and said, “But no one uses Mac’s in business except for graphics arts companies. We’re in a different business.”
I was about to answer when the Board member who wasn’t involved in the business said, “But the Commonwealth Bank has just gotten rid of 4000 Dell laptops and replaced them with Mac laptops. They’ve got the new branch in Queen Street and there’s lots of Apple equipment in there.”
The Financial Controller’s face turned the same colour as her lipstick…
Stavros turned to her and said that he wanted to see all her financial projections for this move to Windows including all the benefits. He asked me to have a look at them and report back to him.
This meant one more trip to Brisbane. It ended up being memorable.
I’ll tell you how this story finished soon.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Can RIM pull of a Lazarus like resurrection?
Boy Genius Report recently had a piece on RIM and whether Blackberrys with the QNX Operating System will turn their fortunes around.
I’m not going to regurgitate the article here, but, I’m not so sure.
While I have a soft spot for Blackberry and their platform I don’t think that some new, well built hardware and a new OS is going to change the tide for them. Neither is an ‘Android layer’ that lets a Blackberry run Android apps.
Here are some of the practicalities, that I think, get in the way of a resurrected RIM.
The Cool Factor.
The Blackberry isn’t cool any more. I don’t hear of executives lining up at the door to their IT department demanding a Blackberry. An iPhone or an Android phone, yes, but a Blackberry, not so much.
The BES
More and more of the functionality that required a BES is now being found as native features in a wider and wider range of handsets. So why need a BES? If you don’t need a BES what’s the compelling story for a Blackberry over something else?
Blackberry Messenger
This was an awesome tool. Its becoming replicated functionality in other handsets. iOS is looking like its going to have something like it and you can bet that Android and WinMoPho devices will have something very similar as well.
I suppose the question is “if there was no real difference in features and functionality would you buy a Blackberry if you could choose from all the other smartphones out there”?
Sadly, I don’t think I would and I’m not so sure that I’m alone in that thinking.
I’m not going to regurgitate the article here, but, I’m not so sure.
While I have a soft spot for Blackberry and their platform I don’t think that some new, well built hardware and a new OS is going to change the tide for them. Neither is an ‘Android layer’ that lets a Blackberry run Android apps.
Here are some of the practicalities, that I think, get in the way of a resurrected RIM.
The Cool Factor.
The Blackberry isn’t cool any more. I don’t hear of executives lining up at the door to their IT department demanding a Blackberry. An iPhone or an Android phone, yes, but a Blackberry, not so much.
The BES
More and more of the functionality that required a BES is now being found as native features in a wider and wider range of handsets. So why need a BES? If you don’t need a BES what’s the compelling story for a Blackberry over something else?
Blackberry Messenger
This was an awesome tool. Its becoming replicated functionality in other handsets. iOS is looking like its going to have something like it and you can bet that Android and WinMoPho devices will have something very similar as well.
I suppose the question is “if there was no real difference in features and functionality would you buy a Blackberry if you could choose from all the other smartphones out there”?
Sadly, I don’t think I would and I’m not so sure that I’m alone in that thinking.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Good Morning Mr Husic. You mission, should you choose to accept it...
So. Ed Husic has decided to rattle the cage of the IT industry about pricing discrepancies between the US and Australia.
Congratulations Ed. You scored yourself a cheap headline by calling out the Managing Director of Apple Australia - Tony King.
Having been in the ICT industry for a long time I don’t disagree with Ed that the pricing discrepancies between the US and Australia are inexplicable but, seriously Ed, why didn’t you call out Microsoft, or maybe even Adobe - throw Lenovo in there as well.
Two of these three companies have had Australia grabbing their ankles for a long time and their mysterious pricing policies show much wilder discrepancies than Apple does.
Maybe your aides should do a little more research, because, in all honesty Ed. Going for the cheap headline is what I’ve come to expect from a politician. All sizzle and no sausage.
Maybe, Ed, you should get your staff to look at this article that was in IT News Apple by no means the worst Aussie price gouger, Mr Husic.
It gives a little more insight into the problem, with some numbers. I mean really Ed, if you want to have a really good look at some of this stuff maybe you should look at Adobe, and I don’t think anyone has had a real long hard look at Cisco and their pricing policies?
Really Ed if you wanted to become a hero to millions of consumers and even Australian business you should have a good hard look at Microsoft and Adobe. Get their pricing to look a bit more reasonable and you’d give back to Australian business millions of dollars in money spent on software.
The fact is Ed, while I wish something like this would happen, I doubt it will. The reason I doubt it is that as a politician you’re going to want to raise re-election funds. These guys make political donations and it seems to me that no politicians are left in Australia that have the sausage to match their sizzle.
This’ll be another flash in the pan where you can sit back and say “I raised the issue, but, the others wouldn’t back me up so re-elect me and I’ll maintain the rage. I spoke to Treasury. I spoke to the ACCC and they’re the ones who aren’t doing anything.”
Yeah. Right Ed. The only rage you’ll end up maintaining is if they raise the prices in the members bar.
I’d like to think you’ll prove me wrong, but, somehow I doubt it. If you were serious, I mean really serious, about this maybe you should spend some time talking to people on the ground in the ICT industry rather than using having a sit down with the MD of Apple Australia.
Talk to the guys who have to make IT work in small to medium businesses who run into daily examples of price discrimination in order to keep their businesses running efficiently.
I don’t think you’d do that Ed. There’s no headline in it for you.
Congratulations Ed. You scored yourself a cheap headline by calling out the Managing Director of Apple Australia - Tony King.
Having been in the ICT industry for a long time I don’t disagree with Ed that the pricing discrepancies between the US and Australia are inexplicable but, seriously Ed, why didn’t you call out Microsoft, or maybe even Adobe - throw Lenovo in there as well.
Two of these three companies have had Australia grabbing their ankles for a long time and their mysterious pricing policies show much wilder discrepancies than Apple does.
Maybe your aides should do a little more research, because, in all honesty Ed. Going for the cheap headline is what I’ve come to expect from a politician. All sizzle and no sausage.
Maybe, Ed, you should get your staff to look at this article that was in IT News Apple by no means the worst Aussie price gouger, Mr Husic.
It gives a little more insight into the problem, with some numbers. I mean really Ed, if you want to have a really good look at some of this stuff maybe you should look at Adobe, and I don’t think anyone has had a real long hard look at Cisco and their pricing policies?
Really Ed if you wanted to become a hero to millions of consumers and even Australian business you should have a good hard look at Microsoft and Adobe. Get their pricing to look a bit more reasonable and you’d give back to Australian business millions of dollars in money spent on software.
The fact is Ed, while I wish something like this would happen, I doubt it will. The reason I doubt it is that as a politician you’re going to want to raise re-election funds. These guys make political donations and it seems to me that no politicians are left in Australia that have the sausage to match their sizzle.
This’ll be another flash in the pan where you can sit back and say “I raised the issue, but, the others wouldn’t back me up so re-elect me and I’ll maintain the rage. I spoke to Treasury. I spoke to the ACCC and they’re the ones who aren’t doing anything.”
Yeah. Right Ed. The only rage you’ll end up maintaining is if they raise the prices in the members bar.
I’d like to think you’ll prove me wrong, but, somehow I doubt it. If you were serious, I mean really serious, about this maybe you should spend some time talking to people on the ground in the ICT industry rather than using having a sit down with the MD of Apple Australia.
Talk to the guys who have to make IT work in small to medium businesses who run into daily examples of price discrimination in order to keep their businesses running efficiently.
I don’t think you’d do that Ed. There’s no headline in it for you.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO - its iMargeddon
It was always going to happen.
Jobs was never going to stay as CEO forever.
The fact that he resigned the way he did was smart, and good for Apple.
Despite what all the ADHD afflicted Wall Street wunderkinder think, dumping shares and claiming doom and gloom because their spreadsheet models say so, this isn’t as big a problem as everyone thinks.
Different situation. Gates resigned after the rot had set in and handed the reigns over to Monkey Boy. Vista was already in the works before Bill resigned, he just left the big steaming pile for Ballmer to deal with.
This time Jobs, appears, to be leaving with Apple going from strength to strength.
The other day I was in one of those Home Maker Super Centres.
The 5 year olds wanted to play with iPads and Macs. I mean all of them. They weren’t lining up top play with Windows 7 laptops or someone else’s tablet.
Want to know what tech trend to follow look at what floats the boat of a 5 year old.
I don’t really think iMargeddon is here - but if you do I’ll offer you a couple of bucks for your Apple shares.
Jobs was never going to stay as CEO forever.
The fact that he resigned the way he did was smart, and good for Apple.
Despite what all the ADHD afflicted Wall Street wunderkinder think, dumping shares and claiming doom and gloom because their spreadsheet models say so, this isn’t as big a problem as everyone thinks.
- Jobs is a long term thinker. He knew this day was coming and has been busy preparing.
- While the common view of Apple is that its a company built on one tent pole, and that tent pole is Steve Jobs - there’s more to the company that just him.
- Jobs brilliance lies in the fact that he can look at technology and distill it down to something that is accessible to the “I just want it to work” crowd.
- I’m willing to bet money that he’s been explaining this rationale to everyone in his inner circle.
- Apple’s product line for the next 2 years are already in the pipeline.
- Apple’s engineering mules for the next 4 years of possible products are in the pipeline.
Different situation. Gates resigned after the rot had set in and handed the reigns over to Monkey Boy. Vista was already in the works before Bill resigned, he just left the big steaming pile for Ballmer to deal with.
This time Jobs, appears, to be leaving with Apple going from strength to strength.
- The iPhone 5 due ‘real soon now’.
- The Mac grabbing market share like Ballmer grabs futile acquisitions.
- A very successful patent war being fought against Samsung. The timing on this is interesting too.
The other day I was in one of those Home Maker Super Centres.
The 5 year olds wanted to play with iPads and Macs. I mean all of them. They weren’t lining up top play with Windows 7 laptops or someone else’s tablet.
Want to know what tech trend to follow look at what floats the boat of a 5 year old.
I don’t really think iMargeddon is here - but if you do I’ll offer you a couple of bucks for your Apple shares.
iPhone 5 Release Date?
This crazy rumour crossed our desk late last night.
On October 23 2001 Apple announced the original iPod and released it to market on November 10 the same year.
Could Apple be planning to announce the iPhone 5 in September and release it to market on the 10th birthday of the announcement of the iPod?
Who the hell knows but we may as well add to the rumour fog swirling around the next incarnation of the iPhone.
On October 23 2001 Apple announced the original iPod and released it to market on November 10 the same year.
Could Apple be planning to announce the iPhone 5 in September and release it to market on the 10th birthday of the announcement of the iPod?
Who the hell knows but we may as well add to the rumour fog swirling around the next incarnation of the iPhone.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Dilbert Loves WinMoPho
It turns out that Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, loves his WinMoPho, or at least acording to the spin on the story from another blog site.
Normally I’d leave this sort of drivel alone, but, it kind of makes me think of the bleats you’d get from Apple fanbois, back in the day when you had to defend your choice of Apple gear.
Here’s the paragraph that got my attention, “Scott Adams after accepting the challenge from Brandon Watson on using Windows Phone just published his results. In short, Windows Phone emerged as Winner. He actually compared Windows Phone on Samsung Focus on AT&T, iPhone 3Gs on AT&T and HTC Evo 3D on Sprint. Even though he didn’t use every single feature of all these devices, he just used the way he wants and found Windows Phone as the winner.”
Now most people when they hear the word winner they think of gold medal on the top step of the podium I was so good you barely deserve to live in my shadow type winner.
Here’s what Scott Adams said in his blog post “However, the intangible coolness factor is impossible to ignore. Even the names Microsoft and Windows feel dated. And the home screen of the Windows phone is great from a usability standpoint, but lacks sizzle. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t matter to me.”
This doesn’t sound like a clear winner to me.
In fact Scott Adams has hit on the real issue. WinMoPho’s just aren’t cool.
Its like you’re being given a choice between three cars. One is a high performance machine that, for every hour of driving needs an hour of tuning but is cool and lets face it, kinda fun. The second is a high performance machine that’s been built by an engineer without a lot of thought for ergonomics or fuel economy. The third is your father’s Volvo.
Hmmm.
So then you find ways to justify the Volvo as being the new up and coming thing.
It’ll be there. It’ll have market share, but, its not going to set anyone’s world alight.
Normally I’d leave this sort of drivel alone, but, it kind of makes me think of the bleats you’d get from Apple fanbois, back in the day when you had to defend your choice of Apple gear.
Here’s the paragraph that got my attention, “Scott Adams after accepting the challenge from Brandon Watson on using Windows Phone just published his results. In short, Windows Phone emerged as Winner. He actually compared Windows Phone on Samsung Focus on AT&T, iPhone 3Gs on AT&T and HTC Evo 3D on Sprint. Even though he didn’t use every single feature of all these devices, he just used the way he wants and found Windows Phone as the winner.”
Now most people when they hear the word winner they think of gold medal on the top step of the podium I was so good you barely deserve to live in my shadow type winner.
Here’s what Scott Adams said in his blog post “However, the intangible coolness factor is impossible to ignore. Even the names Microsoft and Windows feel dated. And the home screen of the Windows phone is great from a usability standpoint, but lacks sizzle. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t matter to me.”
This doesn’t sound like a clear winner to me.
In fact Scott Adams has hit on the real issue. WinMoPho’s just aren’t cool.
Its like you’re being given a choice between three cars. One is a high performance machine that, for every hour of driving needs an hour of tuning but is cool and lets face it, kinda fun. The second is a high performance machine that’s been built by an engineer without a lot of thought for ergonomics or fuel economy. The third is your father’s Volvo.
Hmmm.
So then you find ways to justify the Volvo as being the new up and coming thing.
It’ll be there. It’ll have market share, but, its not going to set anyone’s world alight.
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Apple Double Play.
I just finished reading an article in PC Magazine that really got me thinking.
The piece was entitled ‘The Apple Product That Really Worries PC Vendors’.
It really got me thinking, especially in light of the fact that the Commonwealth Bank recently decided to arm their staff with MacBook Air laptops.
The interesting this about this was the following:
Branch visitors were free to use iMac, iPad, iPod and Asus touchscreen devices to browse foreign exchange rates, products, and to make appointments with CBA specialists – much like how Apple customers arranged to visit the vendor’s ‘Genius bar’.
The bank also planned to replace internal Dell desktops with MacBook Air notebooks nationwide, allowing employees to choose to operate on either Mac OS or Windows platforms.
Wow! I really mean WOW!
Think about this in terms of the the information from Canalys that I mentioned in this post ‘Wintel Market Share Slips’.
The Commonwealth Bank, the guys who hung on to OS/2 for years past its expiry date are doing a widespread deployment of Apple MacBook Air laptops. This is astounding news.
Here’s the really amazing potential - lets assume that they replace all 4000 Dell laptops with the MacBook Air. Here’s the really interesting maths:
4000 copies of Windows 7 Entreprise, even at the best possible price couldn’t be less that $175 a copy, lets call it $150 just to keep the calculations simple. Lion is $31.99.
That means a saving on OS upgrade costs of $472,040.
Half a Million Dollars saving on an Operating System upgrade!
Where would you want the half million, on your bottom line or on Microsoft’s?
Careful of your answer, your shareholders are watching.
The piece was entitled ‘The Apple Product That Really Worries PC Vendors’.
It really got me thinking, especially in light of the fact that the Commonwealth Bank recently decided to arm their staff with MacBook Air laptops.
The interesting this about this was the following:
Branch visitors were free to use iMac, iPad, iPod and Asus touchscreen devices to browse foreign exchange rates, products, and to make appointments with CBA specialists – much like how Apple customers arranged to visit the vendor’s ‘Genius bar’.
The bank also planned to replace internal Dell desktops with MacBook Air notebooks nationwide, allowing employees to choose to operate on either Mac OS or Windows platforms.
Wow! I really mean WOW!
Think about this in terms of the the information from Canalys that I mentioned in this post ‘Wintel Market Share Slips’.
The Commonwealth Bank, the guys who hung on to OS/2 for years past its expiry date are doing a widespread deployment of Apple MacBook Air laptops. This is astounding news.
Here’s the really amazing potential - lets assume that they replace all 4000 Dell laptops with the MacBook Air. Here’s the really interesting maths:
4000 copies of Windows 7 Entreprise, even at the best possible price couldn’t be less that $175 a copy, lets call it $150 just to keep the calculations simple. Lion is $31.99.
That means a saving on OS upgrade costs of $472,040.
Half a Million Dollars saving on an Operating System upgrade!
Where would you want the half million, on your bottom line or on Microsoft’s?
Careful of your answer, your shareholders are watching.
The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated…kinda
One of the corporate butt coverers at HP, Jon Zilber, posted on the HP Palm blog that the planet was wrong.
WebOS isn’t dead. Its very much alive and kicking, just in some strange undead form and no one has been smart enough to see it.
He says “Far from burying webOS, our goal is to ensure the platform's evolution as a robust operating system for an increasingly mobile and connected world.“
I’m kind of curious to see exactly how this is going to happen.
Let’s try to imagine the conversation.
HP: WebOS has a huge future. We’ll cut you an amazing licensing deal on it. You can develop phones and tablets using it and compete against Android and iOS.
Prospective Licensee: Didn’t you guys try that?
HP: Yes.
Prospective Licensee: And how did that work out for you?
HP: It was a great experience. That’s why we’re here talking to you. We want to share the opportunities with you specifically and the rest of the industry for anyone with the vision to see the possibilities.
Prospective Licensee: So if it was such a great experience why did you stop making phones and tablets? I mean with a sell-through rate of around 10% on the tablet I’m not seeing an advantage here.
HP: It’s based on strategic initiatives.
Prospective Licensee (very confused): Huh?
HP: Leo has seen the future and its software.
Prospective Licensee (even more confused): Okay? But didn’t he say not that long ago that hardware was important?
HP (ignoring comment): So for us to leverage his strategic decision to strategically reposition HP as a software vendor by making this key acquisition for $10 billion of a cloud offering vendor that has astounding upside potential we need to exit future non-core businesses now before they become a drag on future potential earnings.
Prospective Licensee: What?
HP: Look. Everyone knows software is going to drive the industry so we’ve gotten out of the business of building tablets and phones.
Prospective Licensee: And you want me to develop software for what, exactly using WebOS?
HP: Phones and Tablets.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t understand.
HP: That’s part of our strategy. If people can’t understand exactly what we’re doing with WebOS you’ll be able to deliver a market shattering product.
Prospective Licensee: But I want to know what I’m getting into before I sign on the bottom line.
HP: Why? We didn’t when we bought Palm, we were just reacting to Apple and Google. Look everyone wants smartphones. Just sign here and you’ll make a fortune.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t think so.
HP: Trust us. We’ve got your back.
So WebOS is left to forever wander the Earth until someone finally decides that a wooden stake needs to be driven into its undead heart. I just don’t think anyone involved with HP’s Palm division will do it because it’ll be too detrimental to their career.
Better to spin a colossal screw up into a positive while polishing your CV while HP shareholders grab their ankles again.
WebOS isn’t dead. Its very much alive and kicking, just in some strange undead form and no one has been smart enough to see it.
He says “Far from burying webOS, our goal is to ensure the platform's evolution as a robust operating system for an increasingly mobile and connected world.“
I’m kind of curious to see exactly how this is going to happen.
Let’s try to imagine the conversation.
HP: WebOS has a huge future. We’ll cut you an amazing licensing deal on it. You can develop phones and tablets using it and compete against Android and iOS.
Prospective Licensee: Didn’t you guys try that?
HP: Yes.
Prospective Licensee: And how did that work out for you?
HP: It was a great experience. That’s why we’re here talking to you. We want to share the opportunities with you specifically and the rest of the industry for anyone with the vision to see the possibilities.
Prospective Licensee: So if it was such a great experience why did you stop making phones and tablets? I mean with a sell-through rate of around 10% on the tablet I’m not seeing an advantage here.
HP: It’s based on strategic initiatives.
Prospective Licensee (very confused): Huh?
HP: Leo has seen the future and its software.
Prospective Licensee (even more confused): Okay? But didn’t he say not that long ago that hardware was important?
HP (ignoring comment): So for us to leverage his strategic decision to strategically reposition HP as a software vendor by making this key acquisition for $10 billion of a cloud offering vendor that has astounding upside potential we need to exit future non-core businesses now before they become a drag on future potential earnings.
Prospective Licensee: What?
HP: Look. Everyone knows software is going to drive the industry so we’ve gotten out of the business of building tablets and phones.
Prospective Licensee: And you want me to develop software for what, exactly using WebOS?
HP: Phones and Tablets.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t understand.
HP: That’s part of our strategy. If people can’t understand exactly what we’re doing with WebOS you’ll be able to deliver a market shattering product.
Prospective Licensee: But I want to know what I’m getting into before I sign on the bottom line.
HP: Why? We didn’t when we bought Palm, we were just reacting to Apple and Google. Look everyone wants smartphones. Just sign here and you’ll make a fortune.
Prospective Licensee: I don’t think so.
HP: Trust us. We’ve got your back.
So WebOS is left to forever wander the Earth until someone finally decides that a wooden stake needs to be driven into its undead heart. I just don’t think anyone involved with HP’s Palm division will do it because it’ll be too detrimental to their career.
Better to spin a colossal screw up into a positive while polishing your CV while HP shareholders grab their ankles again.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Samsung isn't thrilled by Googorola
Seems like Samsung was being ‘polite’ about the Googorola hook up after all
Read the article here.
Looks like Samsung’s going to open the wallet too.
If this keeps up and companies start spending cash like there’s no tomorrow then maybe they’ll also jump start the economy.
Read the article here.
Looks like Samsung’s going to open the wallet too.
If this keeps up and companies start spending cash like there’s no tomorrow then maybe they’ll also jump start the economy.
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