Ben Thompson of Stratechery has deservedly been the talk of the tech world this week for his analysis of disruption theory, What Clayton Christensen Got Wrong. Thompson argues (and if you haven;t read his piece you should) that Christensen actually has two theories of disruption: new market disruption, in which incumbent fail to respond to … Continue reading Disruption: What Microsoft Got Wrong
A recent column by Brian S. Hall and a followup conversation in the comments got me thinking about one of his “wild and crazy” ideas for Apple: That the company should fund a research lab in the tradition of Bell Labs. And the more I think about it, the better an idea it seems. I don’t … Continue reading Apple Research: An Immodest Proposal
Last weekend my son’s car was broken into. It was in the parlance, a “smash and grab” with the front passenger window smashed and his wallet grabbed. What followed was an interesting lesson in security. Our local police investigated the crime scene and dusted the car for fingerprints, they also noticed some blood splattered on … Continue reading TouchID: risk and reward at the touch of a button
As with all Apple events I have attended, which is every one going back to the launch of the iPod, there are many intriguing questions leading up to the event. Many have been speculating and analyzing every angle possible about what may or may not be announced tomorrow. I’d prefer to leave the speculating to … Continue reading Pondering Apple’s Big Day
This is part two of a two-part series. Part One looked at the fall of Steve Ballmer and the decline of Microsoft in mobile. Part Two tries to discover why it all happened. Introduction Steve Ballmer was just fired after 13 uninspiring years at Microsoft. A hotly debated question is whether Ballmer failed because he … Continue reading David The Disruptor v. Microsoft The Goliath
Two weeks ago, I penned the Forbes column, “Google’s Motorola Confuses Everyone With Its ‘X8 Computing System.‘ “My intention was not to ridicule or embarrass anyone, but to point out just how important it is to be factual and precise during product launches and communications. Trust me, I have empathy as I have launched hundreds of … Continue reading Motorola’s Confusing “X8 Computing System” Actually Qualcomm and TI Silicon
News just broke that Microsoft has acquired Nokia’s handset and devices division. Here is the intro from the press release: Microsoft to acquire Nokia Devices & Services, accelerating the Windows ecosystem Nokia and Microsoft have always dreamed big – we dreamed of putting a computer on every desk, and a mobile phone in every pocket, … Continue reading Together At Last
Television as we know it is doomed and has been for some time. But I thought broadcasters and cable operators would be able to hold off the inevitable for a long time because their business model, antiquated as it is, still produced a mighty stream of profits. I’m not so sure anymore. The decline will … Continue reading TV: A Faster Slow Death
After Apple’s keynote at WWDC 2013, all anyone could talk about was iOS 7. “It’s so different,” they gasped and everyone carried on about it for weeks. Unfortunately, they disregarded another important announcement from the event: iTunes Radio, the company’s foray into online music streaming. Ask Pandora CEO Joe Kennedy about it and he’ll tell … Continue reading iTunes Radio: Apple’s Dark Horse for Streaming Music
Question #1: Is The iPhone 5C coming? Sure looks that way. The rumors have grown so loud that they’ve become deafening. Let me put it this way: If the iPhone 5C is NOT announced on September 10th at the upcoming Apple event, it will be the non-announcment heard ’round the tech world. There’s nothing in … Continue reading Who’s The Gorilla And 8 More Questions About the iPhone 5C
This is a free preview of a Tech.pinions Insider post. Learn more about the Tech.pinions Insider analysis service here. We are at the point in time with relation to Apple’s September 10th event that we have to start taking many rumors very seriously. In that light, we have heard whispers of a gold colored iPhone … Continue reading The iPhone’s GOLDEN Opportunity in China
In a recent TV interview with Charlie Rose, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison raised a few eyebrows when he suggested that Apple best days are over since Steve Jobs is no longer there to be its guiding light. When asked about Apple’s future, Ellison said that we saw Apple once before when Jobs was not there … Continue reading Why Larry Ellison is wrong about Apple
The Apology Please allow me to begin by apologizing for the saucy language you are about to encounter. There is simply no way for me to tell the following joke without cursing. I really don’t like cursing (although, I do so love using it for effect), so I’m going to employ a substitute for the … Continue reading The Microsoft Surface is (French) Toast
From an industry and market standpoint, a lower-cost iPhone certainly has the potential to shake up the market. In what ways we can only speculate but there are a few points about an entry level iPhone that are worth discussing. The Cost to Acquire a Customer This is basically how I view any product Apple … Continue reading Customer Acquisition and the Entry Level iPhone
I love shopping from Amazon. I always have and as long as they are around–which will be a long time–I always will. There are aspects of this statement I just made that need to be analyzed from a market standpoint as well as from a consumer centric viewpoint. I want to do several things in … Continue reading The Great Wall of Amazon
This is part two of a two-part series focusing on what’s gone wrong with Microsoft Windows. If you want to read part 1, click here. If you want to know what’s gone wrong with Microsoft Windows and what its probable future will be…well, read on…. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in … Continue reading Beating The Dead Horse That Is Microsoft Windows (Part 2)
One of the most important parts of our TechPinions columns is the comment section at the end of each column. As editors, we highly vet each column as we are extremely committed to writing and posting pieces that are insightful, informative and sometimes provocative. Each of our writers are seasoned thought leaders and we highly … Continue reading Why We Welcome Commentary on Our Columns
Few people enjoy beating a dead horse more than I do, but man, beating up on Microsoft Windows is simply no fun anymore…because everybody’s doing it. The defining company of the PC era — which for the purposes of this discussion we’ll consider the 25 years from 1981 to 2006 — has not articulated a … Continue reading Beating The Dead Horse That Is Microsoft Windows (Part 1)
This is an excerpt from an analysis on the strategic errors of Windows 8 and the philosophy behind the product that was written for our Tech.pinions Insiders Members. To learn more about Tech.pinions Insiders click here or to see all Insider topics and articles click here. Adopting a New Posture While I was at Microsoft’s … Continue reading To Touch or Not to Touch, That is the Question
A few weeks ago we invited readers to give Tech.pinions Insiders a preview. We got great feedback and we were excited by the level of interest in this service. We are now officially launching our Insider subscription service to the public. Our goal is to have our readers be our customers and provide them with … Continue reading Introducing Tech.pinions Insiders
Since the revelations about the extent of telephone and internet surveillance by the National Security Agency first broke a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been struck by how little outrage there has been aside from activists at the left and right end of the political spectrum. Today, my wife Susan, who is tech savvy but … Continue reading NSA Spying: Why So Little Outrage?
Last week, Facebook announced Instagram Video, giving users the ability to take 15 second videos, add special effects and share with their friends. Instagram Video is nearly a feature-by-feature copy of Vine and has been reported to be negatively impacting Vine already. I believe, though, that Instagram Video’s biggest impact will be more on TV … Continue reading Instagram Video More a Threat to TV and Camcorders than Vine
In the past 5 years the Connected Home industry has progressed from relative obscurity to the focus of intense intrigue and significant advertising (seen any of the Comcast or ADT Pulse TV commercials lately?). Mass-market launches of Home Automation, Home Monitoring and Energy Management services are becoming increasingly common with Service Providers (Verizon, Comcast, Time … Continue reading 5 Ways to Accelerate Connected Home Adoption (and Yes, Apple should get involved!)
In fact if you do the math, you would find that iOS 6 is the world’s most popular mobile operating system and in second place is a version of Android which was released in 2010. ~ Tim Cook, WWDC 2013 (1:13:55) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRmjUzcpLO0 Okay, let’s do the math. Total iOS Sales vs. Total Android Activations We … Continue reading Do The Math: iOS 6 Is The World’s Most Popular Mobile Operating System
Ever since Microsoft unveiled Windows 8 at the BUILD event in 2011, it was apparent that the Windows PC future was touch, gestures, tablets, convertibles, and hybrids. Intel’s unveiling the following year at Computex 2012 with a plethora of form factors solidified that future. To predict the future of PCs, one must have an opinion … Continue reading Why I Prefer Convertibles Over Notebooks
