In this Opinion Cast we discuss a number of important topics related to the industry. Although the year is wrapping up, there is still a lot to discuss and opine about. Here is the topical overview from this weeks Opinion Cast. –The continuing mystery of Android market share vs. usage share. –Microsoft’s Windows 8 woes … Continue reading The Opinion Cast (podcast): Market Share, Windows 8, and Profits
Since the beginning of the personal computing era. there has been a struggle for dominance between open and closed systems. The early open CP/M computers gave way to the relatively closed Apple ][. The closed Mac was beaten by the open Microsoft/Intel PC. A few years ago, with the rise of mobile platforms, it looked … Continue reading Open vs. Closed Systems: What the Future Holds
My first portable cellphone was the size of a brick and weighed almost 2 pounds. And it was dumb. All it did was make calls. By the mid 1990’s Verizon started creating what we now call a feature phone and created its own mini OS, which allowed Verizon to create dedicated apps of their own … Continue reading Verizon, Nokia and the Quest for Differentiation
This began life as a reply to a comment on Part 4 of John Kirk’s “Why Android Is Winning the Battles, But Google Is Losing the War,” but quickly got out of hand. John’s post sparked a discussion of Apple’s and Google’s different approaches to developing apps for tablets vs. handsets. Commenter rj said that … Continue reading Of Tablets, Phones, and Apps
The departure of Windows chief Steven Sinofsky, hard on the heels of the release of Windows 8, came as a shock, but not a surprise. But the important question is less what led to the departure of the talented but abrasive Sinofsky than how Microsoft uses its latest executive shuffle to move forward in a … Continue reading After Sinofsky Can Microsoft Move Beyond Windows?
Last week, I covered areas and usage models where I preferred to use Microsoft Surface over my Apple iPad(s). I was actually surprised I would like Surface in so many areas given it is such a new device and ecosystem. This week, I will reverse gears and discuss areas where I still prefer my iPad. … Continue reading Things I Prefer to do on my iPad versus my Surface
. I’m a big fan of tablets, especially the iPad. Altrhough I find myself spending more and more time with a tablet and less and less with a traditional computer, I can’t imagine getting by without a Windows PC or a Mac. And that is why, though the market for traditional computers will shrink, they … Continue reading In Praise of Old-fashioned PCs
My primary tablet of choice for years has been Apple’s iPad. The iPad, iPad 2, and the New (now old) iPad (3). This is after trying at least 20 other tablets with Android phone, Android tablet, Kindle Android, Windows 7, webOS, and QNX operating systems. Before Surface, I used my iPad 2 primarily in productivity … Continue reading Ten Things I prefer to do on Microsoft Surface versus my Apple iPad
Let me start this column out with some context on Windows 8. My mind has changed to a degree about Windows 8 and in particular touch based notebooks and UltraBooks. Several of the Windows 8 PCs I have been using are pure notebook form factors with solid touch-screens. I was never as negative on the … Continue reading When is a Tablet not a Tablet? When It’s a Surface
For the past 2 1/2 years, iPad as has ruled the world of tablets. Except for Amazon’s Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble NOOK Tablet, both special-purpose devices dedicated to consumption, there has been no competition worth mentioning. But with the entry of Microsoft into the fray, both with the Surface and an assortment … Continue reading Why Surface Will Be Good for the iPad–and the Rest of Us
I attended Microsoft’s launch last week for Windows 8, Windows RT, and Surface. While launch day is only one milestone in a string of milestones, launch day is the one day that everything must come together, the day where some make their final judgment. So how did Microsoft do? Importance of Launch Day Launch days … Continue reading Microsoft Pulls it Together (Almost) for Windows 8 Launch
[dc]H[/dc]ave you ever bought a tech gadget and two weeks later, a better version of it comes out? Or purchased one of the new HDTVs with high resolution and then seen a new version with even higher resolution come out just weeks later for the same price? It may be relatively obsolete after CES in … Continue reading Buyers Remorse is a Way of Life in Tech
[dc]I[/dc]n the coming weeks I will do something for experimental purposes that I have not done for over 10 years. I will be immersing myself in the Windows 8 ecosystem entirely. I converted from the Windows ecosystem to the Apple ecosystem in 2002 and I have never been happier. Apple products work the best for … Continue reading The Windows 8 Ecosystem, For Experimental Purposes
I have long been a skeptic about the role of personal computing in education, especially for K-12 schools. Yes, the internet has made a wealth of information accessible to students. But the instructional revolution promised by technology optimists seems to hover forever on the horizon. The tablet—and for now, at least, that really means the … Continue reading The iPad Mini Could Spur an Education Revolution
Introduction I hadn’t planned on writing a review of the Surface today. But after reading over a dozen reviews, a pattern has clearly emerged: — Excellent hardware — Not as good a tablet as the iPad — Not as good a PC as a notebook PC The Promise But perhaps none of that matters. The … Continue reading Microsoft’s Surface: Less Than A Tablet, Less Than A Notebook PC, Less Than Ideal
Today’s Apple event was perhaps one of the more interesting to me for a variety of reasons. Apple made a number of announcements that in my opinion give them a strong lineup for this holiday season. Apple has made advances in almost every one of their products in just the last few months. But all … Continue reading iPad Mini: The iPad in the Palm of Your Hand
Microsoft Needs To Hurry Microsoft has two problems. The first is that they have no presence in mobile and mobile is where it’s at. The second, is that they’ve run out of time. Run out of time? How is that possible? The iPhone is only 5 years old. Android is only 4 years old. The … Continue reading Windows 8: It’s Later For Microsoft Than You Think
I am one of those who thinks that this week is a seminal moment in computing history. The introduction of Windows 8 is the most important time for Microsoft since the launch of Windows 95. Microsoft’s actions – and the buying public’s response to those actions – is going to change the future of Microsoft … Continue reading Windows 8: Microsoft Is Betting The Company
The Plot The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach in the title roles. ~ paraphrased from Wikipedia Apple, Microsoft and Google are engaged in an epic tablet war starring the iPad, the Surface and … Continue reading Truel: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly; The iPad, the Surface and the Nexus 7
Steve Kovach at Business Insider has a few words of wisdom regarding Windows 8: Microsoft’s new operating system for PCs and tablets, Windows 8, will have a drastic new look. The Start menu you’re used to is gone, replaced by a touch-friendly menu of tiles that houses all your apps and settings. It’s going to … Continue reading Rebuttal: Windows 8 “May Or May Not” Be The Disaster This Video Makes It Out To Be
The first Microsoft Surface Ad is out. It’s called “The Surface Movement” (although it probably should be called “Click”). In his article entitled: Marketing Surface and Windows 8, Ben Bajarin focuses on what the ad communicates to potential buyers. My focus is on what the ad communicates about Microsoft’s attitude toward tablets. HOW MICROSOFT DEFINES … Continue reading The Microsoft Surface Was Made For Surfaces…But That’s Not What Tablets Were Made For
In my last Apple Maps column I discussed why Apple would have delivered a suboptimal maps experience. This analysis was really a short term view of why they would do this, and the answer was Wall Street. Net-net, Apple would have felt the Wall Street wrath more than they are already feeling post-iPhone 5 launch … Continue reading Why Maps are “Really” Important to Apple
Microsoft’s decision to offer tablets in two flavors–Intel-powered slates running full windows 8 and ARM-powered units running Windows RT–has created a marketing and branding problem for manufacturers: How these very different products going to be distinguished for buyers? One solution that seems to be gaining popularity is to call the Intel/full Windows versions “tablet PCs.” … Continue reading The Return of the Tablet PC
We at Creative Strategies, as a part of our study of consumer markets, frequently interview consumers in order to get a pulse of the market needs, wants, and desires. To do this we have conversations with groups of consumers in a specific part of the adoption curve. I was having a conversation with some folks … Continue reading Convince Me Not to Buy an iPad
RECAP We’ve been looking at the tablet business models of Apple, Amazon, Google, Samsung and Microsoft. Today we wrap up the series by seeing what lessons we have learned and by asking ourselves what the various business models can tell us about the future of tablet computing. Lessons Learned Lesson #1: Subsidized tablet business models … Continue reading Battle Of The Tablet Business Models: Lessons Learned And A Look Ahead
