I believe a profound computing shift is taking place — one that is hard to see in Western countries. Largely because these countries have what I call a “PC bias”. Most internet users in the West, especially those over a certain age, grew up with a PC. The first experience they had with the internet was the desktop web … Continue reading My Thesis on the Mobile Internet
On December 4, 2014, Techpinions’ own Jan Dawson wrote a 33 page report on Windows Phone. While it sounds long, for those interested in the topic, it is easy reading and I highly recommend it to you. Jan’s report answered the “What” questions — What’s gone wrong with Windows Phone and What should Microsoft do … Continue reading With Windows Phone It’s Not The What, It’s The Why
One of the data services I subscribe to highlighted a specific trend their survey research uncovered. They called this trend “the slow death of search”. To illustrate, they graphed the following data. While the Y-axis is capped at 95% rather than 100%, and the bottom at 85% but the point remains. Search is happening less … Continue reading The Evolution of Search
It looked like Apple and the banks on one side and retailers on the other were headed for a war over phone payments. But now, Samsung seems ready to make it a three-sided fight. An article by Jason Del Ray on Re/code reports Samsung is negotiating with Massachusetts-based LoopPay over adding a third method for mobile … Continue reading Samsung Sees Role as Third Player in the Credit Card War
I’ve received a number of questions from readers about why I don’t talk as much about the US market for smartphones. It’s primarily because the US doesn’t offer any new interesting questions or problems. It’s about a 50/50 split between Android and iOS and Apple controls over 60% (and growing) of the premium smartphone space. … Continue reading A Deeper Dive on Android and iPhone in China
This is the third in my series on what I see happening in the year ahead for major tech companies. Apple is here, and Google is here. One quick note: as an analyst, my coverage area is consumer technology, so although I will address Microsoft’s enterprise business throughout this post and especially at the end, it … Continue reading Microsoft in 2015
The very mortal Larry Page and the rapidly aging Ray Kurzweil, in their mad, sad dash to live forever, will fail in this utterly futile, mostly human effort at denying the inevitable, at fighting that greatest of fleshly trappings, that soul wrenching but unalterable truth which reveals the eternal equality of us all. We are all going to die. Soon. It … Continue reading The Business Model of Never Growing Up
The last time Apple and IBM did serious business, the companies were fighting over the processors that powered the Macs of the day. IBM had no interest in meeting Apple’s desire for G5 chips for laptops and the end of the quarrel pushed Apple to Intel (and fabulous success for Macs). Almost a decade later, when … Continue reading IBM Leads Apple Into the Corporate Market
In 2012, Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook, bought The New Republic, an almost century old magazine of liberal politics and literature. The magazine has not be profitable for many years and Hughes, though in his 20s, was seen as one in a string of wealthy investors who were prepared to keep the magazine afloat. The … Continue reading Will the Tech Industry Ever Learn Philanthropy
The feel of Apple’s September launch event was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Familiar in the way all Apple events I have attended since 2001 have felt. A similar format with many familiar faces but also unfamiliar because of the dramatic increase in the number of attendees. A casual observation by any … Continue reading The Day I Rubbed Shoulders With will.i.am
Steve Jobs is dead. There’s no bigger, richer company on the planet than Apple. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly stated this most American of companies will soon garner more of its sales from China than anywhere else. The company hasn’t really been a ‘pirate’ since the early days of the iPod — a decade … Continue reading Time For Entirely New Myths At Apple
I’ve been getting calls from reporters working on end-of-year pieces looking towards 2015. While I always enjoy these conversations, one problem is only a fraction of what we discuss ever makes it into an article. So I thought I’d do a series of posts for Tech.pinions Insiders on what I see in store for some of … Continue reading Apple in 2015
The question of whether Chromebooks will have a future in pure consumer markets is an intriguing one. There’s no question Chromebooks are well positioned for education markets where they are selling in volume. But I don’t see Chromebooks being successful in pure consumer markets. At a fundamental level, we have to understand consumers do very … Continue reading Why Chromebooks Have No Consumer Market Future
I’ve just published an in-depth report on the state of Windows Phone as an operating system (and, by implication, Microsoft’s mobile phone business which makes up around 95% of sales on the platform). You can download the whole report for free here, but I wanted to provide a brief summary for Tech.pinions readers as well. It … Continue reading The State of Windows Phone
Driving home from New York on Saturday, I decided to use my iPad to catch the Michigan-Ohio State game (I was not, of course, behind the wheel at the time). I have used a phone or an iPad often enough for calls or maps while on the road, so I figured it would work fine. … Continue reading Why Wireless TV on the Road Disappoints
In a presentation I have given at different events and to industry executives, I have been highlighting two major themes. One that I write quite a bit about here at Tech.pinions is the connecting of the next billion people to the internet via a pocket computer. The other is the connecting of the next billion … Continue reading Connecting the Next Billions of ‘Things’
I attended last week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, as I do every year. While the norm among native Californians seems to be to fly from San Francisco to Los Angeles, I always drive. I make my way over to I-5, confirm there are no patrol cars nearby, then torch the accelerator. Soon I’m in LA, checking out … Continue reading Mobile Is Eating The Car
I did a post for Insiders last week about Mozilla’s new search deal with Yahoo which replaces Google as the default search engine in Firefox in the US. But as part of that post, I also briefly touched on the fact Apple is also a major referrer of search traffic to Google and has the … Continue reading Apple’s options for search
With Thanksgiving upon us, at least in the U.S., it’s a good time to look back upon the year of nearly 11 months and see some random participants in tech who have done well in 2014. Apple: Every year seems to be a good year for Apple, but 2013 was an exceptionally good one. At a time when … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving Winners
Everyone is talking about whether or not Apple Pay will or will not succeed. I know I’m jumping the gun on this, but I think Apple Pay has already passed the tipping point. Although it will take some time yet, I feel confident Apple Pay is going to be a viable payment solution. ((If you’re … Continue reading Is Apple Pay The New iTunes?
I am impressed with the speed of Apple’s foray into entirely new UIs. No, I am not talking about the re-jiggered version of iOS the company built for the Apple Watch. It merely reveals the way forward. Apple is clearly focused on transforming our bodies into the next great interface. The devices this could enable are nearly limitless. Starting with … Continue reading Apple’s Very Human Interface Guidelines
Apple’s role in getting the future right has always been been a little strange. Everything it has done, from the mouse and visual display of the Mac, to the mobile music player of the iPod, to the computer-as-phone of the iPhone, Apple has had to work hard to convince consumers these moves were the future … Continue reading Apple Makes Old Security Business Lead to the Future
On November 17 in his weekly Monday Note, Jean-Louis Gassée wrote: “App Store Curation: An Open Letter To Tim Cook“. He summed up his own letter best when he said: With one million titles and no human guides, the Apple App Store has become incomprehensible for mere mortals. A simple solution exists: curation by humans … Continue reading Algorithms Aren’t Always The Answer
On October 27th, 2014, Techpinion’s very own, Brian S. Hall, wrote an article entitled “Microsoft Is Doomed. Doomed!” Brian was, of course, being facetious. Far from predicting doom for Microsoft, he was mocking the Microsoft doomsayers. Let’s take a look at a few of his article’s choicer bits: I have to believe Microsoft’s latest earnings … Continue reading Microsoft Is (Sorta) Doomed
By now you have probably heard CVS and Rite Aid have disabled their NFC radios in check out terminals in order to block Apple Pay and Google Wallet. The reason is they, along with Walmart and about 45 other merchants, are working to create a competitor called CurrentC that eliminates their paying a fee to the credit card companies and gives … Continue reading The Idiocy of CVS and Rite Aid
