This week Ben Bajarin, Jan Dawson, and John Kirk discuss the IBM+Apple partnerships, Microsoft’s predicament, Google’s earnings, and Samsung’s challenges.
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Show Notes:
Jan Dawson
Thought’s on Google’s Earnings–link
Apple, IBM, and the Pareto Principle–link
I agree with John that there is no real down-side to the Apple/IBM deal. But there is one potential nerd downside. That would come from corporate cultural differences. The Chrysler/Benz merger looked good on paper. Where it fell apart was the huge cultural differences. I know we aren’t talking merger, but we are talking partnership. The principle that how well they will work together from this cultural disparity is still valid.
At what point is IBM going to need Apple to offer something with iOS that is counter to Apple’s culture? To bring this back around, the down side is yet another enterprise failure notch on Apple’s belt. Unless IBM sees that Apple’s current inroads into enterprise is precisely because of their focus on the end user and respects that I don’t see this making much of a difference for Apple.
Joe
You know, after the podcast, I thought on this some more. In my opinion, there is still no “real” downside to the Apple/IBM deal. But there could be a public relations downside. Suppose I bet $1000 and for whatever reason I ended up not winning or losing any money. No harm done, right? But if you take a gamble in politics or in tech, gaining nothing is not viewed as breaking even, it’s viewed as losing. So if this deal does not do well — perhaps even great — it will be viewed as having done poorly .
I’m not too worried about IBM altering Apple’s culture. I think Apple has much to gain here but they’re not at all beholden to IBM. If IBM gets too demanding, Apple will just ignore them. At least, that’s what I think. The reality may, of course, differ.
I agree that there is no fear of IBM changing Apple’s culture. That in itself is where the tension could ripple outward.
Joe
I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Thanks Again. Cool.