In 1949, George Orwell wrote a book called 1984. I probably read it when I was about ten years old, in 1955. Then, 1984 seemed like a long time in the future. So it was interesting that Apple used this concept for it’s famous 1984 Macintosh SuperBowl ad. The concept of 1984 was that a totalitarian government was spying on all its citizens. It was busy developing “double talk” and had journalists whose job it was to rewrite history. Big Brother was not just a TV show. It was a term for the leading political boss (think Putin). If you have not read it you should, especially these days. So I find it ironic, to use the term “Big Brother” when talking about Apple Computer. Continue reading
Category Archives: about business
Why Mark Penn is the best person to lead Microsoft’s strategy
At first when I read that Mark Penn would become responsible for strategy at Microsoft, I though this was crazy. I don’t know Mark Penn but I understand that he is brilliant if not a bit strange. But what would a 60 year old political advisor that lives in Washington DC have to offer a technology company like Microsoft especially one that disparately needs to major strategic choices driven by changes in technology and customer behavior.
Then I realized that he was the perfect person. It is all about politics. Continue reading
Why it makes sense to pay $16 billion for What’s App
Facebook pays $16 billion for What’s App and I think this actually makes sense for FB even at this amazing price. Most of it will be paid in FB funny money. That is, it is paid in stock which they will just create out of thin air just like the US Federal Bank creates money. Maybe Ben Bernanke is advising Facebook. Continue reading
Mixed emotions about the potential acquisition of Time Warner Cable by Comcast
So I while I am proud that my old friends at Comcast have done so well, I will be disappointed if Comcast ends up with the Time Warner Cable business. I would have preferred that Google, Apple, Microsoft or even Intel would have bought it. Then the model could be changed because they would aggressively adopt new forms of content programing and commerce Continue reading
The I-Pad and the Information Furnace-1994
Gizmodo recently posted about an Associate Press article that ran in June 1994 in which I describe a number of things including the Information Furnace and the I-Pad. This post has been moving around in the world of iPad blogs and there are a number of comments. Rather than reply to them on the various blogs, I thought I would do that here and link to my post on a few of those blogs.
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The Microsoft CEO Transition and the NBA
The succession of a CEO is one of the most important events in a corporation and unfortunately, it is often a step downward, in Microsoft’s case, there is a not a lot of room to descend. Continue reading
Confession: Why I am unfair to Google.
I have been examine my possible motives in being so negative about Google. I wonder if I am just jealous. Continue reading
Am I unfair to Google?
I like to say that there is two things that defined success in the tech business. The first is being lucky. The second is not mistaking luck for being smart. Larry Page thinks he is smart. Continue reading
The end of Network Neutrality
My friend, Robert X. Cringley, wrote an excellent blog post on Net Neutrality which you can read here. I have a few thoughts I would like to share about this topic. The concept of Net Neutrality simply put, is that the supplier of broadband cannot enter into a separate arrangement to provide better services for … Continue reading
How do I message thee? let me count the waze..
Traveling around the world as I do really exposes me to all the ways people message each other. I thought I would list some of those that I know, and actually have to use, since people have strong preferences – depending on age and residence.
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Two Thirds Done 