Apple failed to achieve a leadership role in the era of the connected PC. But then Steve Jobs realized that the most valuable piece of real estate was not always located in your home. No, it was in your pocket or your purse. With the launch of the iPhone in 2007, Apple changed the world of technology and in the process became one of world’s leading companies. Soon there will be a new battle for real estate: A battle for what might be the most valuable real estate of all, your wrist. Apple fully intends to own it.
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Category Archives: about business
How my blog post on Apple and Search went viral and my unintended experience with Internet Journalism
o I wrote a post that was really about how vulnerable Google is. If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you will know that I don’t think much of Google. I don’t like Facebook that much either, but am slowly gaining more respect for the company. I like how Zuckerberg is using his inflated currency (stock) to buy the companies that would end up being the next next thing. Apple amazes me. It proves that there can be life after death and I am now waiting for the third comingof Steve Jobs. Although he was not one of my favorite people, I cannot argue with his results. However, I believe that Apple has some serious challenges ahead.
For sometime I have been thinking that Google is very exposed. They make most of their money from search. While they have been trying to expanded beyond search, their efforts are mediocre at best. Frankly, I think the company is mediocre but it thinks it is not. That is dangerous. I always say the key to success in technology is 1) being lucky and 2) not mistaking your luck for being smart. Google thinks it was smart. Facebook thinks it was lucky. Apple is something else again and I can’t even articulate what that is other to say it is a cross between Italian style and German discipline which was run by a genius dictator. I am not sure about the guy that is running it now. I hope he is able to channel Steve.
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How Apple crushed Google in the fall of 2015 from my book “The Future History of Technology
Steve Jobs was livid when he learned about Google plans to use the Android operating system which Google acquired to compete with the iPhone. He felt betrayed by Eric Schmidt, the then CEO of Google who also happened to be a member of the Apple Board. Schmidt joined the board of Apple in 2005 and … Continue reading
Announcing Pluto.tv – Lay back and enjoy
Today, Pluto.tv was officially launched. I am proud to be an early advisor and investor in this company. Those of you that read my blog frequently will know that I have been following and in some cases participating in the restructuring of the medium we call TV. I am pretty excited and decided to give it a plug on my blog. Please think of this post as an infomercial because it kind of is.
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It’s not big brother that should worry you, it’s little brother, the spy in your pocket.
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
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
Two Thirds Done 