Intel just announced that it would close the Hudson Manufacturing Facility it acquired from Digital Equipment Corp in 1997. The press release from Intel said “the Hudson plant has been used to make a variety of low-end chips found in many electronic devices.” The closure of this plant will not mean much to people other than the thousand or so people directly affected. The exception to this are the few pioneers who vision and drive created it in the first place. They dared to dreamed big and lost. While they understood the potential of semi-conductor technology and large scale integration, like all of us at that time, they did not understand that the computer industry was about to be turned sideway and that companies that were vertically integrated would fail like Digital would fail.
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Category Archives: about business
What to iWatch
There is a small chance that Apple will announce it’s iWatch tomorrow at it’s iPhone centric event. I am not even sure that Apple is developing a watch but it is likely. Either that or iWatch is something that Jobs does from beyond. I think the iWatch will be a totally closed system like the … Continue reading
Slow day on the blogosphere
It is the labor day weekend and I am feeling kind of lazy. It is very warm in Sonoma and it is time to get back in the pool. I had expected to be curled up with my iPad watching the bombing in Syria but Obama pulled a fast one. He has now not … Continue reading
The First Bank of Amazon or the End of Advertising as we Know it.
Twenty years ago, I proclaimed that Advertising would be the Killer App of the Internet. Now I am pronouncing the end of Advertising. What will replace it as a source of revenue for media companies. It will be the First Bank of Amazon. Read more! Continue reading
Will the Killer App of the Internet Get Killed
Sometime around 1993, I gave a keynote speech about the Internet to the National Association of Broadcasters in Las Vegas (where else?). There I stated that the killer App for the Internet would be Advertising. I guess I was right. The internet has not only been fueled by advertising revenues but it has challenged the … Continue reading
I guess I lost my ability to create great sound bites or did I?
Last week I was interviewed by a reporter at the New York Times, Nick Wingfield, for an article on the decline of the PC Industry. In the past, I was pretty good at coming up with sound bites and was often quoted by newspapers like the New York Times and magazines like Forbes. I must … Continue reading
The Mouse that Roared: Doug Engelbart
A lot of people are writing about Doug Engelbart one of the true pioneers of computer technology. Many of them are recounting their interactions and friendships. I only met him once. It was about 1967 or 1968 and I was around 22 years old and working with Joe Kamiya at the Langley Porter Institute (UC Medical Center) doing the first work in brain wave bio feedback. Continue reading
Alta Vista RIP
Evidently, Yahoo will close down Alta Vista on July 8th, the Internet search company it acquired in 2003. This is the second time Yahoo has killed Alta Vista. Let me explain.
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The Resurrection of Wintel Part 2
Unfortunately, I have to announce that this blog post will have more than two parts. This part will deal with some important concepts that will inform some of the conclusions I will make later. First a recap of Part 1. Part 1 mostly dealt with the departure of Paul Otellini, the former CEO. I thought … Continue reading
The Resurrection of Wintel Part 1.
I never imagined I would be writing this post. I was planing on writing what I thought would be my last post about Intel. It was to deal with the departure of Paul Otellini the former CEO and a recent article about him published by the Atlantic. I will do an abbreviated comment on that and then begin to get into the meat of the Wintel Resurrection.
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Two Thirds Done 