August 2011
1 post
2 tags
Legend
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
Steve Jobs, August 24, 2011
Thank you, Steve.
July 2011
4 posts
2 tags
My Mac Must-Haves
Whenever there is a new major Mac OS X update, in this case Lion, I perform a clean install. This always affords me an opportunity to re-think the software that is essential to my workflow. Thought I’d share my Mac must-haves. There is plenty of other outstanding software out there that isn’t on this list, so don’t read this as anything more than a list of software that fits my...
4 tags
A Fork in the Road Ahead
The latest version of Mac OS X (Lion or 10.7) was released today. If you’re looking for a review, please read John Siracusa’s always excellent one written for Ars Technica. Instead, I’ll offer just a few loose thoughts on what I believe we may see over the next several years.
Larger iPads. Cheaper iPhones (I know… I know…).
A fork of iOS to support different user interface...
1 tag
New Certainties
While others debate the future of Social Network disruption, I thought I’d list a few of my observations about technology-related discussions within social networks. Consider these an extension of Godwin’s Law. (I’ll keep adding to this list.)
For any new operating system release, there will always be one person who plays the Vista card.
Make any point about early-stage technological...
4 tags
Prospecting in Them Thar Hills
[Apple] are so successful in their execution that they need the next huge thing to make the stock actually rally. You’ve got to know what the next goldmine is going to be. - Michael Yoshikami
This is mortifyingly stupid. But it exemplifies the labored logic which underlies financial markets and stock price performance. Consistent long-term performance will be deemed a bore, while vapid bangs...
June 2011
3 posts
3 tags
The iPad Challenge
At a glance, the iPad is the simplest product to duplicate. After all, it’s just a sheet of touch-sensitive glass with a logic board and giant battery attached.
So why is it proving so difficult for competitors to capture its magic?
Simply put, the iPad challenges the technology industry to build a cooperative product. A cooperative product being one in which you cannot immediately...
3 tags
Aussie Rules
Aaron Holesgrove, in a contributor piece for Silicon Alley Insider, titled “Why Windows 8 is not Fundamentally Flawed as a Response to the iPad,” takes the typical path of defending Microsoft’s latest innovation against a mob of Apple fans. In short, he lambasts the critics’ logical inconsistencies, the simplicity of Apple’s toy-like products, and deftly suggests...
4 tags
Thoughts on a Keynote
The WWDC 2011 Keynote is over. Lots of new features, services and APIs were announced, the implications of which will not be truly felt for months or longer. But a few quick thoughts on today’s event:
Apple’s vision of the cloud makes native apps better. Others see the cloud as a substitute for native apps.
Some will say that the Mac was “demoted”. I prefer to say that...
May 2011
1 post
3 tags
Mobile OS Share vs. Browser Share
I can’t help but see similarity in the trend of Mobile OS market share and web browser share. Given the prevalence of open source in the browser space, this comparison may yield more interesting insights into the future of Mobile than the PC industry.
Source: Gartner via AndroidAndMe
Source: StatCounter Global Stats - Browser Market Share
April 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Silly Season
It must be silly season.
Over the weekend, clamor about a future Apple Television kicked up again. No doubt fueled by rumors of channel checks indicating that a new unicorn was near.
As much as I’d like to replace my off-brand 32” HDTV with something shiny from Apple, I do not believe Apple will launch a television. At least, not yet.
Some have pointed to the stranglehold that...
3 tags
There Are No Absolutes
Linux Foundation Executive Director Jim Zemin:
Apple is your worst enemy and your best friend if you’re an open source guy. Apple in many ways has done a lot of good things for open source and for Linux. It changed the definition of what client computing is. That has been good for Linux. Apple also has a lot of open source components within their products and tends to work very well, in...
3 tags
Blind Spots
Apple is a fashion brand with a brain. People may eventually lose interest in Jony Ive’s sleek aluminum and glass designs. To the less discerning, any 4x5 grid of app icons will look the same — whether it’s running on iOS, Android or QNX. And at some point (simply by virtue of scale), other platform vendors will be able to hold up $1 billion developer payout checks.
The core...
February 2011
3 posts
2 tags
Allegory of the Park Checker Boards
The Allegory of the Park Checker Boards, or my mental image of the global mobile industry from 2007 to 2011.
~
Imagine a bank of checker tables in the park. A set of grizzled men sits playing, as they have for years. They move the pieces about haphazardly. No pattern to their movements. One player is slightly better than the others, but no player is very good. The games are played as wars of...
2 tags
The Photo that Launched a Thousand Questions
Nathan Bowers (@nathanbowers) posted the photo above this afternoon. The photo shows a U.S. supermarket end-cap display promoting several Android-powered smartphones (or so it appears at first glance), with wireless service provided by Sprint.
As someone who follows the mobile industry closely, this photo is emblematic of the smartphone’s rise from a luxury product for technophiles to...
6 tags
On Market Share
Android has overtaken Symbian smartphone operating system market share. Apple’s lead in tablets is plummeting (or not). These days news about mobile market share is rampant, and seemingly everyone wants to add their voice to the chorus of pundits discussing the numbers.
But let’s set aside questions of how market share is calculated to ask a simple question: why does market share...
January 2011
1 post
5 tags
Why "Apps" Now?
A quick look at Google Trends for the word “app” shows that it was little used before 2008.
While the launch of Apple’s App Store in 2008 (with iPhone OS 2.0) brought the term into public consciousness, the idea of “app” is not just the word application, truncated. Instead “apps” represent the confluence of several trends in the making:
Computers...
December 2010
1 post
4 tags
For Web Economics to Prevail
The web’s poor economics, which Jeff Zucker famously called “digital pennies,” were not inevitable. They were the result of a clamor for content and audience, pursued with little regard for costs or building self-sustaining business models.
Some will argue the mobile web is no different. I disagree. The web’s economics are what happens when “free” capital and...