Speaking of the basket breaking,
Apple and Google are the dominant smartphone platforms and there is really only room for one more, said Veritas’s Monga. When Nokia was reorganizing, RIM had its chance to establish itself as the third. It may have lost the opportunity, he said.
Eighteen months ago, RIM was fighting but had a fighting chance,” he said. “Now, the problems RIM has on its software platform seem to be insurmountable.
A few weeks ago I gave this interview with Media Indonesia, a local newspaper who wanted to put up a profile of me for some reason and in it was a question about Microsoft. This is a small part of what I had to say about the company:
The Surface table and the Microsoft Courier tablet were breakthrough devices between 2009-2010 which also could not get off the ground thanks to the company prioritizing the team on Windows and Office.
By coincidence, C|net produced this article yesterday about how Bill Gates practically killed the Courier tablet even when he was no longer running Microsoft. This part here explained what happened to the Courier:
Courier users wouldn’t want or need a feature-rich e-mail application such as Microsoft’s Outlook that lets them switch to conversation views in their inbox or support offline e-mail reading and writing. The key to Courier, Allard’s team argued, was its focus on content creation. Courier was for the creative set, a gadget on which architects might begin to sketch building plans, or writers might begin to draft documents.
“This is where Bill had an allergic reaction,” said one Courier worker who talked with an attendee of the meeting. As is his style in product reviews, Gates pressed Allard, challenging the logic of the approach.
It’s not hard to understand Gates’ response. Microsoft makes billions of dollars every year on its Exchange e-mail server software and its Outlook e-mail application. While heated debates are common in Microsoft’s development process, Gates’ concerns didn’t bode well for Courier. He conveyed his opinions to Ballmer, who was gathering data from others at the company as well.
Within a few weeks, Courier was cancelled because the product didn’t clearly align with the company’s Windows and Office franchises, according to sources.
Instead of seeking and taking a risk on a possible new revenue stream, Gates and Microsoft held on to its existing and proven source or revenue. This is similar to the approach that RIM took by requiring the PlayBook to be not much more than a BlackBerry accessory.
Both companies are holding on to a core component which heavily relies on the success of a single product, essentially putting everything into a single basket. This is why they keep failing to innovate. RIMs basket is breaking as we speak although it’s probably going to be a long while before Microsoft’s Windows/Office basket breaks.
Have had this in my Instapaper account for a couple of days but I keep forgetting to post it on the blog. In case you haven’t caught on, Mona Simpson is Steve Jobs’ sister who only found out about their relationship when she was 25. A moving and powerful eulogy.
Gmail over the last couple of years
Don’t get me wrong, the Android Gingerbread interface isn’t bad, it’s just not always smooth. In just a few days with the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 I had come to expect operation to be fluid and consistent system-wide. That’s just not the case with Android, and every little interruption in smooth operation now accumulates into a feeling of frustration as I use the phone.
Basically the N9 has a much more muted color dynamics. Which one is more natural? I can’t say but the photos from the 4S certainly look much more vibrant, attractive and lively. The N9 benefits from having a wide angle lens though.
Breaking news on October 5, 2011. Collected, compiled, and edited by @pinot.
Steve Jobs on video. John Gruber recommends the iPhone introduction as Jobs’ best presentation ever.
Ten years ago today, we still had not yet met the iPod. The last of Steve’s five decades on this Earth ended up being his most accomplished by far. Remember that whenever you think your best days are behind you. We can’t control when our lives begin, and we can’t really control when they end. All we have is what’s in between. Make it count.
Steve did.
AuliaSays 