Know what a loss leader is? It’s something you give a way at or below cost in order to get feet in the door of your store or to get people clicking through to your website. Enter the word, “unlimited”. Really now. Not many things are actually unlimited. Stars and planets exist for a long time, but unlimited? No. The universe goes on for quite a long distance – as a species, we’ll likely never know the answer to the…
This evening, in lieu of a transcript, I listened a few times to Steve Ballmer’s CES keynote – specifically around the 3:06:23 mark. Given my blog post yesterday, I was most curious as to whether I was correct that there would not be any x86 application compatibility for Windows running on ARM. Steve’s words are below, emphasis is mine: “We are very excited about the full set of partners for the next version of Windows. NVidia, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments…
There has been quite a bit of recent discussion and hearsay about Windows on ARM processors – that is, a rumor that Microsoft is developing a version of Windows (full Windows, not CE/Windows Phone 7 – which already run on ARM) that supports the low-powered ARM processor preferred for mobile devices today. Windows NT, upon which all full versions of Windows today are based, was designed from day one to be a “portable” architecture. Though the Intel x86 (and the…
With the tepid reception of the first generation of Google TV devices, the article that follows may seem too kind to Google. I ask you to suspend reality for a few minutes, and imagine that Google will, as Google often does, “try, try again”. Recently I discussed three devices that today may not seem terribly similar. However, I believe that in the next 1-2 years, you will see these three devices, and the three companies behind them, going head to…
Name: Parking finder Product: Mobile maps (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, any other mobile device) Problem: When looking up directions to a destination – why not provide parking resources too? Proposed solution: You’re looking up directions to a theatre, pub, or some other venue that you want to go to – and almost any mapping software can get you there. But if you’re traveling to any densely populated area, such as downtown in a major city, a theme park, or…
This is the first post in a series I plan, outlining ideas either for modifications to existing products, or a desire for an entirely new product. As a product manager or program manager for almost 10 years, random ideas strike me at a moments notice, but I can’t productize everything I dream up. If I post an idea here, it is public domain. Name: Route builder Product: Mobile maps (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, any other mobile device) Problem: When…
This Tuesday, Google revealed more about Chrome OS, though it remains likely at least 6 months away from anything available commercially. For now, it’s prototype and beta testing time. One of the most common questions I’ve heard about Chrome OS is, “Why? Google already has an OS. It’s Android.” Recall Google’s mission statement: To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Noble goal, and seemingly altruistic. But at the end of the day, Google makes revenue…
The 1990’s saw Microsoft invest considerably in IPTV research as well as investing directly in communications providers, in 1998 they collaborated with Sega on the Dreamcast and they acquired WebTV for $425M in 1997. I distinctly recall no end of criticism from the press for Microsoft’s continued investment in IPTV, something that Microsoft felt was a longer term investment, but that pundits missed the wisdom of. The Dreamcast is of course now discontinued, as is WebTV, though it is hard for me to…
I like opening with that subject – because it’s two words that Apple seems to never want to see next to each other. On Slashdot today, an article covered my friends from F-Secure discussing the barriers that are precluding the antivirus industry from making inroads in protecting iPhones from malware. Indeed, they are correct, you cannot build A/V into the iPhone platform – the API is explicitly designed to forbid that. However, I have to counterpoint. I mentioned in a…
I’ve been spending a bit of time looking into something that has bothered me for awhile. I refer to it as “Predatory Utility Software”, or “PUS”. On Christmas day, I received two pieces of spam. These were admirable because they were able to defeat SpamSieve (my favorite software purchase of 2008). They were frustrating because they offered a piece of… software called “Error Nuker”. For years, I’ve been telling people that so-called “registry cleaners” don’t do anything, and in fact…