Recent Articles

Steve Lohr writing about IBM’s exit from PCs and HP’s double down on PCs:

>Today, I.B.M.’s stock market value, at $217 billion, is more than four times that of the struggling H.P.

This is a great story about the smart moves IBM made to stay relevant and how they are now using that strategy to woo young talent to the company, largely by saying:

>The pitch, he says, is that I.B.M. is a place where you can make a difference and do deep science.

I also love the fact that as part of crafting a new strategy, Palmisano sat down and read old speeches from Thomas Watson Sr to get a better sense of what the company was meant to be.

That’s a huge drop. For comparison here’s what iMessage did to our family’s text message usage:

It’s important to note that I was using iOS 5 since July, but that not many others were that I would normally text with. Also as you can see we didn’t have nearly as dramatic of a drop off as others had, yet we do text with a ton of iPhone users.

I noticed that in late November and early December a lot more blue bubbles started to pop-up. That is, I believe, people are just now moving onto iOS 5 — these text numbers should keep dropping.

Tyler Nichols:
>Free customers are higher maintenance than paying customers.

A fantastic take by Larry Downes on why Best Buy is going to fail:
>The reasons for the company’s dwindling prospects are easy to find. Just walk into one of the company’s retail locations or shop online. And try, really try, not to lose your temper.

This is a long post but, as far as I am concerned, it is a must read.

iansmith6:

>The first was to see how much power the Galaxy Nexus could draw from the USB connection. This turns out to be about 4.5W. (0.9A at 5V)

And:

>Now the real test… Google Maps.
>This varied a LOT. Minimum was 4W with some steady peaks of 5.1W!

And that, folks, is how you drain a cellphone battery while it is attached to a charger.

Ben Kunz is trying for that honor with two choice passages in his latest piece of … article:
>Jobs’s quote is good advice for his successor as chief executive officer, Tim Cook, who needs a hit.

*Clearly* Cook needs a hit to turn around the flailing Apple since Jobs’ passing. *Clearly*. It’s not like Apple is, I don’t know, the most valuable company or anything. ((Ok so when I wrote this Apple’s market cap was below Exxon’s. Which *clearly* invalidates everything I say here. *Clearly*. So how about we just agree that I meant Tech company.))

Then:

>Could Apple put holograms in every home, break the stranglehold of cable companies, and unlock a $14 billion TV revenue stream? It’s an audacious and perhaps crazy idea.

Sounds like a joke, but then Kunz follows it up with:

>Tim Cook, I like the way you think.

Oh goodness. Anyone who thinks that Apple will enter the TV market by just competing on a feature basis — which is what a hologram TV would be — is an idiot in my book.

Does anyone even want a hologram TV? I mean a [Holodeck](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodeck), hell yes, but hologram? That’s *so* 1980.