Texrat

A Real iPhone Challenger - Barron's

Is there a vaccine for rabid Apple fanboyism?

Microsoft's Red Ring Riddle Resolved

It amazes me that this lesson has to be learned so often and to such a scale by so many companies. I've seen it first hand: bean counters refuse to listen to engineering and QA... at the entire company's peril.

Could eBay Be a Microsoft Takeover Target?

Interesting idea...

Microsoft Figured We'd All Be on Vista by Now

I would find it hard to believe MS had not tested AMD CPUs in general, much less AMD-equipped systems from HP. Sheesh. That *does* sound suspicious. I build with AMD due to price/performance and the desire to support competition. If AMD were to disappear, it would NOT be good-- even for the Intel fanatics!

As for Vista, MS reached a point of near-diminishing returns with XP. That OS was finally what most of us had been wanting. It was like reaching the peak of Everest after traipsing across sand dunes. From this point on, barring any revolutionary advances, every OS will simply be the result of tweaking. The only real advantage Vista has provided me is in the area of security, and they actually went too far in some respects (when is it going to learn to shut up when it comes to trusted actions and sources???).

Why Jerry Yang Needs To Drive a Beer Truck

Great article. Very captivating. And User 189781 is nuts.

2008 Will Bring More Platforms to Video Gaming

Don't count Nokia completely out. If the company chooses to get decent gaming going on the N800 and N810 palmtop computers, they'll have something. It remains to be seen if that will manifest, though.

Is Nokia Looking for Revenue in the Wrong Places?

Squawk, that's way too broad and hyperbolic. You're firing from the hip with a shotgun and hitting many of the wrong targets. Very ironic.

I acknowledged the hubris of Nokia execs, but it pretty much stops there. The Nokia rank and file are far more realistic in my experience. So no, in general the employees will not "say anything, as well as resort to anything, to hold onto its market share". That's a very unfair characterization. It's not even entirely accurate of the execs, either-- there are limits, as objectified by Tyco and Enron, that Nokia execs will not breach.

As for tactics vis-a-vis QCOM, let's be objective. QCOM can get just as dirty. There is no clear white hat or black hat in that tired debacle. Why do you think QCOM's former litigation lead quit? Think about it.

Is Nokia Looking for Revenue in the Wrong Places?

Yes, Nokia SVPs can be incredibly oblivious. They tend to forget that once upon a time Nokia was a rubber boot maker with no clue about cell phones. So why couldn't Apple acquire the same expertise? Obviously they did, at least to an extent. The iPhone phenomenon is still far more hype than reality, and until it gains significant market share I'll remain skeptical.

That said, Nokia apparently focused so highly on Motorola that Apple (and Samsung) were essentially ignored. The RAZR's ironic downfall for Moto boosted some Nokia egos, but I know that they're in the process of self-deflating now. Nokia will recover from the iPhone "surprise". Relying on 2-year-old interviews to paint the current landscape is disingenuous. As Moto learned to their dismay, this industry turns much quicker than that these days.