Dylan

Dumbest Idea of 2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:45:58 -0800

That’s right, the first week of February is barely over and this is still the dumbest thing you will see in tech this year. As Microsoft scrambles for mobile relevancy and Nokia thrashes about trying to reinvent/save it’s dying self, the two have collaborated to bring you this spectacular Valentine’s Day deal: a Windows phone, speakers and a headset for the bargain basement price of - drum roll please - $900! Um…what?

http://www.theverge.com/microsoft/2012/2/7/2781831/nokia-lumia-800-microsoft-store-february-14

I’m remembering those commercials where “customers” went into electronic stores looking for cheap laptops and spent like $500 to get a Windows laptop vs. a Mac. I know the Lumia is unlocked and whatever, but a brand new unlocked iPhone is STILL several hundred dollars less…

You just can’t make this stuff up.

Calling out Leonid Kanopka

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:19:26 -0800

Just as David Goldstein made the classically abrasive and epically wrong claim Apple would crash and burn in retail, I caught this article by Leonid Kanopka (on my iPhone) when it first came out:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/310800-the-apple-bubble-is-ready-to-burst

It’s true enough everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think it’s important to point out when they’re so overly confident because they believe failure is a *certainty*:

If the economy does not pick up and the company does not cushion its freefall, we could see new lows into 2012 — maybe $85. Whatever the case, I see a rocky future and a new bubble about to burst. My recommendation: Sell.

Since Apple just reported some stratospheric earnings today, you’re going to be a difficult person to put any stock in, Leonid. But thanks for the giggles.

I was right about Howard Stringer

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:02:00 -0800

Thankfully, Howard made it easy to be right.

In my previous post about Howard Stringer:

http://dylan.me/post/12652723904/summing-up-howard-stringer

My good luck wishes didn’t save him from losing his job:

http://www.ceo.com/media_type/blogs/sony-ceo-no-longer-president/

Even though he said he wasn’t leaving:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sony-corp-chairman-ceo-howard-260183

Well here’s the thing Howie - we all knew you were out. A while before you did, apparently.

Things I Don't Get

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:23:51 -0800

There are quite a few things I don’t “get”. Here’s one:

This person is named entrepreneur of the year:

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20101119005238/en/WebVisible-Founder-Kirsten-Mangers-Named-Woman-Entrepreneur

Barely a year later the company the “entrepreneur of the year” started is dead under an allegedly “sudden” crushing mountain of debt:

http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/28/bank-shuts-down-local-online-advertising-company-webvisible-for-not-paying-debts/

Pretty sure it’s easy to see running out of money coming. Because, well, you know, you run out of it over time unless you blow everything at once. But hey, I’m not that smart so I’m sure I’m missing something here.

Summing up Howard Stringer

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:13:38 -0800

Here’s my summary of Howard Stringer’s recent comments about Sony TVs:

He’s dedicated five years and tons of money building something to compete with what Apple refers to as a “hobby” product.
He says it’s launching now, except that it isn’t since he didn’t say anything about it.
His tremendous insight into how to compete with Apple and iOS is: companies need to do what Apple did.

Here’s the thing though - the masses don’t care about Sony anymore; it’s a commoditized brand.

Good luck, Mr. Stringer.

Samsung Rips Off Gmail Logo?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 12:35:42 -0700

Hi Samsung. Innovate much? (hint: compare the “M”)

lol @ samsung

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 07:59:03 -0700

Some tech news outlets are reporting Samsung has “toppled” Apple in smartphone sales. Remember, just a month (or so) ago Samsung stated they would no longer be reporting smartphone sales - just shipments. So they’ve increased 4x in Q3 ‘11 compared to Q3 ‘10. Kind of reminds me of RIM talking up shipments vs. actual sales. Maybe Samsung’s taken a page from the RIM playbook. Yes, I went there.

Fox News and the New Math

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:13:47 -0700

Check it out. Fox News is reporting there are more than three thirds of Americans. Um…

Dow Jones has some sloooow servers

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:03:00 -0700

Maybe their network is cobbled together with hamsters and VIC-20s; it takes 10 days to unsubscribe from their email service.

I don't have many heroes

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:42:00 -0700

So I’m sad one of the great ones died today.

RIP Steve.

Google + Motorola

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:07:51 -0700

So GOOG wants MOT for 12.5B. AOL + Time Warner, Excite + @Home … I don’t see this ending well.

Andre Gide

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:40:06 -0700

One of my all-time favorite quotes. First read this about 16 years ago:

“One doesn’t discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.”

Pandora's Box

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 21:28:00 -0700

Years ago I listened to Yahoo! LaunchCast all day long while I worked. Somewhere along the line that morphed into listening to Pandora and boy, what a difference. Whereas LaunchCast was pretty good at getting to know my tastes in music, Pandora seemed downright amazing.

But several months ago I moved on again, this time to TuneIn Radio on my iPhone. TuneIn Radio gives you free access to tens of thousands of radio stations all over the world which means you can find pretty much anything you feel like listening to. It will preview what’s playing on a station. You can search in real time by song or artist (there are more search parameters but those are the ones I use the most).

If I want, I can plug my desktop speakers into my iPhone and play TuneIn in my office. I can stream TuneIn into my car over 3G. I can get my favorite stations around the globe anywhere I can get a decent data signal which, these days, really is just about everywhere.

I still think Pandora is awesome but I wonder if their IPO might be letting the genie out of the bottle. The mob is fickle …

Hope you make it guys!

Ron Johnson, CEO JC Penney

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 09:57:11 -0700

I’m posting this at the risk of being the David Goldstein to a JC Penney turnaround in retail.

I’ll take my chances.

I don’t think it’s stupid for Ron Johnson to leave Apple. I think joining JCP is. Johnson can be credited with Apple’s retail success insofar as he holds/held the title tethered to the responsibility for it. I believe the level of success is as much timing as anything. You can distribute the best message about the best products to everyone but if they’re not ready to accept the message, you don’t succeed.

Apple got to pick and choose their retail locations which is a large part of their legacy. JCP is physically and mentally associated with low-cost, low-end, low-price. Maybe they’ll shutter some stores. Maybe they’ll open some new ones. JC Penney inside Grand Central? All-glass JCP stores?

I understand the desire to run an iconic brand from the top floor, but at what cost? Investing $50M of your own money shows commitment, but it doesn’t necessarily reflect wisdom.

As always, time will tell.

Groupon: cash & crash.

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:31:52 -0700

Groupon’s current model isn’t sustainable. The founders and early investors know this which is why they’re using rounds and an IPO to cash out as much as they can. Large numbers of businesses are attracting customers who are only interested in coupons and deals and would never otherwise be patrons. As a web developer/designer it’s widely accepted you never engage a client by pricing to the bottom. It’s the same in business - coupon’s are great but coupon shoppers are only loyal as long as they’re getting coupons. And Groupon’s deals aren’t sustainable at massive discounts.

Don’t get me wrong - it’s a clever model. But the fact is they’re riding a wave of timing and novelty and printing money along the way. I suspect the cash & crash isn’t far behind. And as always … only time will tell.

On the Eve of WWDC 2011.

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:59:00 -0700

Yes, I’m a fan of Apple products. I’ve also read (but do not purport to be an expert of) much of Apple’s history, the result of which is a significant amount of respect and admiration for the sum total of Apple’s brand and leadership.

I’m a fan of any company that combines beautifully-designed products with fearless leadership, smashing the status quo along the way. The truth is there just aren’t that many companies that fit the bill.

Now that I’ve written my novel-esque disclaimer trying to persuade you of my objectivity regarding all things “Apple”, I’ve been thinking (not too hard, don’t worry) about tomorrow’s WWDC keynote and specifically, what’s going on with Apple and Twitter. I certainly understand the handiness of being able to connect to Twitter in numerous, interesting ways from within iOS but there’s so much talk about it, the black helicopters in my head are circling. Is this only a technology relationship of convenience or is it something more?

I believe it was last year (time can be such a blur) when Jobs had Zuck over to his house to dinner, which is apparently one of, if not Jobs’ favorite location for doing the “big deals”. And there were a few speed bumps integrating iTunes/Ping/Facebook. I guess I’m just wondering how big is Apple’s appetite for social media? Apple knows content is king and I think it knows user-created content (email, pictures, blogs, etc.) are tantamount to content. Apple moved from providing content (music, movies, apps via iTunes & Mac App Store) to user-created content (MobileMe) and tomorrow is likely dropping all those ingredients into the iCloud cauldron.

So why are my cranial black helicopters doing loops? How aggressive is Apple is going to get with social medai and their coffers of cash? I’m doing my best to avoid theorizing Apple will buy a big social media player like Twitter but … well … ? Probably not, I know. They bought Quattro Wireless after a failed attempt to buy Admob … big ol’ datacenter in NC … inviting all the international press … all this talk about Twitter? Not that Twitter is insignificant but I keep thinking, in light of Lion, iOS5, iCloud … who cares about Twitter tomorrow? What could be happening that’s generating so much talk?

We’ll know soon enough.

And so it begins.

Sat, 28 May 2011 23:45:20 -0700

For as long as I’ve been designing and developing web applications, it strikes some people strange I don’t blog, tweet, etc. So here it is: my official entrance into the public eye. Prepare to be stupefied attempting to figure out why I bothered. It’s actually simple - I’m working on some fantastic and exciting projects of my own (e.g. no clientele) and I want to talk about them! Well, that and I decided I needed a place to point out what’s right and wrong with the Intertubez.

Let the virtual pugilism begin.