The WSJ, in an article entitled Apple Tests Larger Screens for iPhones, iPads: In recent months, Apple has asked for prototype smartphone screens larger than 4 inches and has also asked for screen designs for a new tablet device measuring slightly less than 13 inches diagonally, they said. The current iPhone 5 has a four-inch […]
2013
Services, not Devices
Microsoft needs to first understand the type of company it is, and choose its strategy accordingly. That means focusing on services, not devices.
The Uncanny Valley of a Functional Organization
Consider this Part 2 in an accidental series on Microsoft’s recent reorganization, and functional and divisional organizations. Part 1 focused on a divisional organization, while today’s Part 2 focuses on functional ones. The “Uncanny Valley” is most typically associated with animated films (although it was originally about robots). From Wikipedia: The uncanny valley is a […]
Why Microsoft’s Reorganization Is a Bad Idea
Steve Ballmer is reorganizing Microsoft into a functional organization: it is a mistake that misunderstands the company he leads.
The Dropbox Opportunity
Benedict Evans, in Glass, Home and solipsism, one of the most insightful posts I’ve read in some time: Your customers’ relationships with you are the only relationships you have as a business and you think a lot about them. But you’re one of a thousand things your customer thinks about in a week, and one […]
Apple Celebrates 5 Years of App Store With Free App Promotion
Macstories: Ahead of the App Store’s fifth anniversary on Wednesday, July 10, Apple has launched a new promotion that includes five “groundbreaking” iOS apps and five “landmark” iOS games; these apps will be available for free for a limited time to celebrate the first five years of App Store. Apple has posted an official page […]
Friction
The Internet has removed friction: that means a whole new set of possibilities; it doesn’t mean they are all good.
Independence
I answered a Quora question: It’s interesting how some folks are always looking for some sort of institutional authority.1 I’ve been quoted as “Microsoft’s Ben Thompson,” as “former Apple intern Ben Thompson,” and “batshit crazy Ben Thompson.” I actually wish the third were true, because, unlike the first two, the descriptor rests on what I […]
From my Inbox: GarageBand is a bad example
A reader counters yesterday’s note on GarageBand: I think especially GarageBand is a bad example, because in the realm of Music and Audio apps there seems to be a thriving business with lots of much, much more capable and (all in all) much better apps (not in breadth, but in depth) – with higher prices […]
From my Inbox: GarageBand and sustainable businesses
I got some great feedback on yesterday’s post about Apple and sustainable apps. I wanted to highlight one email in particular.1 A reader writes: Another way of framing the situation is by contrasting iOS hardware and OS releases against App Store monetization options. Hardware (CPU, graphics, RAM, display resolution) and iOS (APIs and frameworks) have […]