Good morning, It’s the end of week 2 – thanks for being a member! If you have not yet (re)made your t-shirt size selection, please do so (some people who signed up in the first week did not have their sizes recorded properly). You can update your size (or decline it) on your profile page.Subscribe […]
Daily Email (2014-04-22): Microsoft, Cloud Services, and Amazon
Good morning, I’m making good progress on finding a solution to making this content readable in RSS readers and web browsers for those of you who hate email. In the meantime, if you click the “Open in Browser” link at the top, you can not only read this content in a browser, but also subscribeSubscribe […]
The Heart of Dropbox
Last Thursday, after waking up to the news of Dropbox’s most recent announcements,1 I couldn’t have been less impressed. To quote myself from a chat I had with a friend: “Dropbox is an unfocused mess.” But then I actually watched the event. I’ve long been a believer in cloud storage; back in college I experimented […]
Box, Microsoft, and the Next Enterprise Platform
Let’s get one thing out of the way: there is nothing about Box’s S-1 filing that suggests tech is in a bubble. Indeed, the fact Aaron Levie and company are not yet profitable is a good thing. To understand why, you must read Should Startups Focus on Profitability or Not by VC Mark Suster: There […]
Digital Hub 2.0
The PC was famously the digital hub; now that is the smartphone.
Microsoft’s Mobile Muddle
Saying “Microsoft missed mobile” is a bit unfair; Windows Mobile came out way back in 2000, and the whole reason Google bought Android was the fear that Microsoft would dominate mobile the way they dominated the PC era. It turned out, though, that mobile devices, with their focus on touch, simplified interfaces, and ARM foundation, […]
Battle of the Box
The battle between Dropbox and Box show the differences between selling to consumers and selling to enterprise.
Business Models for 2014
Perhaps the greatest continuing disconnect between technologists and normals is the value ascribed to software. As Marc Andreesen famously declared, “Software is eating the world,” and while that is absolutely true, software, especially in the consumer space, is not eating value, at least not directly. In fact, if 2013 taught us anything, it’s that the […]
Overstating the Consumerization of IT
Marco Arment, in Underscore Price Dynamics: This is the real reason why Apple doesn’t care about upgrade pricing: there’s no demand from customers. The market has shown that free apps will be downloaded at least an order of magnitude more than paid-up-front apps, and smart use of in-app purchase in a free app is likely […]
Another Nokia Explanation; The Same Tragic Conclusion
While I remain convinced that Microsoft’s Nokia acquisition was largely driven by fear of losing Nokia as an OEM, either to Android or bankruptcy, there is something else curious about the timing. (The following scenario is conjecture, but not the analysis that follows) ValueAct, who is opposed to Microsoft’s push into devices, was dissuaded from […]