Disruption Theory
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Two Bears, Revisited
One of the more annoying aspects of the late great PC area was how review sites treated Macs: for all intents and purposes, they were just another PC. Consider this CNET review of the 2007 MacBook Pro:1 The good: Updated CPUs and graphics without an updated price; LED-backlit display for better battery life; 802.11n support. The…
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The General-Purpose iPad and the Specialist Mac
I’ve written previously that the iPad was helping to unbundle the general-purpose PC: The iPad and the Disaggregation of Computing The Humpty Dumpty PC The (Alleged) 13-Inch iPad and the Triumph of Thin Clients From the Humpty Dumpty PC: The iPad and other appliance-like devices have actually had the opposite effect [as compared to the iPhone]…
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Google’s New Business Model
Excepting the patent and panic-driven Motorola deal, prior to yesterday’s acquisition of Nest for $3.2 billion, the previous largest deal Google’s history was DoubleClick for $3.1 billion 2006. Beyond the similar dollar figures, it’s a deal worth considering for what it says about Google then and now. With the acquisition of DoubleClick, Google solidified its hold…
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Windows 8 and the Cost of Complexity
PCs just suffered their worse quarter ever. From the WSJ: World-wide PC shipments fell 10% last year, research firms Gartner Inc. and IDC said Thursday, the worst-ever sales slump for the industry. Both companies have been tracking personal computer sales since the 1980s. Computer makers have been hurt as consumers and businesses spend more time on…
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Chromebooks and the Cost of Complexity
While there is a question of degree, it seems quite certain that Chromebooks had a pretty good 2013. Many are attributing this to price – most Chromebooks cost $300 or less – and they’re almost certainly right. It seems like yet another case of disruption: a cheaper, inferior product enters the market against a competitor with…
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Christmas Gifts and the Meaning of Design
Gifts are a funny thing. A year ago, for Christmas 2012, my wife “gave” me an iPad mini. I use quotes because I actually bought it; supply was constrained, and when we got a notification that there were models in stock, I quickly dashed over to my local Apple Store1 and picked one up. It was…
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Whose iPad Life?
My mom just emailed me. Normally, that would be unremarkable. She’s getting older, but isn’t that old, and surely an email isn’t that difficult of a task. This email, though, speaks volumes: Start with the subject. HK is Hong Kong. My parents are flying from Chicago to Taiwan to see their grandchildren, and while they’ve done…
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The Magical iPad
This is part three in a series on last week’s iPad event. Part 1: Whither Liberal Arts? | Part 2: The Missing “Why” of the iPad | Part 3: The Magical iPad In The Missing “Why” of the iPad I wrote: Yesterday’s presentation covered the “What” and “How” of the iPad, but it had nothing about…
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Whither Liberal Arts?
This is part one in a series on last week’s iPad event. Part 1: Whither Liberal Arts? | Part 2: The Missing “Why” of the iPad | Part 3: The Magical iPad Steve Jobs closed the January, 2010 introduction of the iPad with this now famous slide: His remarks: The reason that Apple is able to…
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Obsoletive
Not all products are disruptive: some are obsoletive. They are more expensive but remove the need for entire categories of products.