Redmond and Reality

Microsoft’s dominance in enterprise software was built on the difficulty of managing software installations; SaaS removes that linchpin entirely.

Daily Update: Facebook Earnings, Naver/LINE Disappoint

Good morning, Three quick things: I wrote a bonus article – Bad Assumptions – about why so many get Apple so wrong so often. I did not email this one – it was a bonus! – so please read it on Stratechery if you have not. I think you’ll like it With regards to severalSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Christmas Gifts for Microsoft, Intel, and Amazon

Good morning, I hope you all are having a good Christmas break (or a good end-of-the-year, if you’re not in the West). As I noted last week, The Daily Update is on a reduced schedule for these two weeks, with updates on Mondays and Tuesdays only. There will be no December 31-January 2. The regularSubscribe […]

Daily Update: Yahoo’s Wrong Choice, What if Yahoo had Bought Google?, Amazon’s E-commerce Vulnerability, plus Stratechery Gifts

Good morning, Many of you asked me how you can give Stratechery memberships as a gift, and I’m happy to announce you can give one year, non-renewing memberships by visiting this link: Stratechery Gifts Once you make your payment I will send you a registration link for the gift membership; you can forward this linkSubscribe […]

Daily Update: App Store Anguish, Old Apple’s Last Stand, Time for a Change?

Good morning, Today’s update is, perhaps, a bit controversial, but my conclusion is not one I have come to recently, or lightly. On to the update: App Store Anguish The App Store is in the news again, and, unfortunately, it’s for all the wrong reasons. Again. The recent string of complaints are primarily about newSubscribe […]

Best

The key to avoiding disruption is by providing a superior user experience; that, though, requires focus and execution.

Daily Update: A Positive Sign for Intel, and a Bad One; Apple WatchKit

Good morning, I almost edited out the line in yesterday’s piece about Uber that stated Emil Michael would probably be fired, and I probably should have: CEO Travis Kalanick seemed to suggest in a tweetstorm that Emil Michael wasn’t going anywhere. Of course things could change, but what kind of CEO would keep someone onSubscribe […]

Daily Update: The Uber Problem, Samsung’s Next Act, Nokia is Back!

Good morning, With regards to yesterday’s note on the web not being dead, John Gruber wrote a great post called Native Apps are Part of the Web; I also forgot that I wrote a guest post earlier this year defending the web for writers. Still, though, it doesn’t really matter what any of us think:Subscribe […]

Two Microsofts

My well-chronicled frustration with Microsoft’s corporate strategy comes down to one point: I don’t think any company should have both horizontal (i.e. services) and vertical (i.e. devices) businesses. It creates conflicting incentives: a horizontal business should be great on every platform, while a vertical business should be differentiated. Thus, I was quite pleased when Satya […]