Apple was never in a position to respond to WeChat, just as Microsoft couldn’t respond to Google. Then, Chromebooks win in education for more reasons than cost.
Microsoft’s Hardware Event, Satya Nadella Versus Windows, The Surface Strategy
Microsoft’s hardware event was very compelling on multiple levels: what it said about Windows, what it said about Microsoft, and what it said about Satya Nadella.
Daily Update: Microsoft’s Windows 10 Event (and Project HoloLens)
Good morning, Today’s update is all about Microsoft’s myriad of announcements yesterday. I think it makes the most sense to think of the event, billed as being about Windows 10, in three parts: Part 1 was the overview of Windows 10, including the vision underlying the operating system, demos of specific functionality, as well asSubscribe […]
Daily Update: Ello Follow-up, Windows 10, Apple Watch in Paris
Good morning, The biggest news yesterday was that Ebay plans to spin off Paypal. I definitely think this is the right move, but I also suspect it’s too late. I plan to write more about it in a day or two. On to the update: Ello Follow-up I was actually surprised I didn’t get moreSubscribe […]
It’s Time to Split Up Microsoft
To understand why so many serious Microsoft observers were encouraged by Satya Nadella’s week-ago memo Bold Ambition and Our Core,1 it’s useful to go back 10 years and read Steve Ballmer’s 2004 memo Our Path Forward. It was around this time that cracks were first starting to appear in the Microsoft machine: the stock had […]
Daily Update: Windows 8.1 with Bing, Hacking and Corporate Responsibility, Asian Chat App Updates
Good morning, Happy Memorial Day to my US readers, and Happy Monday to the rest of the world. When it comes to holidays, I plan on observing the Taiwanese holidays for most of the year, but American holidays during the summer (i.e. July 4). I’ll always let you know before I take a day offSubscribe […]
It’s Time to Kill Surface
“The question that needs to be asked and answered is why hardware.” To Satya Nadella’s credit, he provided not just the answer, but the question as well. And, looked at narrowly, there were good things seen – and not seen – at Microsoft’s Surface event. Having clearly failed as a mass market device, it makes […]
Daily Update: Lenovo Earnings, Windows 8 Banned, Google Buys Divide
Good morning, Only 49% of you opened yesterday’s email (it’s usually 80%+); I heard from several folks on Twitter that it got sent to spam, likely because of GroupOn, so please take a look and mark it as “not-spam” if that is the case. I’ll be writing about the Microsoft Surface announcements on Stratechery laterSubscribe […]
Microsoft Cloud Announcement, Cordova and Windows RT, Xbox Silliness
Good morning, I went deep on Apple’s (alleged) acquisition of Beats, yet in some ways, I’m not sure I went deep enough. One thing I was trying to capture is that there is a very benign explanation for this acquisition: Beats solves a lot of problems for Apple. And maybe that’s all it is. Still,Subscribe […]
Bill Gates’ Steve Jobs Moment
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, once pirates, now legends, are forever linked in tech history. You know the lore: both collaborators and competitors in the 80s; Gates dominant in the 90s; Jobs triumphant in the 00s. Their career arcs were different though: Gates went out on top, retiring to a life of philanthropy, while Jobs […]