The PC Informant » Apple

How the PC began and Xerox lost an unprcedented opportunity

Vic Laurie — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:01:35 +0000

The way the PC is set up today is a very old concept. Windows is 25 years old but the basic design for the PC goes back further to the early work done at the Stanford Research Institute and the Xerox PARC lab in Palo Alto, California. The story of how Xerox could have been the founder and behemoth of the computing industry but whose top management had no clue about the extraordinary opportunity before them will forever be a prime case in business history. With all the discussion of where Microsoft might be going, it is worth noting that Microsoft played no role in the earliest days. In fact, there was no Microsoft then. It was Steve Jobs who really got the PC going when Xerox dropped the ball. The video clip below relates some of the history.

About some mobile devices

Vic Laurie — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:56:54 +0000

Are you curious about what some of the new smartphones look like? CNET has a gallery of photos of some of the latest offerings.

Also from CNET is a new FAQ about the Apple iPad, which is scheduled to appear in early April.

Is the iPad the model of a consumer PC?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:26:40 +0000

The blogosphere continues to echo with posts about the iPad. One interesting theme is the idea that the iPad is the long-needed computer appliance for Everyman. Here’s a sample:

Apple reinventing file access, wireless sharing for iPad
Apple Insider writes, “…Apple’s new iPad jettisons the conventional shared file system and introduces a new, streamlined convention for working with document files that ordinary users should find much more understandable.”
The Failure of Empathy
The empathy Mike Monteiro is referring to is what’s missing from computer experts when regarding average PC users. He says, “The iPad isn’t the future of computing; it’s a replacement for computing.”
The IPad Isn’t a Third Device, but a Third Revolution
At Macworld, Dan Moren says, “The key here, as with the iPhone, is to abstract the nitty-gritty details of the underpinnings and remove obstructions in the way you do things.”
Why My Mom’s Next Computer Is Going To Be An iPad
At TechCrunch, Ethan Nicholas writes, “The iPad is a computer for people who don’t like computers. People who don’t like the idea of upgrading their 3D drivers, or adjusting their screen resolution, or installing new memory. Who don’t understand why their computer gets slower and slower the longer they own it, who have 25 icons in their system tray and have to wait ten minutes for their system to boot up every day.”
The iPad’s future shock
At Computerworld, Fraser Speirs writes, “If the iPad and its successor devices free these people to focus on what they do best, it will dramatically change people’s perceptions of computing from something to fear to something to engage enthusiastically with.”

Of course, there are plenty of naysayers as well. Like most commentary, posts about the iPad often reflect a vested interest. Apple enthusiasts tend to praise the iPad, Microsoft lovers say it’s a dud. Only time will tell who is right.

In the meantime, if you need to learn still more about the iPad, here are two links that should give you just about all the information you would want:

Your Biggest iPad Questions Answered
At Technologizer, Harry McCracken fills you in.
Walt Mossberg, David Carr And Michael Arrington Talk iPad With Charlie Rose
Three technology journalists give their assessment. (Video clip below)

Reliability and service ratings

Vic Laurie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:09:54 +0000

PC World has published the results of its annual reader’s survey of service and reliability. In the laptop category Apple, followed by Toshiba, gets the best marks. At the bottom are HP and Dell. HP is at the bottom of the desktop ratings as well. It’s a sad situation when the top two American OEMs (by sales) have such poor reliability and service. PC World writes:

After watching HP turn in dismal results on our survey for the past several years, we asked what was happening. Why were our readers rating a top-tier company as subpar in reliability and support, year after year?

Jodi Schilling, vice president of HP’s American customer support operations, says the company is aware of the issues and took measures in 2009 to rectify the situation. Schilling says, “We’re trying to move to a leadership position in service and support, and that’s taking a large investment and some time.”

In response, PC World notes:

On the other hand, as welcome as those changes sound, HP has not announced plans to increase its staff of tech support representatives. Hiring additional reps would no doubt be expensive, but it might also fundamentally change the experience that HP’s customers have when they call tech support for help.

Apple iPad frenzy broke the Internet

Vic Laurie — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:40:23 +0000

The mass frenzy before, during, and after the announcement of the iPad was bad enough as an indication of the paucity of ideas in the blogosphere. Even scarier was the fact that all the activity brought down significant chunks of the Internet. I couldn’t get on ZDNet or some other sites to do some research and the outages were widespread. PC World reported:

We knew today’s Apple tablet announcement was a big deal. We didn’t know, however, that it was big enough to bring the Internet to a near-standstill.

While Steve Jobs was discussing the highly anticipated iPad, IT workers across the country were discussing how to get their servers back up and running. And this time, it wasn’t just Twitter taking the nosedive.

If this is all it takes to bring down the Internet, the capacity and infrastructure deficiencies are even more dire than I thought. It seems almost foreordained that there will be a massive Internet outage some day soon.

The Apple iPad

Vic Laurie — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:00:02 +0000

For weeks, incredible numbers of electronic bits have been consumed by stories on the rumored Apple tablet computer. No one knew for sure what Apple was going to come up with but that didn’t keep the blogosphere from being jammed with post after post full of guesses and useless commentary. All sorts of speculation about which market would be killed by the new miracle gadget was bandied about. The product, called the iPad, was finally announced by Steve Jobs yesterday, amidst breathless real-time blogging during the unveiling. Is it the product of the year? Is it a flop? Opinion runs the gamut. Actually no one knows. David Pogue writes at the New York Times:

My main message to fanboys is this: it’s too early to draw any conclusions. Apple hasn’t given the thing to any reviewers yet, there are no iPad-only apps yet (there will be), the e-bookstore hasn’t gone online yet, and so on. So hyperventilating is not yet the appropriate reaction.

At the same time, the bashers should be careful, too. As we enter Phase 2, remember how silly you all looked when you all predicted the iPhone’s demise in that period before it went on sale.

Like the iPhone, the iPad is really a vessel, a tool, a 1.5-pound sack of potential. It may become many things. It may change an industry or two, or it may not. It may introduce a new category — something between phone and laptop — or it may not. And anyone who claims to know what will happen will wind up looking like a fool.

The Bits blog at the New York Times has a roundup of opinion. You can watch the actual announcement by Steve Jobs at CNET. Walt Mossberg’s first impressions are here.

Apple and Google as enemies?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:17:00 +0000

Unlike Microsoft’s early bare-knuckle, no-holds-barred approach to other companies, Google maintained a pretty friendly relation with many in the tech industry as it grew. For example, there was a lot of collaboration with Apple. Google CEO Eric Schmidt was even on the Apple board of directors until recently. Google was also a big supporter of Mozilla and Firefox, providing most of its income. Now both those relationships are strained and Apple and others are starting to feel some sharp elbows from Google as it moves into more and more areas. Apple is even said to be talking with Microsoft(!) about making Bing the search engine on iPhones. At the New York Times, Nick Bilton writes The War Between Apple and Google Has Just Begun. He notes:

As Google and Apple enter new realms, the two companies are competing in more arenas than we can count. In mobile hardware and software, Apple has the iPhone, and Google has the Nexus One and its Android software. In cloud computing, Apple has MobileMe, and Google has its suite of Web applications, including Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar. As Google’s YouTube unit begins renting movies through its Web site, it will start competing with the highly successful iTunes store. Then there’s Picasa and iPhoto.

And there is Google Chrome bearing down on Mozilla’s Firefox. Many commentators think that the Firefox browser may lose significant market share to Chrome.

Is the smartphone the new general purpose platform?

Vic Laurie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:57:25 +0000

There is an ongoing discussion about whether the conventional consumer PC may be be supplanted by smartphones. For many, the smartphone provides all the functions that they need and its mobility is an essential advantage. In less-developed countries, the lower cost is also a key factor. To what extent devices like the iPhone will become a major Internet and computing platform remains to be seen but the New York Times has an article saying that the iPhone and the Apple App Store are major game changers:

Thanks in large part to the iPhone, introduced in 2007, and the App Store, which opened its doors last year, smartphones have become the Swiss Army knives of the digital age.

They provide a staggering arsenal of functions and tools at the swipe of a finger: e-mail and text messaging, video and photography, maps and turn-by-turn navigation, media and books, music and games, mobile shopping, and even wireless keys that remotely unlock cars.

Alternative to QuickTime player

Vic Laurie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:13:45 +0000

Unless you like to play files from an iPod on your PC or use iTunes, you probably will not need to have the full-blown QuickTime package from Apple on your computer. For the occasional video on the Web that uses Apple formats, a much smaller (and possibly more secure) application is QT Lite:

QT Lite is a trimmed down version of QuickTime that contains only the essential components needed for playing QuickTime content that is embedded in web pages. Works on windows XP, 2003, Vista, and Windows 7.

Another player that I have mentioned before is QuickTime Alternative, which is QT Lite combined with Media Player Classic. Both packages can be downloaded here.

Did Apple blow a golden opportunity?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:49:12 +0000

When Microsoft was struggling with the poor reception for Vista, poor search market share, security holes, and other problems, Apple made some inroads on Windows. However, several observers have written that Apple failed to really take advantage when Microsoft was in a hole. Now with Windows 7 revitalizing Microsoft, they say the chance to make substantial gains on Microsoft has passed.

Jim Jubak is a stock market commentator and at his investment blog, he asks, Has Apple blown it? Did the company squander the competitive chance of a lifetime? He makes a pretty good analysis:

But it still looks to me that Apple has missed its chance. It had a limited window of opportunity when competitors such as Microsoft couldn’t do anything right and it didn’t turn that opening into a big enough share of the personal computer market. It was first to market with a game-changing smart phone but the company has pursued a high-end niche strategy with the iPhone that has left the door wide open for Google to grab for the mass market.

If this is as good as it gets for Apple, the company has no one to blame, finally, but itself. The opportunity was there and Apple didn’t exploit it as ruthlessly and as relentlessly as it needed to.

Here’s my basic problem with Apple’s strategy and execution: The company didn’t kick ‘em hard enough when they were down.

In his blog, Bill Pytlovany, Windows expert and the author of WinPatrol, writes:

The market has been ripe for Apple to pick up a sizable portion of the computer share but it has failed. According to market researchers IDC and Gartner, Macintosh sales are up but their share is still way below 10%. That compares to PC sales by Acer and Toshiba. Why doesn’t the Mac have a larger market share?

Apple Inc has a polished image, high customer satisfaction and its brand identity couldn’t be much better. People who chose Macs have been very happy with their purchase. The only portable music play anyone wants is an iPod. The iPhone has set the bar so high for cell phones that companies are struggling to keep up. The stock value of AAPL is double what it was a year ago and is still climbing.

So, why are people still forking over their hard earned money for Windows 7 machines and not Macs? It doesn’t make sense. Did Apple drop the ball while Steve Jobs was on sick leave? In their efforts to target the cool people did they missed an opportunity to attract the main stream market disappointed with Windows Vista?

Personally, I think Apple has decided that the PC is not its main business. After all, it’s the consumer electronics like the iPod and the iPhone that have been blockbuster successes. In PCs, Apple has a strong niche position in the upscale market but apparently doesn’t see any point in going up against an entrenched Windows in the mass PC market.

What do you think? Did Apple miss a big chance to increase its share of the PC market? Or is it really a consumer electronics and entertainment company?