Articles by Rob Enderle

Both BlackBerry and Microsoft have been in far stronger positions with regard to personal technology. At one time, Microsoft was contending for leadership in smartphones against Palm and BlackBerry, and BlackBerry took leadership only to lose it to Apple and then Samsung. Microsoft put tablets on the map in the early part of last decade, but it missed a memo and Apple refined them to success -- pointing out that beauty, price and battery life rule in something you hold. ...

A couple of years ago, I wrote on the beginning of my long-term plan to eventually retire in Belize. My wife and I just came back from our latest update trip. Our house plans are nearly finished, and we should start building within 12 months if everything goes as expected. There have been a lot of impressive improvements since we started on this j...

This year, Intel held its IDF during the same week as Apple's iPhone launch, and it's not the first time these events have coincided. However, I could count the number of times Intel has had something more interesting to present than Apple on one hand -- and have five fingers left over. That was true until last week, when Intel surprised the mar...

I was at Qualcomm's Uplinq last week, and the company announced a ton of products that could massively change how we interact with technology. I thought that the best way to showcase much of it might be a version of The Day Made of Glass, a video made by Corning to showcase the future it imagined, but in this case representing Qualcomm's view. If you watch the video, you'll actually find that Corning and Qualcomm are kind of on the same page -- they would simply emphasize different parts of the solution.

This story was originally published on June 17, 2013, and is brought to you today as partof ourBestofECT News series I'm into fixing problems -- in fact, for much of my life I've been employed as someone who is brought in to fix a difficult problem. I don't see much point in just complaining -- either try to fix it, ignore it, or move someplace wh...

As I write this, the U.S. has deployed a battle group to Syria in preparation for a missile strike against the government there, and Russia has deployed what appears to be a counter force. What most seem not to be factoring in is that Syria has already fired its warning shot with attacks on Twitter and The New York Times, at least I say "at least,...

At some point, as an analyst, you have to look for what ails an industry, and right now, it isn't the economy or even a lack of innovation behind the tech industry's woes. Instead, it is what appears to be a massive attempt by the U.S. government to destroy it While I call out the administration in the title, Congress is clearly equally to blame --...

If you look at what Carl Icahn had been doing with Dell -- and now with Apple, it starts to read like a protection racket. These were popular in the 1920s with organized crime -- you paid the syndicate a fee if you wanted to say in business I'm wondering if Icahn has found a legal way to extort money out of companies in trouble. It shouldn't be leg...

There's another video game console fight coming, and Microsoft's latest -- the Xbox One -- has a hard act to follow as it joins the fray. Its predecessor, the Xbox 360, took on the competition and eventually dominated the gaming segment. It has been outselling both the Nintendo and Sony consoles for some time now. I'm guessing Microsoft felt it had an unfair advantage, because it apparently has been doing its level best to scare gamers away from the Xbox One ever since it was announced. ...

This year is turning out to be rather interesting and not just in technology. There is actually a guy running for mayor in New York with the name "Weiner," famous for emailing pictures of his, well you know. This year in particular feels like we are living a Dilbert cartoon. For instance, after the airline crash in San Francisco, one of our loc...

I finished my hunt for a new car last month, and as many know, it came down to either the Tesla S or the Jaguar F-Type. While affording one of those expensive cars in full performance form was questionable, there was no question we couldn't afford both. Since I'm a sports car guy, I think it is a real credit to Tesla that I placed its large sedan -- and it is large -- ahead of the other sports cars I drove. ...

This could just as easily be "Beating Microsoft 101," or "Beating ARM 101" -- basically how to beat any vendor that is dominant in a particular market. There is a way to beat a dominant vendor, but it's almost never by chasing that vendor from behind -- unless you want to spend a ton of money. Apple didn't beat Microsoft by tying to build a better PC, and neither Microsoft nor Sun ever beat IBM by building a better mainframe. ...

What you are going to see in a few days, when Dell stockholders get to vote on Michael Dell's plan to buy back his company, is a war of perceptions -- and perhaps a revelation on the state of the U.S. investor. Both ISS and the Chancery Court have clearly come down on Michael Dell's side, arguing that what Dell is offering is a sure thing, while what Carl Icahn is promising is a long shot. ...

In the U.S., we spent last week celebrating Independence Day -- the day we split from a government that our ancestors didn't trust because it was disconnected from the people. It is fascinating to watch the leaks coming out lately, which suggest our government is acting against the best interests of the people, given that the focus is to neutralize the leakers rather than refocus government attention on the people's needs. ...

I have a fascination with litigation. One of my early career choices was to become an attorney, and I was actually mentored for a time by a judge. Over the years, I've spent a lot of time engaged in litigation or covering it. I just watched a presentation by the National Association of Attorneys General, and these top law enforcers painted Google as a criminal organization with so much power that it has unusual influence over the federal government. ...

There was a huge battle between GM and Microsoft at COMDEX years ago, when Bill Gates said, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving US$25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon." GM got pissed and issued a press release suggesting how a Microsoft-built car would operate, comparing it to Windows -- how often the car would crash, how incompatible it would be. GM brought up pretty much everything that was wrong with Windows a decade ago (this event is archived here). ...

I'm into fixing problems -- in fact, for much of my life I've been employed as someone who is brought in to fix a difficult problem. I don't see much point in just complaining -- either try to fix it, ignore it, or move someplace where it doesn't affect you. (I'm also planning to move to Belize.) The current problem is that the U.S. appears to be conducting a cyberwar against its citizens. ...

For much of the last decade, Microsoft has set an example more of doing things wrong than right, but at TechEd last week, Microsoft suddenly was showcasing a number of really smart decisions and best practices. It almost felt like an event from a different company -- or the company I remember from the 1990s, before it got arrogant; when it was yo...

Windows has been through four major changes. Huge numbers of folks really didn't like them -- each one was painful. Windows almost had five major changes, but Microsoft Bob was so badly received Microsoft killed it. Windows 8 may seem like the most painful, but since I've lived through all of these I can say from experience that it isn't even cl...

There is an interesting battle forming between the most powerful game console with the most potential, Microsoft's Xbox One, and Nvidia's Shield -- a rebel platform that I think is worth a look. Both platforms are going after a gaming opportunity, but they are approaching this market very differently. Microsoft is pushing the envelope on the ...