Articles by Rob Enderle

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about the battle between Google and Microsoft and how it is largely counterproductive for both companies. Since I spent a lot of my life in competitive analysis, I thought it might be fun to set out a strategy of how Google could take out Microsoft (which it is partially executing) and how Microsoft could ...

Google launched its Chrome OS, which is really a copy of several products already on the market and an interesting recreation of the thin client concept that Sun and Oracle came up with over a decade ago. You could argue, however, that most successful products, like the iPod and iPhone, are simply better copies of what came before. Really, nobody cares that much -- consumers only care about whether a new offering will make their lives better. The Google Chrome OS goes directly to a primary need that mainstream PC users have had unmet since the beginning: an appliance experience. ...

We seem to be surrounded by conflict; sometimes it seems peace is harder to make than war. There were two big events in tech last week: HP picked up 3Com, the company that first dominated the network space, as a major shot across Cisco's bow. Also the major legal battle of the decade, between AMD and Intel, came to an end. This market is defined...

Last week, two troubling trends were in evidence. The scarier one is that it appears the Obama administration is in the process of putting in place a secret antipiracy provision that has little to do with antipiracy and everything to do with killing properties like Google's YouTube. It is truly frightening, and people are already planning civil unrest to stop it. ...

Last month was fascinating for me. Not only was Windows 7 launched, but it appeared last week that because so many Mac users were installing Windows 7, some huge enterprise servers crashed. In addition, I got a chance to see Yahoo's new CEO Carol Bartz in action, and was both impressed with her and a little disappointed in the event. Finally, I got a chance to talk to the new managing director of the FCC and got a good sense for how the FCC is using social networking to actually create a more responsive government and move the needle on Net neutrality. ...

I really was anticipating a battle royal between Microsoft and Apple and thought both companies would come to the mat with their best stuff. It felt like Apple was so focused on maintaining high margins last quarter that it gave up a huge chance to grow share, and its stealth launch of a couple of PCs and a multitouch mouse just seemed lame next to the massive rollout of Windows boxes. ...

I'm getting ready to travel to New York for the Windows 7 launch and what may be my last plane trip ever if this post is correct. So I figured it was time to think about Windows Microsoft and Windows go back to the very beginning of the PC -- when people couldn't afford them, when networks were defined by terminal emulators and floppy disks, and w...

The age of the computer started in the 1950s, and one of the first things that happened to a then relatively tiny IBM was it got nailed by the Department of Justice. The result was competition and the modern age of computing. That was the age of the mainframe, and that age is long gone, or so you would think. However, last week, the DoJ opened another, very similar, investigation of IBM. It was -- you'd never guess -- on the mainframe. This technology still accounts for an impressive amount of IBM's revenue, and it has really been the only player in the space for some time. What makes this interesting is that there is another vertically integrated company that regularly engages in the same kind of behavior, and that is Apple. ...

Last week, I was at the first GPU developer's conference put on by Nvidia, along with around 1,500 people trying to change the future of computing. What was both troubling and amazing was the number of times people were telling me stories about things people had said were impossible that they were now doing as a matter of course all because of this change. ...

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to watch Andy Grove talk about saving the U.S., and I was once again taken with what made him a truly great CEO. It isn't that he is articulate or simply on message -- it's that he conveys a combination of intelligence and passion rarely found in any current leaders. It is also fascinating to see he can still make ex-Intel executives sweat at an Intel alumni reunion, even though many of them now run their own companies. ...

Over the years, I've had long "discussions" with Apple fans on why Apple can't actually put Microsoft out of business. Many seem to think the event is imminent, while I clearly believe it is impossible. To make a point like this, however, you need a reverse example, and the new Zune is likely the best product for the purpose. By all measures, it is a better media player than Apple has ever produced, but with Apple as dominant as it is in this area, there is virtually no chance that Microsoft will displace it. In this market, the seats are reversed -- but the rule still holds. To take out a dominant vendor, building a better product simply won't get the job done. ...

You couldn't help but feel for the U.S. president last week as he tried to sell an unpopular health plan. Sometimes you have to realize the foundation of something is just so bad that no amount of patching or selling will fix it, and while it looks like you are close to done, you'd actually get done more quickly if you started over properly. The...

I'm atIFA as I write this, and in Europe, green clearly does matter. Here, they even have a viableGreen Party, but in the U.S., I sometimes wonder whether we care. This was showcased in a presentation in which Sony ranked geographical areas in terms of the importance of green, and the U.S. came in last. This week I thought I'd list the green effor...

Last week's big news was that Apple pushed up its Snow Leopard release by a month to provide a 60-day buffer between it and Microsoft's biggest launch of the decade. Apple can't match either Microsoft's resources or price, but the feat of snagging an unchallenged 60 days during the back-to-school and early holiday shopping season points to Apple's greatest advantage: Its marketing leader is also its CEO. Microsoft is fielding its best marketing team ever for the Windows 7 launch, led by Kathleen Hall, who was hired out of a leading advertising agency -- but she isn't the CEO. ...

An unfortunate side effect of a celebrity like Steve Jobs getting sick is that a huge number of us are collecting stories to go into articles and books that would mostly show up after he passed. I ran into two new stories I hadn't heard before last week, and one of them was rather juicy and eventually tied into the "iPad." I also chatted with Best...

Regardless of what I wrote last week, which focused on Apple's problems coming out of the Red Hat event, Apple is on a roll. It's expected to gain substantial share this quarter because Snow Leopard will make it into the quarter and Windows 7 won't. However, in October, Microsoft is planning to come back with a rush, and next year will bring its not-so-secret weapon: the Apple-targeting Microsoft store. ...

Summer is a time to relax, a time to take a vacation, a time to do things you can't do during the work year. However, I'm not sure any time is a good time to send your brain on vacation, and I'm starting to wonder if the leaders at Google and Apple have done just that. Granted, Steve Jobs has a good excuse. He should be taking it easy, and I think he also should take a vacation from his vegan diet -- have you seen this picture? He and I both have this obsessive/compulsive thing, and man is he ever an example of that getting out of control. ...

Boy, just when you think it's safe to sleep in, Microsoft and Yahoo decide to hitch up and slap Google upside the head. I'm guessing that this really screwed up the party in the Google 767 flying palace last week. For Google, which lately seems to have the attention span of a 3-year-old after getting into the sugar jar, this could be a good thing --this could force Google to focus. It certainly is good for Microsoft and Yahoo, even though it suggests a potential breakup that could be the mother of all divorces. ...

I live in Silicon Valley, and sometimes I wonder if someone's putting something in our water. For instance, one of our local folks, who evidently treated his agorophobia by playing "Resistance: Fall of Man,"has sued Sony for stealing money from him as a result of Sony's banning him from the game. Evidently, three warnings about his hostile online behavior weren't enough; he feels he has a right to behave badly and wants at least US$55,000. I think Sony would like him to buy an Xbox. There's plenty more weirdness where that came from, though, and I thought it would be a fun focus for this week's column...

There's generally more attention on the fight between Microsoft and Google this decade than on the fight between Apple and Microsoft. That's because Google seems to represent the future, while Apple and Microsoft are often seen as anachronisms from a prior age. However, these two clearly aren't ready for the tech old folks home yet -- both have d...