Tech Blog

OPINION

Passing the Torch at Apple and HP

With Steve Jobs' passing, last week was a sad one for the technology industry, which owes much of its current success to him and will remain forever diminished by this event. Even as people talk about his uniqueness, they also don't seem to get that he can't be replaced like you would replace a sho...

Last week was another big week for technology as Amazon announced a new line of Kindles and Microsoft released its Mango product into the wild. Many of us are thinking these products target Google's gains and missed opportunities more than they do Apple's. I'll share my thoughts on the potential for...

Last decade, Steve Jobs was the clear leader, and he ended the decade as the top CEO. We are early in this decade, but already Sam Palmisano has jumped out to an early lead. Like Jobs, it isn't because he is lobbying for this title -- it is because he is already being recognized by peers as being t...

It's a myth that ostriches bury their heads when they spot danger. It sounds plausible, but in reality, they're just like us: In the face of imminent danger, they either run or attack. This makes sense when you stop to think about it. After all, one thing that seems almost painfully obvious is tha...

Carol Bartz recently showcased what happens to CEOs who don't meet expectations -- and, given Yahoo's board may be fired as well, what can happen if a board acts too slowly. Steve Ballmer has been under fire for some time for underperforming as CEO, but one hit could change him from bozo to star if...

One antidote to escalating household budgets is to cut utility services. However, dropping trash pickup and dumping your garbage in neighbors' receptacles in the middle of the night probably wouldn't go down too well in the community. Likewise, terminating your electricity supply won't play too well...

Carol Bartz got fired last week -- the Yahoo Board handled it badly, and she went ugly. Steve Ballmer is also seen as a failure both inside and outside Microsoft, and it is widely held that the only reason he hasn't been fired is that he and his best friend, Bill Gates, own the Microsoft Board. Pres...

We have crazy months from time to time, but August will likely go down in history as one of the biggest tech news months of any year. From the torpedoing of Android by Google, to the off-again, on-again TouchPad sales, to the departure of Steve Jobs, to the slashing of Oracle's $1.3 billion settleme...

It is amazing to me the number of people I know who are basically saying Steve Jobs (some wonderful quotes from him here) leaving Apple will not change Apple. Most saw what Apple was like with Jobs, have seen that no similar company has been able to repeat what Apple has done over the last decade, a...

Last week's announcement of Google's plans to acquire Motorola -- Googorola -- created a massive change for Android licensees. They are now looking for alternatives, tossing the biggest smartphone platform into flux and increasing the interest in what will happen to RIM -- with specific emphasis on ...

OPINION

Why Video Conferencing Sucks

I've been covering video conferencing (now often called "telepresence") products since the late 80s and saw my first offering in the mid-60s as a child at Disneyland. Over the years, product wave after product wave has come to market with the promise of the next big thing in telecommunications only...

OPINION

Whine, Whine, Whine ... Oh, RATs!

Last week was kind of an amazing week. Google's chief counsel earned himself a new title: chief whining officer. He tried to blame Microsoft, Apple and Oracle (missed EMC) as companies that were colluding to force Google to stop stealing other people's stuff. Google's whiny argument made me wonder i...

Dilbert gets Windows Phone 7, the US Gets Three Stooges The two things I found particularly interesting last week were the continued focus on the U.S. government's inability to live within its means and Scott Adams, the father of Dilbert, accepting the Windows Phone 7 challenge. The first continue...

I'm in the midst of doing the biggest tablet review I've ever attempted, and I have to admit I'm rather impressed with a number of the Android offerings. The funny thing is, the ones closest to the phone work the best, suggesting there is a bit of a Windows XP/Vista event going on in this space. Whi...

A Swedish hospital recently announced that a cancer patient was saved after doctors grew him a new windpipe in the lab using a synthetic structure and the man's own stem cells. That might have sounded like science fiction just a few years ago, but today it is landmark news. Regenerative medicine has...

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