Is (non-iOS) Tablet Inventory Building?
A recent article in the Guardian suggests recently announced labor cuts at factories producing the PlayBook tablet for RIM coupled with building inventory levels and falling sales may signal building inventory of the RIM tablet. Update: A report on 9/26 that PlayBook prices are being marked down in certain retail channels to reduce inventory.
An Apple Effect Worth Watching
Most technology companies are cognizant of how network effects influence adoption, but fail to adequately stimulate these network effects. However, a few recent service launches by Apple recognize the influence network effects can have on the uptake of Apple devices. AirPlay and AirPrint both illustrate Apple’s understanding that the greater the sphere of influence iOS devices can have, the stronger the network effects and therefore the […]
the futurist’s dilemma
Kevin Kelly has a great note on the futurist’s dilemma: Any believable prediction will be wrong. Any correct prediction will be unbelievable. Either way, a futurist can’t win. He is either dismissed or wrong. Except if he hits that razor’s edge between the two realms, right on the cusp between plausibility and fantasy, where it […]
Made in America (Again)
BCG recently published a short paper outlining why manufacturing will return to the US. Here a few additional thoughts and some they’ve missed: 1) As the paper points out, labor cost differentials will decline subsequently eroding a key benefit to manufacturing outside of the US. Moreover, because labor costs are declining as a share of total manufacturing costs, labor differentials […]
Start with Why
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Tablets Don’t Need to be $99 to Sell
A little over a week ago, HP decided to exit the WebOS tablet market and began to liquidate the HP Touchpad at the firesale price of $99. It should come as no surprise, these disappeared quickly. As I recently wrote, increasingly the future of tablets (and like devices) will be Web apps so good browser-enabled […]
Why the Future of Tablets Isn’t in Apps
Pudits like to point to apps (and importantly the availability of apps) as the deciding factor in the success (and failure) of tablets and other app-oriented devices. Most developers have the bandwidth to support at most two (and sometimes three) development platforms. The largest app developers – the Pandoras and Kindles of the world – will allocate resources for […]
Why Can’t I see Hotel Inventory?
Last month – while in NYC for the CleanSlate executive forum – I stayed at the Westin New York. I arrived in NYC at 1AM and knowing in advance that I’d be arriving late called the Westin to check-in earlier that day. I’ve been “walked” enough times to know that when I’m going to be arriving late at the hotel I should call in advance. Like […]
Continue Betting on Facebook
I was a (relatively) early adopter to FourSquare. Today FourSquare has over 10M users and I was one of the first two percent (#197,372). I’ve also written about FourSquare here. FourSquare does several things well. The discounts and offerings associated with checking-in have always worked for me and with recent updates they’ve improved the experience. […]
What to Expect from the Moto Acquisition
The big news in tech today was of course Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Google dipped into it’s roughly $39 billion in cash and agreed to pay $12.5 billion (or $40/share) – a 60+ percent premium over Friday’s close. You can read some of the coverage here: Google’s blog post on the acquisition, TechCrunch, TechCocktail, […]
