The INOV8 blog tracks the latest news and trends in technology and innovation throughout the world
In the wake of another big Apple release, where does this leave Microsoft?
For some good observations on the iPad release, check out Lance Turner’s blog.
An excerpt:
The iPod and iPhone had instant appeal to an array of users for several reasons. Among them, they each fundamentally changed the way we consume certain media and conduct everyday tasks. (The iPod changed how we listen and buy music; the iPhone brought the full Web to our handsets and created a new software ecosystem with apps.)
The iPad, while well-designed and beautiful, does neither. All it does is build on existing technologies to deliver media in a not-entirely-new form factor. If you’ve got an iPhone or iPod Touch, you’ve seen these tricks before. And if you have a laptop, you can do all the things the iPad does — and more — on a more robust machine.
For an interesting take on Microsoft’s woes — due to clumsy innovating? — check out this New York Times commentary.
An excerpt:
What happened? Unlike other companies, Microsoft never developed a true system for innovation. Some of my former colleagues argue that it actually developed a system to thwart innovation. Despite having one of the largest and best corporate laboratories in the world, and the luxury of not one but three chief technology officers, the company routinely manages to frustrate the efforts of its visionary thinkers.
It’s sad about Microsoft. They are a great American company, but nowadays their products stink and their future is looking bleaker by the day. Their software and operating systems are overpriced, barely-usable junk, and the company seems to be institutionally incapable of fixing it due to their arrogance and corporate turf wars. Most Windows users would be better off switching to Macs, whether they’re experts or casual users.
Meanwhile, we’ve got about three qualified Mac/iPhone/iPod/iPad programmers in Central Arkansas, while Windows programmers are a dime-a-dozen. The Apple platforms should be a fresh opportunity for local software developers. We’ll see a growing demand for local iPhone/iPad apps over time, and that trend should accelerate after we get an Apple Store in Little Rock. I’ll speculate that we’ll get an Apple Store here after Verizon starts selling iPhones later this year.
I work in the retail side of the industry and have got used to Microsoft running all things to their benefit and to the detriment of the purchaser. They are now faced with competition from Google and Apple which will only increase in strength; already they have no tools to fight these companies as they have spent too many years blindly trying to monopolise the market.