After four years and 34 Tech Field Day events, many of our vendors have gone on to bigger and better things. After seeing today’s acquisition of Xsigo by Oracle, I decided to go back and look at how many of our companies have been acquired over the years.
The Windows RT Name is Worse Than Meaningless
Perhaps “Windows RT” is meaningful and appropriate in Microsoft’s eyes, but it is an utter failure if no one else comprehends the name. Microsoft should have used a more obvious and meaningful term to differentiate “run time” products instead of another investment in Windows Alphabet Soup.
Pat Gelsinger, Paul Maritz, and the EMC/VMware Executive Switcheroo
Yesterday, a big executive switcheroo was announced: Pat Gelsinger, long considered Joe Tucci’s heir apparent at EMC, was named to replace Paul Maritz at VMware. Maritz, in turn, moves into the mothership with a “new technology strategist role†at EMC. I’m no analyst, but this move raised questions in my head, as I’m sure it did for many EMC and VMware customers.
Begun, the Patent Wars Have
Every day, it seems there is a new lawsuit in the mobile phone industry. HTC, Motorola, Google, Microsoft, and especially Apple and Samsung are actively litigating their way through a thicket of patents. The same is increasingly happening in the rest of the IT industry. But is all this bloodshed really about innovation? Or is it, as one federal judge noted, simply a new form of intense business competition?
Is Tim Cook the Reincarnation of Steve Ballmer?
Steve Jobs handing Apple over to someone like Tim Cook is indeed analogous to Bill Gates’ selection of Steve Ballmer at Microsoft. It is likely that Cook will successfully steer Apple to a decade of success regardless of stagnating innovation. Apple will dominate the remainder of this decade, and Tim Cook will be celebrated as its captain. But will Apple stagnate?
