But it gets worse, because Microsoft also
canceled its truly
groundbreaking Courier tablet project. Among other considerations,
Courier would have made legal pads obsolete. Also, it made Apple's iPad
look like an Etch-a-sketch.
Everyone I know who saw the mock-up
video had the same reaction: "I want one.
Now!" Watch it yourself. You will too. Just an opinion: Jeff Bezos
should buy the rights to this puppy, juice it up, and turn it into the
next-generation Kindle.
Why? Because I want one. Now. That's why.
But it's Steve Jobs who wins the big one -- the Warner Brothers
Harry-Potter-Fan-Site-Cease-and-Desist-Letters Destroy Good Will
Memorial Award.
First, Apple forced Chris Ostmo to change the name of his
journalPad
app, because, according to Steve Jobs, this only made sense, on the
grounds that "journalPad" infringed on Apple's trademark.
Too bad Apple doesn't own the rights to "pad." What it does own
are
the rights to many more lawyers than some poor schmuck app developer.
Steve Jobs also wrote a longish screed explaining his hostility
toward Flash. If you don't want to read the whole
thing, here's the gist: Flash, being cross-platform, is 100%
proprietary. Apple wants all iPhoneOS-compliant applications to use open
standards, building them with nothing but its proprietary development
tools. Oh, and they also must make extensive use of Apple's
open-standards-based multi-touch interface instead of those tiresome
last-generation mice.
Oops. Guess they're not open standards after all. Apple has
patented
multi-touch and is suing anyone who mimics so much as a single gesture.
So Mr. Jobs, in the spirit of equal opportunity, here's a
gesture.
I've patented it, too.
Then, of course, there's the ever-popular iPhone prototype,
left at a
bar, where it just happened to fall into the hands of someone who
figured out it was a prototype and not just another iPhone.
Memo to Steve Jobs: If you don't want anyone to see your
prototypes,
don't let them out of the labs. If you do let them out of the labs,
don't complain when someone outside the labs sees them. And look -- when
you asked to get your prototype back, Gizmodo Guy (Jason Chen) returned
it. Nobody is naive enough to believe the search warrant you arranged,
resulting in the police breaking down the guy's door and seizing his
equipment, was an actual search for evidence of a crime.
My theory: Apple orchestrated this charade to convince its
no-longer-adoring public that losing the prototype wasn't just a way to
get free publicity.
So even if, as I don't, you think you should run IT as a
business,
don't run it like these businesses. The superficial similarity might
tempt you: They, like you, have some degree of customer (or in your case
"customer") lock-in -- Oracle because conversions aren't something you
do on a whim; Microsoft because likewise, and also you have no practical
alternative for the desktop OS and office suite; Apple because where
else are you gonna go for cool gadgets that will impress your friends?
It's also barely possible the tactics mentioned here will help
Oracle, Microsoft and Apple succeed -- that great talent, great
products, and good will don't matter when you're a commercial technology
provider. It would boggle the mind, but it's
possible.
It isn't possible for you. Your success depends entirely on
your
ability to build
strong relationships throughout the company while
fielding top-notch employees who can quickly and reliably deliver
excellent, high-quality technology.
Luckily for you, you have one advantage over Larry and the two
Steves
(Ellison, Ballmer and Jobs, that is): They're all multi-billionaires,
and when you've achieved that level of wealth and power ... well, Howard
Hughes was an extreme example and cautionary tale of what can happen
when societal constraints fall away.
Presumably, you don't face the same risk.
,
who wins the
Elephant-Gives-Birth-to-a-Mouse Award for announcing that Microsoft's
most interesting product launch ... he used the term "groundbreaking"
... will be Natal, a new, gesture-based game controller. I guess
Microsoft is out of ideas for helping us perform productive work. It's
enough to break your heart.
