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Apple iPad: See I Told You So

02/16/2010 4:55 PM

If you’ve been getting my newsletter for a while now, you may remember a blog I posted on PDMA in June of 2008. I had pondered why Apple would go and buy a company called PA Semi that made low power chips. While not entirely correct, I did feel the thrill of coming pretty close to nailing Apple’s strategy once the iPad was announced on January 27. Apple has created its own processor chip for the iPad (terrible name…what were those brilliant marketing geniuses at Apple thinking?) and thereby created a walled garden around its newest product. But is it unassailable?

In Apple’s quest to create a compelling product that no one else could duplicate, it has taken on new headaches related to chip design and manufacturing. While PA Semi appears to have given Apple a jump start on chip design, it remains to be seen if Apple can provide enough R&D resources to keep the performance up to snuff. Even more concerning is whether Apple has the competency to handle the complexities of chip manufacturing. Dealing with contract manufacturers to qualify and ramp manufacturing can cause nightmares and many sleepless nights. These are things it didn’t have to worry about when Intel took care of all the design and manufacturing.

The pundits are taking sides as to whether the iPad will be a market winner. Apple has had much success recently with its new products, and I’m sure it will with the iPad. But what I really want to see is if Apple can successfully manage its new foray into chip design and manufacturing. Right now your guess would be as good as mine.

The Real Cost of Late Technology Adoption

11/05/2009 11:35 AM

By the time you read this, Windows 7 will be in stores. Of course CIOs everywhere have already made the decision to either migrate or stay with XP or Vista. Such decisions are usually based on a cost-versus-benefit analysis. Many companies will chose to adopt Windows 7 early but for those late adopter companies, significant productivity and innovation will be lost if they don’t choose to migrate.

Windows XP just celebrated its 10th anniversary and Microsoft Office 2003 is more than 6-years-old. Many companies are still using these older programs because of security concerns with Vista (perhaps your company is one of them). However, software technology has changed drastically since then. New companies like Google, Salesforce.com, Red Hat, Facebook and Twitter have emerged and thrived in the past decade, and their technologies are driving both innovation and productivity. Progressive companies are learning how to leverage these technologies to improve business while late adopter companies continue to be left in the dust.

Times are tough and the recession has everyone tightening their belts, but with the fully burdened cost of a white collar worker approaching six-figures, the choice to delay or forgo investing in superior tools and processes is just bad decision-making. Eventually employees get disillusioned because they know there’s a better way to do things. How can management say people are their most important asset when they won’t invest in things that make them more productive?