12 dispatches
Tech strategy is difficult AND fascinating because it’s unpredictable. In addition to worrying about the actions of direct competitors (i.e. Samsung vs Apple), companies need to also worry about the actions of ecosystem players (i.e. smartphones and AI vendors) who may make moves that were intended for something else but have far-reaching consequences.
One of the most exciting areas of technology development, but that doesn’t get a ton of mainstream media coverage, is the race to build a working quantum computer that exhibits “below threshold quantum computing” — the ability to do calculations utilizing quantum mechanics accurately. One of the key limitations to achieving this has been the sensitivity of quantum computing...
Historically, Intel has (1) designed and (2) manufactured its chips that it sells (primarily into computer and server systems). It prided itself on having the most advanced (1) designs and (2) manufacturing technology, keeping both close to its chest. In the late 90s/00s, semiconductor companies increasingly embraced the “fabless model”, whereby they would only do the (1)...
The data centers that power AI and cloud services are limited by 3 things: * the server hardware (oftentimes limited by access to advanced semiconductors) * available space (their footprint is massive which makes it hard to put them close to where people live) * availability of cheap & reliable (and, generally, clean) power If you, as a data center operator, can tap a new...
An oldie but a goodie — the story of how the YouTube team, post-Google acquisition, put up a “we won’t support Internet Explorer 6 in the future” message without any permission from anyone. (HT: Eric S) ---
I am a big Google Pixel fan, being an owner and user of multiple Google Pixel line products. As a result, I tuned in to the recent MadeByGoogle stream. While it was hard not to be impressed with the demonstrations of Google’s AI prowess, I couldn’t help but be a little baffled… What was the point of making everything AI-related? Given how low Pixel’s market share is in the...
Mea culpa. I’ve been a big fan of moving my personal page over to AWS Lightsail. But, if I had one complaint, it’s the dangerous combination of (1) their pre-packaged WordPress image being hard to upgrade software on and (2) the training-wheel-lacking full root access that Lightsail gives to its customers.
How to realize the promise of applying machine learning to healthcare Not going to happen anytime soon, sadly: the Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager); Source: TrekCore Despite the hype, it’ll likely be quite some time before human physicians will be replaced with machines (sorry, Star Trek: Voyager fans)).
Much has been written about what makes Google work so well: their ridiculously profitable advertising business model, the technology behind their search engine and data centers, and the amazing pay and perks they offer. Source: the book My experiences investing in and working with startups, however, has taught me that building a great company is usually less about a specific...
When Steve Jobs first launched the iPhone in 2007, Apple’s perception of where the smartphone application market would move was in the direction of web applications. The reasons for this are obvious: people are familiar with how to build web pages and applications, and it simplifies application delivery.
A cab driver the other day went off on me with a rant about how new smartphone users were all smug, arrogant gadget snobs for using phones that did more than just make phone calls. “Why you gotta need more than just the phone?”, he asked. While he was probably right on the money with the “smug”, “arrogant”, and “snob” part of the description of smartphone users (at least it...
In my Introduction to Tech Strategy post, I mentioned that one of the most important aspects of the technology industry is the importance of ecosystem linkages. There are several ways to think about ecosystem linkages. The main linkages I mentioned in my previous post was influence over technology standards.