Quote of the Day
An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
Arab proverb
A Couple of Free Market Notes From the World of High Tech
For the most part, I haven't used this blog to discuss my primary academic discipline, MIS. Clearly new technology can make a difference in providing the quality, timeliness and scope of information managers need to plan for and control their enterprise, maybe even yield a competitive advantage.
Two news items recently grabbed my attentions: Google Chrome, a fairly new entrant to the Internet browser wars, has for the first time nipped Internet Explorer version 8 (the previous market leading version) and Firefox to win a plurality share of the browser wars with just under 25%. (All versions of IE, including the recently released version 9, amount to 38.5% market share.) [On a personal note, I use 5 different browsers, but I have been primarily a Chrome user since its initial release.] It seems an improbable rise; in fact, at the beginning, Chrome had few extensions or add-ins, but in what has been a recurring strategy, like its hot Android operating system for cellphones in the wake of the iPhone phenomenon, Google invited developers to write software for its base technologies.
But here's the point I'm trying to get across: remember how the browser wars started? At one point, Netscape was the leading browser vendor and sold its software. Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer as a free product. Netscape, of course, was unhappy with its competition: it claimed that Microsoft was unfairly using its virtual monopolies (in operating systems and office suite) to engage in predatory pricing products intended to drive it out of business, because there are costs to developing software and you can't recoup them by giving away your product. Microsoft was trying to drive Netscape out of business and once Microsoft became the major player, it would start charging for its browser.
We know today this conceptualization was deeply flawed; how do we explain the fact that there are at least a handful of major browsers, all (but a defunct Netscape) distributing their product for free? In fact, I'm sure that Microsoft saw the Internet as a potential threat to its lucrative core businesses: for example, what if applications were hosted on servers available through the Internet at no or little cost, no headaches of installing or maintaining the software, just like national networks give away their costly programming to viewers for free.
The second example involves troubled RIM, the vendor behind the once dominant Blackberry smartphones. Alex Daley does an excellent job of summarizing the business case, but I'll summarize some key points: Blackberry provided an excellent niche market service, providing leading-edge email services with almost real-time delivery to managers and professionals. It made money not only on the phones but on appliances it sold and maintained at business client sites.
There have been challenges, a big one being the proprietary nature of their technology. IT managers did not have a relevant alternative in the event of a service outage--and, in fact, a recent outage materialized those concerns. IT managers found the Blackberry appliances were a nontrivial part of their budget they had little control over. In the meanwhile, Apple and other vendors leapfrogged Blackberry by providing multi-purpose competitive devices, not just dedicated email services, and offered support services to enterprises. If and when Blackberry belatedly offered a tablet to compete against the iPad, the tablet only made sense for the existing Blackberry base, and management significantly overestimated demand.
The observant reader can easily see what RIM management didn't: professionals didn't want to carry a number of specialized devices, and proprietary hardware and software offered limited options.
As Obama engages in economic fear-mongering, worrying about losing the small, money-losing solar energy industry race, at least 4 countries have been in the lead position over the past 20 years or so. The above examples show that market dominance can be fleeting and is not indicative of future performance.
Musical Interlude: Nostalgic/Instrumental Christmas
"Adeste Fidelis". I love, love, love the original Latin. I was an altar boy during the entire transition of the Mass from Latin to English. Even as a young boy carrying the cross into Church, I loved the rich culture of the Latin Mass, Gregorian chants and centuries-old rituals (candles, incense--I loved all that; as I mentioned before in the blog, I originally went to college with the idea of becoming a priest myself (when I was young, my Mom had made vestments out of old bath towels to play priest) and even had a preliminary interview with a Jesuit while at OLL Things change, especially when a young man attends a university where two-thirds of the students are women...)
Even as a young altar boy whom had memorized (and knew the translation of) the Latin Mass before he was in third grade, I was a conservative in matters of faith and thought it was a mistake with the law of unintended consequences (which has certainly proven to be true, with recent surveys showing Mass attendance eroding in percentage to a comparable rate for Protestant services).
Years later I would be attending guitar masses at the University of Texas, and I'll never forget the ultimate indignity: a sermon based on Olivia Newton-John's then current hit, "Have You Ever Been Mellow?" (I love Olivia Newton-John, but I don't want to hear her in church unless she's singing a Christian song.) I felt that the Church was pandering too much to the popular culture in its struggle to remain relevant. Sin and prayer all but disappeared from the pulpit, replaced by a trite politically correct touchy-feely humanism, with only half-hearted rebukes of irresponsible sexual behavior, abortion and dissolving marriages and families. I strongly felt that the role of a pastor was not to be our friend and drinking buddy, but to be a strong leader in faith and morals. There are a number of wonderful priests, like my now retired maternal uncle, and I'm encouraged by the faithfulness and discipline of many young priests today.
Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos. I love, love, love Gregorian chants...
Luciano Pavarotti. The Voice: need I say more? If you listen carefully, you'll hear him in the heavenly choir. RIP...
Bing Crosby. Classic pop version.
Vienna Boys Choir. Do I need an excuse to feature one of my favorite choirs? Just teasing--some of those boys have facial hair...
Percy Faith. (Instrumental)
Enya. Isn't there something ethereal about Enya's voice? Like an angel: delicate, hauntingly beautiful and reverent...
