Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld. “According to a slide presentation that Psystar showed to venture capitalists in 2008, the Florida-based computer maker projected sales during 2011 of between 1.45 million and 12 million, with the first figure its ‘conservative’ estimate and the second number representing an ‘aggressive’ growth model.”
I don’t know who to be more surprised at, Psystar for assuming that they could take somebody else’s copyrighted product and market it for themselves, or the venture capitalists for seriously thinking this was a good investment.
Well, one (or more) of them thought it was – the one question that remains unanswered in this whole sorry debacle, who exactly gave Psystar their capital to start up their company to begin with, and who continued to fund them through the courts?
Calacanis? (There I said it). It would explain his attitude towards Apple of late, and his erratic diatribe against Apple.
It’s doubtful that the evidence still exists, it being shredded, stamped on, burnt, recycled, bleached and shredded and burnt again, during the period when Psystar went into their hiatus when the money ran out.
It can’t exist, because if it did, it would change everything.
It’s interesting that Chrome OS doesn’t represent a direct threat to Windows, Mac or Linux because the OS can’t be downloaded and installed onto existing systems. However, given that Google is earmarking netbookesque form factor devices to get the Chrome OS treatment, this still means that Google could capture market share from both Windows and Mac, especially those looking for a simple, fuss-free web-based solution.
It’s difficult for me to see how the Chrome OS will affect Apple, with them publicly stating that they want nothing to do with Netbooks. Jobs has stated, “Apple doesn’t know how to build a sub-$500 computer that’s not a piece of junk.”
It seems to me that Apple also doesn’t want to build a netbook because they new all along that the Chrome OS was perfect for netbooks, and will whitewash this sector completely.
No proof of that of course, but it does seem a little coincidental.
Words don’t often fail me, but the sight of a dozen minor-geeks, awkwardly clapping and trying to dance, under the guise of spontaneity… well I don’t know what to say or where to begin.
Microsoft, you’re making a complete fool of yourself. You really don’t know what (hopefully) irreparable damage you are doing to your brand (such that it is) and your public image.
Years from now, when Microsoft are long, long gone, people will look back at the YouTube video and say that this was one of the 10 or so key moments where severe blows were dealt that added to this company’s downfall.
The reason why Microsoft have survived and prospered this far, is because of the army of Windows IT Professionals that have propped up this loose assortment of sloppy hacks and ass-backwards ‘me-too’ and ‘just good enough’ coding.
They have survived because of the mass-ignorance of your average PC-buyer, who needed their hand held whilst buying their computer.
But now things have changed. Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook and dozens of others have caught up whilst Microsoft were sleeping, and Microsoft’s customer has changed – they are armed with geek-knowledge and they know how to use it.
Ballmer, like the captain on the Titanic, tried to ignore it, but now, with market-share and mind-share slipping he has to do something.
He calls on his troops, but more and more of these troops are bringing in laptops with Apple logos on them. They have iPods, and iPhones, they use Google instead of Bing, and Office is the last thing on their mind with free alternatives readily available.
So he does something – Vista. A total failure that would have finished most companies – but Microsoft isn’t ‘most’ companies.
He tries ‘new’ and ‘different’ advertising campaigns. They are met with derision, confusion and worst of all – laughter, the ‘at’ kind, not the ‘with’ kind.
Plan B. If you can’t beat them – join them. Or copy them. Copy them in exactly the same way you’ve copied them before, back when that ‘computer for the rest of us’ was first released.
Copy it backwards and upside down. In such a way that although all the pieces are there, they just don’t quite fit together.
What you are seeing in this poor, poor, sad video above, is Microsoft in the raw. When the support from all the IT professionals has gone.
They have to compete. On their own. This is who they really are.
I’ve often thought Microsoft were indestructible and I would be writing this blog to the end of my days with them always there, always copying, always getting it totally wrong.
You know I’m beginning to see, at last, the end of this once never great company.
Living, breathing and using the Macintosh platform can be a strange experience. The way in which you get treated by others can at times be unbelievable when they find out you use Macintosh.
A Windows PC-users response can fall into many catagories, depending on their age and experience, but generally it ... Continue reading »
