Apple is the new Dell
I sat eating lunch with coworkers when we saw the news over the wire. Dell announced the end of retail sales, taking its business direct to customers -- that was 1994. We laughed about the craziness. Compaq dominated the PC market, leveraging a huge partner network of dealers, resellers and retailers. Cutting out the middleman meant more margin for Dell, and presumably lower costs for businesses and consumers, but how would the brand maintain visibility without shelf space? Dell direct seemed destined to failure.
Succeed it did, making Dell the No.1 PC maker, based on shipments, by decade's end. Dell didn't just go direct but redefined PC distribution, manufacturing and marketing. The Austin, Texas-based company later adopted real-time manufacturing logistics that made competing operations from Compaq, HP and IBM look antiquated. While their managers guessed how many PCs to produce and ship to the channel, Dell provided component suppliers access to orders in real time, which kept the company from over-ordering, dramatically cut component costs and let customers configure exactly what they wanted. More than a decade after Dell's high (and today's subsequent low), Apple distribution, manufacturing and marketing is the envy of competitors. Both companies achieved similar supply-chain dominance, but theirs is a fascinating study of similarities and contrasts.
We give thanks to these 25 app downloads
If you live in the United States, a four-day holiday weekend of feasting and shopping soon ends. Thanksgiving didn't stop developers from pumping out new wares this week. We pick 25 worth your attention, if not some warm thanks.
For many people, the Start menu is one of the most visited aspects of Windows, but if you’re looking for an alternative program launcher, Winstep Nexus 11.10 is a great option. This free tool is not only a great time-saving dock style launcher that can be used to access your programs, it is also an extremely attractive widget manager that can be used to monitor everything from CPU usage to the weather.
Counter holiday consumerism with a little Android 'maker-ism'
Today marks the official beginning of the holiday gift shopping season in the United States; a time when commerce shifts into high gear and product sales spike for the year.
And with each passing holiday, retailers seem to focus even more closely on consumer electronics.
Retailers prepare for Black Eyeday
By measure of discounts, tech retailers are running scared this holiday -- well, all perhaps other than Apple, which discounts range from puny 7 percent to 16 percent. Elsewhere big discounts mean retailer state of fear and expected Grinch-like consumer demand.
"Overall we have seen nothing, either in the first couple of hours of Black Friday shopping or in the pricing and product tactics of the industry, to make us change our viewpoint to expect a very weak holiday season", Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, says. How grim will be the Holiday reaper? "NPD has been predicting that this would be the worst holiday since 2008, on a revenue basis, and the early season [discount] aggressiveness from the industry confirms this level of concern".
Get a better command line with Gnu on Windows
Open the Windows command line and you’ll get instant access to a reasonable set of utilities, which can then help you to analyze, troubleshoot and generally manage your PC.
Even the most enthusiastic Microsoft fan would have to agree that the Linux command line offers considerably more power, of course. But that doesn’t have to be a problem, as installing Gnu on Windows will make over 130 essential open-source Unix tools instantly accessible from your PC command prompt.
Which store offers better Black Friday deals? Apple or Microsoft?
Consider yourself lucky if living nearby one of the 14 Microsoft stores -- there are big savings for you today and over the weekend. Live nearby one of the 330 or so Apple shops -- well, you can shop Microsoft Store online for real bargains.
Black Friday is perhaps the one day of the year where Apple and Microsoft differences in retail pricing and digital lifestyle are most pronounced. Apple continues its "pay-more" philosophy, which granted is good for margins and keeps shareholders happy, while Microsoft focuses more on value. That's all assuming Windows PCs at much lower selling prices are more valuable to you than costlier Macs. Hey, more Americans drive mini-vans than Mercedes. But plenty of others can afford and will pay more.
Replace Windows' Taskbar with Mac-like Dock
Anyone who’s ever used a Mac will probably be aware how beautiful and functional its dock is. In comparison, the Windows Taskbar, even the revamped version sported in Windows 7, can feel a little outdated.
If you’re hankering to ditch the Taskbar in favor of something more akin to the Mac, take a look at Winstep’s Nexus, a powerful -- and free -- dock that aims to supplant the Windows taskbar in your affections.
AT&T takes $4 billion charge as it pulls T-Mobile merger application with FCC
It's a working holiday for many involved with the proposed $39 billion merger of AT&T and T-Mobile. Representatives for AT&T informed the Federal Communications Commission through its online filing system late Wednesday that it had pulled its application for merger approval. The move signals an apparent surrender at the nation's second biggest carrier, and throws the entire merger into serious doubt.
It also suggests that AT&T feels the oncoming battle with the FCC is one that it cannot win. Chairman Julius Genachowski has put forth an order for its own hearings on the deal, but it was a statement from an anonymous FCC official that struck many: "The record clearly shows that -- in no uncertain terms -- this merger would result in a massive loss of US jobs and investment".
Use command line to safely remove USB drives
USB flash drives are a supremely convenient way to store and transfer information. Easy to carry around, they allow you to plug in to almost any convenient PC, and access your data and programs, before disconnecting and moving on to the next system.
Except, of course, there is one potential complication. If you remove a USB drive that has a document open, or where some information is yet to be written, then you’ll probably lose that data (and maybe corrupt the file).
11 things Microsoft should be thankful for in 2011
This year I revive my annual "give thanks" series -- what Microsoft has to be grateful for this Thanksgiving Day. In 2006, "employee bloggers" topped the list and "Google's woes", following a year-long collapse of the search giant's shares, in 2008. What about 2011?
I present the list in reverse order of importance. No. 1 is the last item and the reason for which Microsoft should give most thanks this year (so far).
Can't afford Microsoft Office? Take Starter for free
If you’re looking for a free Office-compatible suite then there’s plenty of choice around, with tools like LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org offering a host of powerful features.
Another option is simply to install Microsoft’s Office 2010 Starter edition, though. It’s cut down, but still has more than enough functionality for many purposes, and can be used without a product key. The package only includes Word and Excel, and if you’re familiar with the regular editions then running either of these will quickly reveal some limitations.
The Chinese are coming, and they're taking your smartphone
Highlighting the increased clout of the Chinese consumer in today's high-tech marketplace, research firm Strategy Analytics released results of a study Wednesday that finds smartphone shipments to China eclipsed the United States for the first time last quarter. At 24 million units, China is now the largest smartphone market in the world.
The findings show why phone manufacturers have increasingly turned their attention to the Far East. Apple began selling the iPhone in China in 2009 on China Unicom, and other manufacturers increasingly are looking to the country and its TD-SCDMA and TD-LTE homegrown networking technologies.
Is Microsoft preparing another Yahoo bid?
The stage is set for an eventful holiday season at Yahoo. Sources close to the struggling Sunnyvale, Calif. search company tell the New York Times that Microsoft has signed a non-disclosure agreement which allows it to look into the media giant's books. The Redmond, Wash.-based company joins Silver Lake, TPG Capital and several others as potential suitors.
Talk of a Yahoo sale has increased since September, when a memo from former CEO Jerry Yang leaked to the press. "Our advisers are working with us to develop ideas that we will pursue proactively. At the same time, they are fielding inquiries from multiple parties that have already expressed interest in a number of potential options", the note reads.
EssentialPIM 4.5 Pro syncs with Google Docs
Astonsoft Ltd has released version 4.5 of both free and Pro editions of its personal information manager, EssentialPIM. Version 4.5, which is also available as a portable build, adds a number of new features and improvements.
The most notable new features -- full sync capabilities with Google Docs and Google Tasks, a new Attachment Manager and support for custom fields and filters in the To Do Module -- are restricted to EssentialPIM 4.5 Pro only.
Ashampoo Burning Studio 11 treats cloud and desktop the same
Ashampoo’s Burning Studio has never made quite as many headlines as the big disc burning suites, perhaps because the program concentrates on ease of use rather than forever adding unnecessary "bonus"features that you’ll never use.
The package still manages to include interesting capabilities that you won’t always find elsewhere, though, like the ability to create interactive autostart menus for your data discs. And the latest release, Ashampoo Burning Studio 11, continues this tradition with easy and time-saving integration for your Facebook, Dropbox, Picasa and Flickr accounts.
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