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WSJ Article
While it is true that Microsoft has been attempting to break into the music market with its much vaunted Zune player, this article notes that Microsoft has been ignoring Apple's threat to its dominance of the enterprise market. It says Microsoft is spending too much time worrying about Google while Apple appears to be preparing an assault in the business world with the enterprise friendly iPhone.
The premise is a little shaky - that businesses may want to switch to Apple computers to "ensure compatibility". I don't know about that - it seems to me that the iPod and iPhone are quite platform independent, wouldn't you say?
1 comment:
I think the author does make some good points. MS assumes that the enterprise sector is a slam dunk for them since they are so dominate right now. But the iPhone with enterprise applications can change the way companies do business. Right now Apple is making it compatable with MS exchange server, but also offering its own version with "me.com". Apple has always tried to offer options for the small businessman that wanted to use Macs. Less technical upkeep, integration of Mail, Calendar, and iTools. But this has never really caught on in a big way. Companies are locked in with MS probably because that is what they know. Apple does not have a compelling reason to get companies to change. Until now, with the iPhone. If they can blast past the capabilities of MS exchange server and allow complete integration with the iPhone, then they have an in. If some killer application on the iPhone only works best while running on Apple's server technology, then there is a definitive reason to buy Apple servers. Newer companies may be their best bet. Since they are more eager to find a competitive edge.
As an example, my sister sells medical supplies to hospitals. The catalog of products is always out of date, and they don't have an online database that has the latest info available at any given time. Imagine Apple offering easy input of data so the hinderance of input is gone. Then offering the tools to easily massage the data for clients and salespeople to see. And delivering all this on a handheld device called the iPhone. The key is selling the idea that with Apple you don't have to be a database programmer to work with data anymore.
Have you ever seen TED presentations? It is a yearly event where they have top minds in a variety of field present a brief presentation. One of the presenters showed amazing interactive graphs of global data on populations, literacy, life expectancy, etc. It was amazing how with the right tools the understanding of the data becomes obvious. His point was that there is a serious need for better tools in data processing. Not the hodgepodge tools we have now which require specialists in programming. Other presenters echoed the same idea. One was a NYU researcher in multi-touch technology. Even though the talk is a few years old, the concepts still apply. This I believe is where Apple shines.
The iPhone now makes huge amounts of data very portable and accessible. And the main reason the iPhone is far better than a laptop, is that an iPhone can be taken with you at all times. A laptop, is big enough that you might decide not to bring it with you, later to find out you should have. I think the future is bright.
By the way, what is up with the old rainbow logo in a WSJ article?
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