Category Archives: software

Why Apple Should Follow Michelin

January 22, 2012 – 8:15 pm

TweetWhat’s the use of offering more than 500,000 wares if customers can’t find their way through the gigantic bazaar? I know, I already harped on about the lack of curation in Apple’s App Store, but that was 16 months ago…when the Store contained a “mere” 250,000 apps. Since then, the iPhone has sold in ever [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Tagged | Comments (30)

Windows 8: BFD — Big Forking Decision

September 18, 2011 – 7:44 pm

TweetWhether we’re living in a post-PC world, as many think today when they look at growth rates and profits, or it’s PC-Plus, For Ever, as Microsoft’s very literate chief ideologue staunchly maintains, it doesn’t really matter. When the Redmond giant comes up with a new version of Windows, it’s a Big Festive Deal that will [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Comments (41)

Ballmer’s latest acquisition

May 15, 2011 – 8:49 pm

TweetIn a bold move, Microsoft acquires Nokia and catapults itself to the top of the smartphone world. The full integration of Windows Phone 7 software into Nokia hardware will result in a better user experience for customers, a zero-fragmentation platform for developers, easier deployment of a smaller number of SKUs for retailers, and more reliable [...]

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What I want for my Mac

February 27, 2011 – 6:39 pm

Tweetby Jean-Louis Gassée I was a happy man. After twelve years of Windows use at work — the usual Outlook excuse — I was about to be saved by Vista. On January 30th 2007, 8:00 am, the doors opened at Fry’s in Palo Alto. I showed up early to claim my prize, a 17” HP [...]

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Mobile World Clusterf#^k — 2011 Edition

February 20, 2011 – 2:50 pm

TweetPlus ça change…et plus. We are at this year’s Mobile World Congress, held last week in Barcelona. One of the usual suspects, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, stands and delivers the new and improved party line: App Stores are bad. Stephenson wants cross-platform apps delivered through the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC), whose “commercial launch’’ takes place [...]

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Mac App Store: Soon But Controversial

December 5, 2010 – 2:07 pm

Tweetby Jean-Louis Gassée This year, three wishes were on top of my list: A smaller, lighter MacBook, an app store for the Mac, and a curated iOS app store. I got two out of three. The 11” MacBook Air works quite well when the passenger in front of me fully reclines his seat; and Apple, [...]

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Google Apps: The Future or Yesterday’s War?

November 22, 2010 – 8:50 am

Tweetby Jean-Louis Gassée One must be at least a little skeptical of product reviews, and, even more so, product reviewers. They usually don’t spend their own money on the product and they’re under constant pressure to produce more newspaper columns, or blog post after blog post. There are exceptions: I trust Consumer Reports (they buy [...]

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The iPadification of OS X – Part II

November 14, 2010 – 11:24 pm

Tweetby Jean-Louis Gassée Two weeks ago, I argued that iOS will evolve into the operating system for future incarnations of iMacs and MacBooks. The comments on the article provided abundant food for thought, so much so that I decided to argue the opposite point of view: Yes, OS X and iOS share some bits of [...]

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Turning Points

November 8, 2010 – 12:34 am

TweetOnce upon a time, Microsoft reigned supreme, they were IBM 2.0, having wrestled control of the PC from Big Blue. According to some critics, Microsoft took over the office application market through a combination of embrace, extend, and extinguish and tied sales. The MS M.O. followed this trajectory: First, Bill Gates and his troops would [...]

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Time to rethink Word Processors — Seriously

October 31, 2010 – 6:37 pm

TweetLast Friday, at the Apple Store near the Paris Opera House, I paid my annual Microsoft tax: €140 ($194) for the 2011 edition of Microsoft Office. My hopes: more speed, less bugs, and smarter features. All in the service of producing all manners of text and presentations required by my multiple jobs. So far, no [...]

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