The Battle for our Hearts and Minds (and Wallets)

The competition between tech companies reminds me a lot of the board game Risk.  Do you remember Risk?  I played it a lot back in law school.  It is a battle for world domination between countries/players.  Think Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon as the superpowers.  Microsoft as the once-powerful country in decline. The smaller companies that wish to survive find defensible niches, or strike alliances with the big guys.  The big guys each started from a core platform, and extend out from there.  Apple's core is hardware, with its proprietary software embedded in it.  Google's core is search, and an ever-expanding array of internet/cloud-based tools and software.  Facebook's core is social media.  Amazon's core is e-commerce.

Here's a blog post that suggests the Android platform is in trouble.  Why?  Because as the enterprise market (i.e., corporate IT departments) starts to open up and support non-Blackberry phones, the IT folks who manage it prefer the Apple world because it is easier to manage.  There are only a few flavors of IOS, whereas Android has multiple different versions, and phone manufacturers customize their Android phones, making it harder for the IT folks to support and manage versus the tightly controlled Apple platform.  The diversity of Android makes it more attractive in one sense, in that there can be more innovation, but that is offset by the fact that it is less uniform.  Here's a blog post from the New York Times that talks about some of this:   http://tinyurl.com/7o845ac  

There is a lot of speculation that Google might have to enter the hardware business.  Apple has a big advantage by having control over its platform.  Google's advantage is that it can leverage many other manufacturers by being an open source to them.  The downside, of course, is lack of uniformity and interoperability.  So Google surely is thinking about making its own smartphones and tablets.  Maybe designing the phones and tablets and letting others manufacture and sell it under their label?  That might be the way to go.  It's hard to compete with your customers.

Like the board game Risk, a superpower has to avoid a situation where its enemy gets to a tipping point.  Things go downhill in a hurry after that.  Think RIM. 

It's hard to believe, but just a few years ago Google's Eric Schmidt sat on the board of Apple.  Now these two behemoths are locked in mortal combat.  Kind of like King Kong battling Godzilla.  Us customers are on the ground watching in fascination and trying to avoid getting trampled.  It would be perilous to predict how this will turn out. 

WHAT'S AHEAD FOR BLACKBERRY SUFFERERS (CUSTOMERS)

The demise/death spiral of RIM, maker of Blackberry smartphones, has been well-chronicled in the business press. It has gotten so bad that even in the corporate world, where Blackberry had been entrenched, Blackberry's hold is starting to crumble.  The so-called "BYOD" or Bring Your Own Device movement, is catching on, and corporate IT departments are beginning to allow non-Blackberry smartphones to be deployed.  This trend will only accelerate, and those of us with aging Blackberry smartphones are faced with the dilemma of what to do next.

There are three options:  1.  Wait it out with Blackberry.  2.  Switch to iPhone, or 3. Switch to Android. 

The first option, sticking with Blackberry means waiting for RIM to come out with its new Blackberry 10 series of phones. I can't recommend this approach.  However, this may have appeal to a small subset of customers.  People who are happy with their current Blackberry, even if it is several years old.  People who hate virtual keyboards.  The problem with this approach is that there is substantial risk that RIM will go the way of Palm and other once-popular tech products that eventually wither and die off.  How many platforms/operating systems will the market support?  Two, maybe, just maybe, three.  That means Apple and Android occupying the first two slots.  Fighting it out for the number three spot are RIM and Microsoft/Nokia.  That is even assuming there is room for a third player.  This is a little like hanging on to the deck of the Titanic in the hopes that it won't sink.   You are simply postponing the inevitable transition from a doomed, orphaned platform. 

The other two options are to switch to Android or iPhone.  If you are thinking of switching to the iPhone, I suggest you wait until later this year.  Sometime around October or November, Apple will likely come out with the iPhone 5.  It will finally have 4G/LTE technology, which is worth the wait, particularly if you are a Verizon customer.

The biggest complaint I hear from iPhone users who are former Blackerry users is the virtual keyboard.  Especially the dreaded Auto-Correction feature.  My advice to anyone who has an iPhone and who hates the Auto-Correction feature is to disable it.  Here's how:  Go into Settings, and under General, scroll down to near the bottom of the list of options.  Near the bottom you will see buried the word "Keyboard".  If you touch the word "Keyboard", the iPhone will display a list of options, the second one being "Auto-Correction".  Turn it off by pressing the On/Off toggle switch with your finger.

For Blackberry users who hate virtual keyboards, the Android world offers more options.  The Verizon store I visited had two Android phones with slide out keyboards.  Unfortunately, neither had the beveled keys that you find with Blackberry phones, but rather a flat keyboard that I found tricky/difficult to use.  More models may be coming out shortly, and perhaps you can find one that works for you.  If you get an Android phone with a keyboard because you value that feature so much, be sure that the phone has the latest version of Android (currently the so-called "Ice Cream Sandwich" version), and that it is an LTE 4G phone.

For the rest of us Blackberry customers who prefer a keyboard but will grudgingly adapt to a virtual keyboard, I suggest the iPhone platform over Android.  Assuming you are willing to wait for the iPhone 5 so that you get the 4G/LTE experience.  Why iPhone over Android?  The biggest reason is Siri.  Siri is sensational, a real game changer.  Instead of typing, your voice becomes the interface.  Here's the anecdote that sold me:  we are having dinner at a restaurant after seeing the movie "The Descendants."  I wonder how old George Clooney is.  Someone at the table had an iPhone 4S.  I borrow it, press the Siri button and say, "Siri, how old is George Clooney?"  Siri comes back with an excerpt from an online source (Wikipedia perhaps) that gives his exact birthdate.  I was impressed.  Imagine driving to work, and you have a thought and you simply speak to your phone and say, "Siri, remind me after work to pick up my drycleaning."  And that evening, before you leave the office, Siri reminds you to pick up the drycleaning. 

I can't wait for the iPhone 5.

Overlooked by Mainstream Press? Series of Articles on IBM by Cringely

Well-known tech blogger Robert Cringely has written a series of articles about IBM on his web site blog www.cringely.com.  I'm not a follower of IBM so I have no idea whether what Cringely is saying is true.  The allegations are sensational, having to do with alleged plans by IBM to cut its workforce in the U.S. and Canada by 70-85% in the next few years, by offshoring its service workers.  The articles have been ignored by the mainstream press.  This is surprising, given Cringely's stature in the tech world.  I'm betting it will be picked up somewhere by Big Media sometime in next few weeks.  Similar to the Trayvon Martin story, maybe this has to percolate for a while before it gets picked up by the big guys.  If so, you heard it here first!

Long Before There Was Google Maps, There Was PC Maps

Two articles from the New York Times, one in 1992 heralding the arrival of PC Maps, another in 1994 after the product was renamed "City Streets":


http://tinyurl.com/8xwvc6y
http://tinyurl.com/d8yo2yp


The 1992 article was called "Practical Traveler; The Maps Are In the Computer".  How long ago was 1992?  The article advises potential buyers that the program requires "about 460 kilobytes of free working memory.  A hard disk is required."  Later on, the article goes on to mention, "CD-ROMs, little disks similar to the musical kind, are catching on as a way to package computer programs."  The operating system at that time was MS-DOS.  Microsoft Windows was still a work in progress at the time, and Al Gore had not yet invented the internet.

THE HIGH-VELOCITY LAW OFFICE - How State-of-the-Art Document Management Can Accelerate and Transform Law Practice

Link to State Bar of Texas Corporate Counsel Section, Spring 2012 Newsletter http://tinyurl.com/7aarykf


Link to ABA Newsletter, Technology for the Litigator, Spring 2012 http://tinyurl.com/7xntx3s