Category: computers

Does IT kill competition?

Andrew Mcafee’s article of the effects of IT on competition and businesses raises some interesting points .

http://blog.hbs.edu/faculty/amcafee/index.php/faculty_amcafee_v3/curiouser_and_curiouser/

His conclusion is technology isn’t a leveller between businesses – instead it creats a greater concentration of market power.

I wonder if those results Andrew cites are biased because of the economic boom and easy credit we recently been through; start ups were bought out by cashed up bigger players and that’s why we saw a concentration of businesses.

Regardless of the reasons, there’s a caveat for the bigger players; Andrew’s view is this because “good ideas and good execution separate winners from losers” and technology is what allows these good ideas to spread in a well run company.

This week’s collapse of Wedgwood is a good example of when a company’s culture stifles ideas and innovation. The New York Times has an excellent description of what went wrong and Seth Godin has some wise comments on the NYT strory.

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IT for the future

CNET’s Matt Asay looks at a Goldman Sachs report forcasting IT spending for 2009. To say the predictions are dire is an understatement. 

Mark’s comments are interesting. He takes issue with Goldman’s view that open source and Software As A Service (SAAS) spending will fall as corporates focus on known vendors such as Microsoft and Symantec.

I tend to agree with Goldman’s analysts that the big corporates will turn conservative for the next few years as they focus on their core operations. As long as their IT infrastructure is good enough, that’s where they will stay.

The real action for open source and SAAS will be in the SME sector. Small businesses will be under more competitive and cash pressures as the global depression bites. The who survive the next three to five years will be the ones who do things smarter, quicker and cheaper than their opposition.

This is where open source, and more important, SAAS come into their own as they give smaller enterprises flexibility and cost advantages.

Some of today’s small businesses will the giants of the next economic boom and many of them will be giants because they embraced the new tools and technology available to them.

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Another AVG false alarm

AVG Free appears to be falsely detecting soundcard drivers, sysaudio.sys, as being infected with the Trojan Dowloader.Delf.BUY

avg-false-alarm-2

If you delete or move these files to the virus vault, you will disable the sound on your system.

This is the third time in two months Grisoft have done this and they are losing credibility. There are plenty of free and paid for alternatives such as Avast! and AntiVir and it’s difficult to continue recommending AVG.

If you are receiving the message sysaudio.sys is infected with Dowloader.Delf and are concerned then download and run Malwarebytes or follow the Removing a Trojan instructions on the IT Queries webpage to check you aren’t infected with anything nasty.

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Apple and the recession

A couple of weeks ago I gave my opinions why Apple shouldn’t chase the Windows market down the cheap netbook path. Philip Elmer-DeWitt’s makes a similar comment on his Fortune blog quoting Turley Muller’s analysis of Apple’s prospects.

The big challenge for all businesses in this downturn is to focus on core values and products. For a company in Apple’s position, to be distracted by a venture into low margin, cheap products would be a terrible waste of management time and resources.

There’s no doubt Apple will be affected by this storm, they are going to lose sales and profits will suffer. The key to survival is to limit that damage and come through the other end with loyal customers and good products.

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Apple leaving Macworld

Apple’s decision to leave Macworld is strange and disappointing.

Macworld gives Apple a captive audience of dedicated fans. Any other business would kill for the same opportunity to roll out their new products to such an enraptured audience.

While there’s not doubt the Internet and the Apple Store channels have diluted the importance of the trade show, the Macworld event is still an important part of the tech industry’s calendar.

I’m a bit baffled why Apple would be doing this, I think it’s an asset they should treasure.

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Why you shouldn’t use Internet Explorer

Why you shouldn’t use Internet explorer

Last week’s zero day exploit is just getting worse and wise heads are advising users to ditch Internet Explorer.

This is good advice and I expand on that on the IT Queries site today with some alternatives to IE.

I tied the zero day exploit into my Smart Company column on Tuesday. It illustrates why you shouldn’t be diving on to the net straight after starting your computer from a two week break.

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Why a cheap Mac netbook would be a mistake

AppleInsider is speculating about the possiblility of a $599 Mac netbook.

If Apple were to do this it would be a strategic mistake and damage their business.

The key to the Mac’s success is the point of difference they have to rest of the computer market. This difference allows them to achieve higher margins.

If Apple want to get down and dirty with Asus, Dell and HP they’ll find their products and margins will be dragged down with to their levels.

What’s more, it’s a marketplace they won’t win as other players have better low cost models. For instance, no other brand has a successful worldwide chain of branded stores.

The idea driving the netbook push is “Apple can’t justify charging double”. That’s true and there’s no doubt Apple have been overcharging in recent times. So there is room for some price drops.

But cutting prices to meet other people’s price points would be a suicidal move from Cupertino.

A far more sensible strategy is to accept sales are going to drop and focus on their core market, sacrificing a bit of margin won’t hurt either. 

Sure, Apple’s profits will take a hit but they’ll still be profitable while their competitors struggle to make pennies on $500 systems.

This is the key to survival in the downturn, not mindlessly slashing your throat to meet artificial price points.

It’s a lesson for all businesses in this economy. Focus on your core market and your margin. Giga Om has a good guide to “competitive differentiation”.

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