The Business of Technology

The buzz today surrounds tomorrow's announcement by Apple unveiling the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iPhone OS 4.0. As is typical for Apple, the release will first be distributed in beta format to developers with a public launch sometime in the June/July timeframe. While may people speculate about new features and functionality being introduced to not only enhance existing devices such as the iPhone 3GS and iPad, many are overlooking the possibility of Apple's first major foray into the world of mobile advertising. As some will remember, Apple acquired Quattro Wireless in January shortly after Google announced their own acquisition of AdMob. The AdMob purchase is still pending regulatory approval. Google's business model is to directly control the flow of data on the web. By doing so, they have created a network of millions of advertisers and created an industry around managing both PPC and organic internet advertising. Enter Apple. For the past decade, Apple … [Read more...]

For the second time in approximately three years, Apple is redefining an industry. Arguably, the launch of the iPad is the single most important launch in Apple's history. This, folks, is a big deal. This really is beyond technology and enters into the realm of redefining the cultural norm. Touch tablets will define our main method of interacting with the web, mail, social networking, written, audio and visual media and even gaming for the next decade. Many people suggest that the iPad will fail for many of the same reasons that the iPhone would never capture significant market share. Here are a few of their arguments: Adobe Flash: Flash is mainly used for games, displaying web video, and is a main tool in displaying advertisements on web pages. HTML 5 is set to replace Flash. People have stated that this will not occur in the mainstream for at least 5 years. I beg to differ. Major sites like YouTube, Vimeo, CBS, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times either have or are … [Read more...]