Posts by wrwalke

Huawei's Not Hot Dog is possibly the Worst Tech Promo Ever

Funny.

Funny. About 5 years ago, when I worked for Huawei in Shenzhen... For humor, I used to ask people in presentations "Would you buy a car made by Huawei?" to point out that focusing on core strengths is what made the company successful. No one ever said yes.

Reg man confesses: I took my wife out to choose a laptop for Xmas. NOOOO

Keeping the loved ones happy...

Daughter wanted a Chromebook touchscreen for Xmas (love my little geek-princess), but living in China most of the year, I didn't trust the Google vs. Chinese guvmint battles long term with any expectation of stability through the Great Firewall. So her second choice was Win8 and a touch-screen. I cringed... but that is what she wants. Oh yeah, and not black. Mommy's requirement was "no cheap Chinese off-brand crap".

I was amazed at just how low prices have dropped, and how high the current quality and specs available have risen. We ended up with a Lenovo 415-T touchscreen 14", metal body, with decent specs: AMD A6 processor, 4G and 500G HD. $300, and "Chinese" but not "cheap crap", so 67% compliance and 100% happy daughter. Oh yeah, and it is metallic grey/silver and "very Chinese red".

Cook's 'values' memo shows Apple has lost its soul

At some point, the features, shape, and button placement become what makes a car a car, and a smartphone a smartphone. At some point, the "unique and incredibly innovative value" becomes trivial. Really... rounded corners on a rectangular phone? Square icons with rounded corners? multiple pages of icons flowing left-right, or up-down? At some point, user behavior just demands that simple, stupid functionality and shapes come together. Nothing Innovative about that.

Consider the car. Where is the horn button? No!! you can't put the horn button there, that was a Volvo invention! If everyone puts the horn button in the center of the steering wheel, they will be copying the innovative positioning of horn buttons from Volvo! So every vendor ends up with a horn button in a different place, on the edge of the wheel, on the door handle, on the head-liner... and next time you are in a random rental car and some idiot pulls out in front of you... you slam your fist into the center of the steering wheel (of your GM) and the windshield washers turn on.

Yes, a too-simplified example... But really, looking at the stuff that this particular case was arguing over? Please. If you want to make a "smartphone", it is ok to be first to market with a unique "button that takes you home", or "swiping an icon to unlock the phone", or "answering the phone by shaking it vigorously in a counter-clock-wise circle (and I want royalties if that ever shows up)... But this is *all* derivative and evolutionary, and all competitors will adapt. Keep innovating (or evolving) and you will win. Stop evolving, (*cough* RIM, Nokia) and you will die.

bill.