{"id":20962,"date":"2013-07-17T09:10:03","date_gmt":"2013-07-17T13:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=20962"},"modified":"2013-07-17T09:12:26","modified_gmt":"2013-07-17T13:12:26","slug":"waiting-on-bernanke-microsoft-china-and-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/?p=20962","title":{"rendered":"Waiting on Bernanke. Microsoft, China and Syria."},"content":{"rendered":"

Nothing to buy or sell until I hear more from Bernanke today. He’s appearing before Congress.His testimony is already available. Click here<\/span><\/a><\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Our TIPS are up to 83 1\/2. Probably going a little higher.<\/p>\n

What is going on at Apple? Low spending on R&D? Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Gold is rallying. No one knows why. But it appears to be cheap. For a small flyer, try SGOL.<\/p>\n

Reader Mikeancey comments on MSFT:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Something wrong with MSFT thinking. From reader The Surface RT was such a bad idea on so many levels. So, they create this little tablet (it’s a god choice of hardware, actually), but it uses an ARM processor that is incompatible with Win 8 apps. Any apps have to be rebuilt \/ recompiled for the ARM processor. It’s a whole different platform.<\/p>\n

Then they go and price it ‘at’ a comparable iPad. Again, the hardware is quite GOOD! It’s the choice of processor \/ software to run on it that was ill-conceived. There’s no compelling reason to switch from an iPad to an RT. It’s really a product with no problem or solution associated with it.<\/p>\n

Then, (what was it) 6 months later, they release the Intel processor version (Surface Pro) which runs Win 8. Well, now there’s no damn reason for the RT any more, is there?
\nReduce the price to $0, in my opinion. Then maybe some hacker kids can figure out how to put Android on it and turn it into a really good TV Remote…<\/p>\n

Something’s seriously wrong with their thinking at MSFT.<\/p>\n

And, to completely beat a dead horse, here are comments from Preston Gralla in the latest issue of Computerworld. T<\/em>his piece is neat because Warren Buffett was asked recently if he had his life to do all over again, what would he do differently? He answered: learn more about tech. So, to Gralla:
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Microsoft has derailed for lack of an engineer in chief<\/strong><\/p>\n

People give plenty of reasons for Microsoft’s fall from the top of the tech heap. Two of the more common explanations are internal turf wars and the inevitable decline of a near monopoly that got fat and happy.<\/p>\n

But I think there’s something much simpler at work: It’s been years since Microsoft has been run by an engineer. Bill Gates stopped working full time for Microsoft in 2006, and since then the company has been run by non-engineer Steve Ballmer. Before joining Microsoft, Ballmer worked as an assistant product manager for consumer products giant Procter & Gamble and spent a year in the MBA program at Stanford. That’s not the set of job skills and background the CEO of a tech company needs today.<\/p>\n

Take a look at the tech companies that have surged since Ballmer took over from Gates. Google is headed by engineers. True, people thought that founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page needed some adult supervision. But who stepped in to run the place? Eric Schmidt, a former director of software engineering at Sun.<\/p>\n

Facebook is run by an engineer. Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were engineers, and though Jobs couldn’t rival Wozniak’s prowess, he could code and build hardware, and he lived for overseeing product design. Tim Cook, the current CEO, has a degree in industrial engineering.<\/p>\n

Why does all that matter?<\/p>\n

Because in tech, the product rules. Products trump marketing, strategy and even smart management. What drives technology isn’t dividing up an existing market. It’s creating entirely new markets by developing products that people crave.<\/p>\n

Google succeeded for a very simple reason: At launch, it was by far the best search engine on the planet. Facebook became a success because it was far more useful and “sticky” than any other social media service. As for Apple, its history suggests that, while engineers can’t always save a struggling tech company, a marketer has almost no chance. When Jobs was forced out in the mid-1980s, the CEO was John Sculley, an MBA who had been, among other things, a vice president of marketing at Pepsi. Sculley’s ouster was preceded by a misstep on the tech side — moving the Mac to the PowerPC chip. Although he was followed by two tech-oriented CEOs, it wasn’t until Jobs returned that Apple took off again. The spate of new products Jobs developed was remarkable and spurred Apple’s meteoric rise.<\/p>\n

Engineers succeed as tech leaders because they live and breathe products and care about them in visceral ways that managers — even very good managers — don’t. For people like Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Brin and Page, building products is a calling, not a job.<\/p>\n

Not so for Steve Ballmer. Listen to him talk about products. He’s robotic, his enthusiasm is artificial, and his message never strays from whatever marketing campaign has been designed for him. During the launch and early days of Windows Phone 7, he incessantly repeated that the new phone operating system would “delight” users. It was by far one of the most inauthentic, marketing-driven performances I have ever seen.<\/p>\n

Jobs, Brin, Page and Zuckerberg never needed to gin up their enthusiasm for what they created. If Microsoft wants to get its mojo back, it should be looking for a leader who’s similar to those four: an engineer who loves tech products, not someone who just sells them.<\/p>\n

Preston Gralla is a Computerworld.com contributing editor and the author of more than 35 books, including How the Internet Works (Que, 2006).<\/em><\/p>\n

So China is slowing? <\/strong>From today’s Business Insider daily newsletter 10 Things You Need To Know Before The Opening Bell, July 17, 2013<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Foreign direct investment in China rose at the fastest pace in two years in June, advancing 20.1% year over year. Economists had only expected a 0.7% increase after FDI rose 0.3% in May. Investment from the United States rose 12.3%, while investment from Europe rose 14.7%.<\/p>\n

For the full Reuters story, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Brown bears fishing in Alaska<\/strong><\/span>. Live web cam. Fascinating. You’ll watch for hours until they finally catch a fish. These are patient, handsome bears. Remember Alaska time. It’s nighttime now. Wait till our afternoon. Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Great magic.<\/strong><\/span> Click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Florida considers eliminating laws altogether.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

TALLAHASSEE (The Borowitz Report<\/a>)\u2014Arguing that its current system of laws is out of step with life in today\u2019s Florida, a growing chorus of lawmakers in the state are arguing for a measure that would eliminate laws altogether.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida is rife with laws that say \u2018Do this, don\u2019t do that,\u2019 \u201d said Gov. Rick Scott, a supporter of the measure. \u201cSpeaking as a Floridian, I have found it exhausting pretending to obey them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is broad support in the state for abolishing laws, according to a poll commissioned by the political action committee Citizens For a Lawless Florida.<\/p>\n

According to that poll, a majority of Floridians favor ridding the state of laws, while a sizable number did not know that the state had any.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been trying to remove laws piecemeal for the past few decades, but this measure seems like the most efficient way to take care of the whole problem,\u201d Gov. Scott said.<\/p>\n

For those who fear that eradicating Florida\u2019s laws would wreak havoc on life in the state, Gov. Scott offered this reassurance: \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll notice a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nHarry Newton who loves words. The EU\u00a0 has something called The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market<\/em>. Are you ready?\u00a0 It handles trade marks and designs. It spells trademarks as two words.<\/p>\n

I will admit to being fascinated with Syria and the the psychology of how one man is willing to destroy the thing he loves — his country. From the New York Times<\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0Two years of war have quintupled unemployment, reduced the Syrian currency to one-sixth of its prewar value, cost the public sector $15 billion in losses and damage to public buildings, slashed personal savings, and shrunk the economy 35 percent, according to government and United Nations officials.<\/p>\n

The pillars of Syria’s economy have crumbled as the war has destroyed factories, disrupted agriculture, vaporized tourism and slashed oil revenues, with America and Europe imposing sanctions and rebels taking over oil fields.<\/p>\n

Increasingly isolated in the face of a growing economic crisis that has reduced foreign currency reserves to about $2 billion to $5 billion from $18 billion, a government that long prided itself on its low national debt and relative self-sufficiency has now been forced to rely on new credit lines from its main remaining allies – Iran, Russia and China – to buy food and fuel.<\/p>\n

I’ve watched how CEOs have destroyed their own companies, by refusing to listen to advice or, most often, the handwriting on the wall. It’s an interesting madness.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nothing to buy or sell until I hear more from Bernanke today. He’s appearing before Congress.His testimony is already available. Click here Our TIPS are up to 83 1\/2. Probably going a little higher. What is going on at Apple? Low spending on R&D? Click here. Gold is rallying. No one knows why. But it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20962\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}