A couple of days ago, while everyone was nursing their hangovers, the LA Times ran a piece that said Google would soon release their own branded PC in Walmart stores - everyone has since been abuzz. Interestingly, the people who have the most intelligent opinions about how the technology world works are quick to point out that cheap PCs have been tried before in the superchain (and failed), touting this whole scenario as an unlikely one.

Whether it happens or not doesn’t concern me - I don’t read any papers, and if I did I wouldn’t believe much that they say anyway. Traditional media is in flames, hampered by rising costs and nothing to say; they’re also being outed for plagiarizing the blogosphere. They don’t mind floating a rumor that might pump up a stock (at the time of this post, Google was up $6+). If the “news” turns out unfounded, they will whine that folks called them on it (something they didn’t have to worry about in the past), and the post will disappear into oblivion soon thereafter.

***UPDATE***

Newspapers just can’t help doing stupid shit, even in my neck of the woods. Case in point, a group of newspapers (including The Rocky Mountain News) get nabbed passing off old stories as new.

***UPDATE 2***

And the Google PC still doesn’t exist, at least not in the minds of anyone other than the LA Times (who I now think was just trying to drive some traffic their way).

Let’s count the days until the post disappears.

A warning has gone out to PC and Mac users regarding a potentially dangerous buffer overload problem in iTunes and Quicktime movies that could cause system crashes. Apple has refused to comment on the issue, pending investigation - I don’t know what the Windows side of the world is doing about it.

All I can say is that I wouldn’t be particularly worried about downloading an NBC sitcom and having it destroy my machine. In addition, most people using iTunes are doing one of two things with it - either ripping CDs to add to their library, or buying music from the store for the same reasons. Neither, in my opinion, exposes one to much risk.

However, if you frequently download music or your “favorite” video clips (whatever they may be) from questionable sharing networks or websites, I’d be a lot more cautious until the potential problem is patched. Or you can do the right thing and avoid those places altogether (even though that wouldn’t be as fun).

A colleague recently asked me what computer system I was favoring for the long haul. I immediately thought of Apple. He asked me why I thought Apple was a good choice, and I replied that OS X would be the main reason, and hardware “comfort” second. The open question for the evening was why didn’t Apple make cheaper products for the main stream? Their desktop units, in particular, were priced many hundreds of dollars above its PC competitors. Yes they are.

Why doesn’t Apple sell cheaper products?

I recollect a Harvard Business School case study from long ago that suggested competing on price was a losing proposition, in the long term. Sustainable value could not exist in an environment where competitors steered organizations based on price.

We see now in the PC business that the way to sustain markets is to build faster machines to maintain margins. The need for faster machines seems to be driven by the size, complexity and quantity of operating systems and other software. Unfortunately for PC manufacturers, people (with the exception of gamers, etc.) now realize they do not need all that software, hence all that speed. Both my colleague and I recently agreed we just have too much on our desktop, and it was time to cut back. Meanwhile, the mobile community is shifting value from Mhz to battery life, as wireless networking becomes ubiquitous. Down go laptop clock speeds. For the PC manufacturers and software developers, now what?

Well at least one person has an opinion. Bill Gates thinks hardware will someday be free. Bill is a guy who it is difficult not to listen to, but I still have to think about that one a little more. If you get the hardware for free, and don’t actually buy the software (you usually “license” it), it sounds as though the industry may starve on its own success. I doubt however, that you will ever be able to pick up Apple hardware for nothing.

Another industry has experienced a similar fate. The US auto industry failed to maintain consumer attention, due mainly to an inability to create a product of competitive quality while fighting each other for price superiority. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor refused to lower their prices to levels of their primary competition, and yet Toyota is now the number one car manufacturer on the planet in terms of volume. They still build vehicles for which quality is hard to beat anywhere, and at any price. Toyotas will likely never be free, but I suspect that at least one major US automaker will not make it another twenty years, at least not independently.

Apple may have had its trials and tribulations, but it still carries its own weight, and seems to be making great strides of late. Someone seems to have a clue that people are willing to spend a little more for a supposedly superior product. People keep doing this, so maybe there is just something to it.

PS: I drive a Toyota.

Originally posted to the thoughtmarket predecessor site by mg on April 24, 2004 09:13 AM