E-Commerce News: Opinions

How Apple's Product Cycles Torture Customers Into Loving It
May 24, 2012

Apple MacBook Pro rumors, and to a lesser extent iMac, MacBook Air and Mac Pro rumors, have been flying around fast and furious these days, and all it's doing is stoking my fire for a new MacBook Pro. Every Tuesday, which seems to be Apple's favorite day of the week for announcing new products, I anxiously wait to see the Apple Online Store go down and a press release to appear.

Solving the Sprint Problem
May 24, 2012

A quick look at the wireless industry over the last several years shows wave after wave of innovation and success. In fact, success has been bigger than anyone's wildest dreams. However, success does not come to all. Why do some companies, like AT&T and Verizon, seem to hit the ball out of the park, while Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile keep striking out? And what can they do about it?

Blame Change for Social CRM's Plodding Pace
May 24, 2012

I remember being an impatient kid when something I really wanted was on its way. The first time I was aware of my parents mail-ordering something for me -- I think it was a baseball jersey I especially coveted -- I can recall bombarding them with a chorus of the phrase, "when is it going to get here?" I realize now that hearing a six-year-old ask that question 300 times a day for three or four days was genuine torture for my parents.

Intel's New Xeon CPUs: The Next Stage in the x86 Revolution
May 22, 2012

The x86 data center revolution has been a tale of industry standard upward mobility pressuring and displacing traditional systems. In essence, continually evolving x86-based systems and complementary technologies -- particularly virtualization, memory and I/O -- have provided hardware vendors the means to develop systems capable of challenging and beating traditional enterprise server platforms.

In Search of the Next World-Changing Tech Company
May 21, 2012

With Facebook now public, the search is on for that next big-idea company that can excite the market. Coincidently, Nvidia has its Emerging Companies Summit about this time of year, where it has a series of sessions that allow each firm the opportunity to present what makes them unique and powerful. Since I sat on one of the panels tasked with asking the hard questions of these firms on stage, I got a unique view of each of the presenters.

Why iPad Dominance Is a Lock for the Rest of 2012
May 17, 2012

There's always a danger of reading analysis by others that matches your own personal experience and then simply using it to build up the foundation of what you know and believe. But hey, danger can spike adrenaline, and I like adrenaline, so check this out: Information technology research firm Gartner released a report about its worldwide tablet sales projections for 2012.

What's Next for RIM?
May 17, 2012

RIM execs have invited me to dinner for an off-the-record discussion. I have asked a truckload of questions about them over the last few years here in this column and in media stories. Let me ask you: What are the big questions I should ask them now? What do you want to know about RIM? When it comes to RIM, the big question I want to start with is, how will it turn the ship around?

People, Processes and Standout Service Experiences
May 17, 2012

Customer service is a crucial part of the customer experience. That seems immediately obvious. And customer experience is the big buzzword right now, so companies are going bonkers revamping their customer service operations. Right? Would that it were so. Almost paradoxically, many businesses are still stuck in the mode of tweaking with utterly defective customer service processes.

Pulling a Zuckerberg, or How to Kill a $100B IPO
May 14, 2012

Last week was rather quiet except for the increasing drama surrounding Facebook and what was to be their $100B IPO. It could still be, but thanks to its young, inexperienced, and clearly still-maturing CEO, it found itself digging out of an avoidable hole. Its experienced executive team was by all reports doing a terrific job until Zuckerberg decided to show up at an IPO pitch in a hoodie.

NAD Finds Oracle's Pants on Fire
May 12, 2012

It pays to advertise, right? Not necessarily, as Oracle found out when it tangled with IBM recently over advertisements in which Oracle claimed its servers were faster and much less expensive than IBM hardware. Unlike Oracle's headline-grabbing Java copyright and patent infringement suit against Google, Big Blue didn't spend big bucks to take on Oracle in court.

When Your Business Goofs, CRM Can Be Your Best Friend
May 10, 2012

There are three things certain in life. We all know the two cited by Benjamin Franklin, but there's a third certainty that we all face regularly and have to cope with constantly. That's the certainty that we'll make mistakes. Everyone makes them; if it hasn't happened to your business, you haven't been in business long.

iPad: Desperately Seeking Guest Mode
May 10, 2012

After you get over the worry that kids or grandmothers are going to drop your iPad and then accidentally trod on it or stab it with the leg of a walker, other problems quickly arise: For instance, what sort of iMessage or Reminder is going to pop up from your crass buddy and mortify your grandma? Which email from the friend who won't stop sending the joke emails is going show up in front of a kid?

Will Apple or Google Buy Sprint to Break Into the Wireless Network Biz?
May 10, 2012

Recently, I gave a speech at a company and one of the executives raised an interesting question: Will Apple or Google -- or both -- enter the wireless networking fray, just as both have become competitors in the smartphone side of the business? I believe the answer is yes. How is the question.

VMware View 5.1 and the Future of End-User Computing
May 08, 2012

For those familiar with traditional thin-client computing, virtual desktop infrastructure solutions feel virtually like old home week with a couple of notable exceptions. First, rather than depending on dedicated data center-to-desktop hardware resources, VDI leverages server, storage and networking components that are typically part of larger virtualized IT infrastructures.

Mixed Signals in IT's Great IP War
May 08, 2012

Recent news that Microsoft and Barnes & Noble agreed to partner on the Nook e-reader line rather than keep fighting suggests the prospect of fewer IP suits in the industry. However, the deal further obscures the blurry IP and patent landscape currently impacting both enterprise IT and consumer technology. It is good to see settlement. However, this settlment comes from the one conflict in this ongoing war that was actually shedding some light on the matter.

The Un-Death of the PC
May 07, 2012

This occurred to me last Thursday when first-quarter PC sales came out. Apparently, sales are up 21 percent year-over-year and HP retook the lead from Apple in this segment. In this report, Apple's numbers include iPads, and sales for iPads collapsed in the first quarter. This got me thinking of the scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail when the cart is picking up dead bodies during the Black Plague and one "corpse" not only isn't dead but feels like dancing.

Making Customers the Object of Devotion
May 07, 2012

The proliferation of customer service channels can be both a blessing and a curse. It can be a blessing in that companies now have more ways than ever to address customer needs and resolve customer issues, potentially leading to increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. At the same time, the proliferation of customer service channels can be a curse.

The Sad 'Wake Up' Saga Just Gets Sadder
May 03, 2012

I'm often blown away by the pathetically misguided marketing campaigns that clearly out-of-touch executives in large corporations green light ... and then shell out millions of dollars to put into motion. But the "Wake Up" flashmob that tumbled out of a clearly expensive bus in Sydney, Australia, had me scratching my head while simultaneously clutching my belly to ease the pain of laughing so hard.