Trailblazers

Marissa Mayer Takes Flak for Gathering Her Troops
March 02, 2013

It has been about a week since a bombshell internal memo from CEO Marissa Mayer was leaked to the world: Yahoo employees will no longer be allowed to telecommute, effective this June. The goal of the new policy is to foster creativity and better productivity, Mayer said. If she hoped for a 24-hour news cycle on the subject, she's been disappointed.

Mason Marches, Groupon Regroups
March 01, 2013

A day after posting disappointing quarterly earnings, Groupon ousted its founder and CEO Andrew Mason. The company's stock jumped 4 percent in after-hours trading as the news became public. "I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding -- I was fired today. If you're wondering why... you haven't been paying attention," Mason said in a letter to employees.

Cook Cheers Investors While Saying Very Little
February 28, 2013

CEO Tim Cook presided over Apple's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, where he fielded questions about a lawsuit filed by activist investor David Einhorn. In his complaint, Einhorn demanded that Apple unbundle scheduled votes that he claimed would require shareholders to consider separate matters in one ballot. Cook called the lawsuit "silly," but the judge ruled in favor of Einhorn.

Yahoo's New Home Page Goes for Lean, Clean Look
February 20, 2013

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is putting her money -- or rather her shareholders' money -- where her mouth is. Mayer has been proclaiming Yahoo's mission of becoming a must-visit daily portal equally accessible via PCs and mobile devices. To that end, the company unveiled a redesign of its website on Wednesday.

The Patient and Telling Vocabulary of Apple CEO Tim Cook
February 14, 2013

Apple CEO Tim Cook is growing on me. His reputation comes from being an operational genius, a guy who could manage supply chains and factories around the world, and connect them with suppliers and distributors and all sorts of trucks, boats, planes and trains to get products into the hands of customers.

Stan Lee Sketches Web Portal for Kids
February 08, 2013

Comic book legend Stan Lee wants kids to join him on his next superhero adventure. The 90-year-old creator of Spider-Man and cocreator of Iron Man, Thor and the rest of the Avengers, this week launched Stan Lee's Kids Universe as part of a joint venture between his POW! Entertainment and 1821 Comics. The online property was announced at New York Comic Con.

Alicia Keys: The Next Steve Jobs?
February 04, 2013

What folks who haven't read any of the early Steve Jobs biographies don't know is that Steve Jobs -- at least, the way he was seen in public -- wasn't any more real than Ronald McDonald. He was a creation of Apple's advertising agency that successfully reformed Steve into the near-superhuman person we saw on stage.

Genius Inventor Kurzweil Gets Keys to Google Playground
December 19, 2012

Google has a lot of star power in its executive ranks and certainly a wealth of intellectual horsepower among its rank-and-file engineers and technologists. However, the search engine giant is getting a twofer with its latest hire: Ray Kurzweil, a brilliant engineer who also has name recognition.

Innovation vs. Magic: Why Apple and Microsoft Need James Bond
November 26, 2012

After seeing the new Microsoft offerings, Steve Wozniak recently lamented that Microsoft is now out innovating Apple. Wozniak is the surviving founder of Apple, and his perspective clearly is important, but he was the guy who got the product to work. It was the other Steve who was largely responsible for creating the entity that was Apple and making it a huge success.

Microsoft's Sinofsky Episode: Reading Between the Lines
November 15, 2012

The plot thickened in the Microsoft saga involving Steven Sinofsky as the former head of Windows took to the blogosphere to set the record straight on rumors he attempted to make a power grab. Among the questions now being debated is whether Sinofsky initiated discussions about merging the Windows and Windows Phone divisions.

Speculation Sizzles Over Sinofsky's Sudden Bolt
November 13, 2012

Microsoft said Monday that Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky will leave the company. Julie Larson-Green has been promoted to lead all Windows software and hardware engineering, and Tami Reller will assume responsibility for the business of Windows while retaining her role as chief financial officer and chief marketing officer.

AV Pioneer McAfee Covering Tracks in Murder Drama
November 13, 2012

John McAfee, founder of the eponymous antivirus software company, is wanted in Belize in connection with the murder of American Gregory Faull. The San Pedro police department is said to be actively searching for McAfee, who has gone missing. This episode is focusing a very public spotlight on the downward, highly destructive spiral McAfee reportedly has been on for years.

Winklevoss Twins Give Social Networking Another Spin
September 18, 2012

Brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss -- famed for their dispute with Mark Zuckerberg over the formation of Facebook -- are trying their hand at the social media space again. They have invested $1 million in SumZero, founded in 2008 by fellow Harvard alum Divya Narendra, who also had a hand in bringing Facebook to life.

Benioff Cranks Up Dreamforce Expectations
September 13, 2012

With Salesforce.com's Dreamforce 2012 conference ready to kick off next week, there is little doubt the company has several new products ready to debut. Just in case, though, CEO Marc Benioff made sure the CRM world would be primed for the news. In a wide-ranging interview with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington at TechCrunch Disrupt on Tuesday, Benioff dropped a few hints.

Marissa Explains It All
July 21, 2012

Given its lousy financial performance, periodic bouts of layoffs, questionable patent litigation strategy and security lapses, Yahoo appears to be adrift, listing, off course, capsizing. Name any unfavorable nautical condition, and it probably applies to Yahoo.

Yahoo's Q2: Mayer Has Her Work Cut Out for Her
July 18, 2012

Yahoo's Q2 earnings, which were publicly released Tuesday, underscore the challenges that new CEO Marissa Mayer will face as she takes over the struggling Internet company. Yahoo brought in $227 million in its second quarter, down from the $237 million it reported for the same time a year ago. Earnings per share were the same as last year at 18 cents.

Did Jack Welch Destroy US Productivity?
July 16, 2012

Forced Employee Ranking, a process that ensures incompetence in companies, has been sourced, as a failure, to Jack Welch -- the guy credited with turning around GE. I began to wonder if much of what he was credited with actually created what now appears to be a cancer in that company, and in Microsoft, and that the reason folks haven't been able to fix it is because it came from such a well-regarded expert.

Linus, GNOME 3, and Much Ado About Desktop Interfaces
June 14, 2012

If ever there was a week to make a person believe in the cosmic forces of fate, this might be it. To wit: Linus Torvalds -- always a topic of interest here in the Linux blogosphere -- has been a particularly "hot topic" in recent weeks thanks to his critical comments earlier this month about GNOME 3.

Airtime: Flash of Brilliance or Flash in the Pan?
June 06, 2012

Web entrepreneurs Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, best known for propelling music into the digital-download age with Napster more than 10 years ago, have launched a new endeavor, Airtime, with much fanfare. It is a browser-based video chat service that connects people via their Facebook login directly from the Airtime website.

Apple's CEO Alchemy Attempts Could Be Bad Chemistry
May 30, 2012

On Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg for an in-depth interview at D: All Things Digital, kicking off the conference. Cook promised that Apple was working on new -- and even incredible -- products, but he gave no actual details. The bigger issue is whether Apple is trying to transform Cook into a "personality" who can fill the void left by the death of Steve Jobs.