Hey, We’re Talking Tech
On this week’s Talking Tech, Duncan and I (Kevin’s away) take a meandering path through a bunch of different topics - not all of those elegantly linked.
We start by looking at the strong quarterly results from Apple and Microsoft, which reaped the dividends of strong iPod and Vista sales respectively. I ask the naive question about whether the iPod can continue to sustain its amazing growth. Duncan’s responded by comparing Apple to Madonna but wonders if the iPhone bring the whole house of cards down? In terms of the dark stock options cloud hanging over Apple and Steve Jobs, Duncan predicts Apple shares could tumble $30 to $40 if Jobs is forced to step down.
In talking about Microsoft and the Xbox, we spent some time looking at the strategy behind the Nintendo Wii. Instead of competing with high end graphics machines such as the Xbox 360, the company dumbed down its product and went after everyday consumers.
Duncan uses this as a classic case of disruption - coming up with just a good enough product, rather than a pefect product. There’s a good article in the latest issue of Business 2.0 on the Wii.
On the local M&A front, entrepreneur Randy Charles Morren’s RSS email service, Rmail, gets some love from Mark after selling the company to NBC Universal. By the way, Duncan has a new job as director of Canadidan research for technology, media, telecommunications and life sceiences with Deloitte.
