31–40 of 102 posts
I was talking to an insider last year about how HP wanted to be a computer maker. I said, "I know them for their printers, they make awesome printers." He said, "Yeah, they're not so interested in printers these days. They think the money's in computers."
I guess it's whatever the "money's in" this week.
This quote: "Autonomy — a company I’d never heard of before but which more or less sounds like a rival to SAP" tells you everything you need to know about the blogger. He knows very little about the software business, and is just making up opinions based on his gut feeling, without backing it up with knowledge or evidence.
WebOS was for Hurd just a fig leaf to make a future orientated impression, in reality were all the profits he made short term. What HP needs now is focus and that is what Apotheker is doing. Some people are disappointed that it is not consumer orientated, but when you look at the "smart phone wars" this seems reasonable to me. HP can't compete with Google, Apple and Microsoft there. Look at Nokia and Blackberry.
This quote: "Autonomy — a company I’d never heard of before but which more or less sounds like a rival to SAP" tells you everything you need to know about the blogger. He knows very little about the software business, and is just making up opinions based on his gut feeling, without backing it up with knowledge or evidence.
"Organizations already benefiting from Autonomy technology include Avis, BAE Systems, BBC, BMW, Coca-Cola, CNN, Ericsson, Fiat, Financial Times, GlaxoSmithKline, Isabel Healthcare, KPMG, Linklaters, Lloyds TSB, NASA, Nestle, Oracle, Philips, Safeway, Schneider Electric, Shell, T-Mobile, The European Commission, The U.K. Houses of Parliament, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission."
If Autonomy isn't enterprise software on the order of SAP (if not exactly the same business), they sure write confusing marketing copy.
I tend to agree with the basic reasoning but there's one thing I don't understand. Why cancel the TouchPad? Why not just spin that out with the hardware business to Compaq (which is the idea, yes?)? It seems they've devalued that unit by killing WebOS. All PC makers are on razor thin margins... apart from Apple. A post from yesterday [1] painted an interesting picture where Dell, through a series of seemingly rationa…
Notice HP did not pull the Pre and Veer phones from the shelves or put them on fire sale.
HP's reasons for keeping the webOS lights on are probably threefold. 1) Phones are still for sale. 2) HP has a liability to show some support for webOS devices it sold or risk a class action lawsuit. 3) HP could still sell the Palm assets to someone and the company is lot more valuable if it comes with employees.
I tend to agree with the basic reasoning but there's one thing I don't understand. Why cancel the TouchPad? Why not just spin that out with the hardware business to Compaq (which is the idea, yes?)? It seems they've devalued that unit by killing WebOS. All PC makers are on razor thin margins... apart from Apple. A post from yesterday [1] painted an interesting picture where Dell, through a series of seemingly rationa…
> Why not just spin that out with the hardware business to Compaq (which is the idea, yes?)? It seems they've devalued that unit by killing WebOS. I'd imagine one of the biggest reasons is patents. If they spin out the business they have to sell the patents. If they're going into a new market where they don't traditionally have alot of expertise their only chance of not getting sued into oblivion is to be able to cro…
I think his interpretation of the facts is very plausible. Sadly, Larry Ellison was absolutely right when he said, at the time of Hurd's scandal, "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago." Good CEOs who can revamp stagnant companies are hard to come by, particularly in the consumer space. Hurd was that CEO, Apotheker is not. And getting o…
Apple is where it's at today because of what Steve Jobs learned and grew from his "failures".
I think his interpretation of the facts is very plausible. Sadly, Larry Ellison was absolutely right when he said, at the time of Hurd's scandal, "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago." Good CEOs who can revamp stagnant companies are hard to come by, particularly in the consumer space. Hurd was that CEO, Apotheker is not. And getting o…
Hurd made HP very toxic place to work (I know that first hand): and how the heck you can compete with Apple when your engineering force is demoralized?
Also what would be HP future under Hurd helm?
As of Larry's comment... Larry talks his book. He does not care what will happen to HP and he needed a guy to clean up Sun hardware division. So of course he will praise Hurd.
I think his interpretation of the facts is very plausible. Sadly, Larry Ellison was absolutely right when he said, at the time of Hurd's scandal, "the HP Board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple Board fired Steve Jobs many years ago." Good CEOs who can revamp stagnant companies are hard to come by, particularly in the consumer space. Hurd was that CEO, Apotheker is not. And getting o…
Firing Steve Jobs was the best thing Apple could have done, long term. Apple is where it's at today because of what Steve Jobs learned and grew from his "failures".
Moreover Apple went on the verge of bankruptcy before Steve Jobs came back. So it was still a bad decision for the board to fire him.