by Earl Moore on July 22, 2008
It appears that Microsoft has an upcoming $300 million ad campaign that is geared towards convincing those misinformed that Vista is better then being told. A hurdle to overcome will be that not all who have a voice are so misinformed:
Microsoft’s biggest challenge is not in convincing us how misinformed we are about Vista in spite of what they might think. No, their biggest challenge is going to be convincing those of us who actually use Vista, especially on mobile computers like laptops and Tablet PCs, that it’s not that bad. [From Vista is better than you think it is says Microsoft - jkOnTheRun]
Word of mouth tends to be stronger then PR campaigns and the word on the street, right or wrong, is that Vista has some serious flaws. This is not to say that Microsoft hasn’t improved Vista or that it’s a terrible OS, it’s not.
IMHO a better use for Microsoft of this $300 million would be to invest in the development of the next version OS to insure that it knocks it out of the park.
by Earl Moore on April 23, 2008
While the U.S. economy in general appears to be on the verge of a recession, Apple thus far appears immune to the slowdown:
Apple - Apple Reports Record Second Quarter Results
Apple today posted revenue of $7.51 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per diluted share, for its fiscal 2008 second quarter, which ended March 29. “We’re delighted to report 43 percent revenue growth and the strongest March quarter revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs. During the quarter, Apple shipped 2,289,000 Mac computers (representing 51 percent unit growth and 54 percent revenue growth over the year-ago quarter), sold 10,644,000 iPods, and reported quarterly iPhone sales of 1,703,000.
by Earl Moore on April 23, 2008
So, we all thought that Apple’s days with the PowerPC CPU were behind it and that all future devices would be based on Intel processors. We might have been wrong!
According to reports, Apple has purchased for $278 million cash a semiconductor company, PA Semi, which designs energy efficient CPUs based on IBM’s PowerPC architecture. Yes, the same type of processor that Apple used in its product for many a year. The same type of processor that universal binary applications would still be able to run on today.
I noticed that on PA Semi’s web site it proclaims “Green Computing” and after all “Earth Day” was yesterday. 
What an interesting and unexpected turn of events!
Let the Apple product speculations and rumors begin. 
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Related links of note:
9to5mac - What is the PWRficient processor from P.A. Semi?
Forbes - Apple Buys Chip Designer
GigaOM - With the iPhone in Mind, Apple Buys Chip Maker
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by Earl Moore on April 11, 2008
It’s not turning out to be a good public relations week for Microsoft, as the following links indicate:
Gartner Says Vista Will Collapse. And That’s Why The Yahoo Deal Must Happen - TechCrunch
Microsoft Designed Vista’s UAC to “Annoy Users” - DailyTech
Gartner Analysts Predicting Doom and Gloom for Microsoft Windows - eWeek
Windows at risk of “collapsing,” say analysts - tgdaily
Gartner: Windows is Untenable and Collapsing - the Mac Observer
Windows is ‘collapsing,’ Gartner analysts warn - ComputerWorld
For Microsoft, its ecosystem and its customers, the situation is untenable,” said Silver and MacDonald in their prepared presentation, titled “Windows Is Collapsing: How What Comes Next Will Improve.”
Among Microsoft’s problems, the pair said, is Windows’ rapidly-expanding code base, which makes it virtually impossible to quickly craft a new version with meaningful changes. That was proved by Vista, they said, when Microsoft — frustrated by lack of progress during the five-year development effort on the new operating — hit the “reset” button and dropped back to the more stable code of Windows Server 2003 as the foundation of Vista. - ComputerWorld -
I certainly don’t believe it’s the doom-and-gloom for Microsoft Windows these articles may lead one to believe (have you seen Microsoft’s earnings). Microsoft with its incredible resources will no doubt continue to develop and support the current Windows versions successfully. Perhaps a company with lesser resources couldn’t pull this off.
However, It’s not surprising that Apple has been experiencing market success with its Mac and OS X computer line.
With the less then stunning success of Vista, Microsoft has certainly opened the door for both Linux and Mac OS X as more dependable alternatives to Windows.
by Earl Moore on March 14, 2008
It’s rare that you call someone concerning a home repair and have them there and finished in a day, much less a few hours.
Around noon yesterday I noticed that a couple of shingles on our roof had come loose and were slanted at a 40 degree angle.
Not a great thing to notice when they’re calling for rain the next two days.
Searching the yellow pages for roof repairs I begin making calls, not really having any hope of finding anyone to fix it that day.
My first calls were answered by answering machines and I didn’t leave messages.
My third call was answered by Harold. After a brief description of the problem and getting my general location Harold said he was on a roof at the moment and could he call me back a little later to get the details. He seemed genuine, but I must say I wasn’t sure at that point if I’d hear back from him.
But call back he did, and with directions to our house said that he had another stop that afternoon so it’d be around 4pm before he could arrive. A few minutes after four Harold was here and about 30 minutes later he not only had the two shingles fixed but had done a quick inspection of the rest of the roof.
There’s no doubt that Harold provided a great customer experience.
Note: If you’re near Salisbury, NC and in need roofing work, I’ll be happy to email you a phone number for contacting Harold’s Roofing & Service.
