Showing posts with label ARM architecture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ARM architecture. Show all posts

Saturday, October 20, 2012

The Next Big Thing In Software: Never Me


I was never trying to do the next big thing in software.

In 1999 when I was a founding member of a dot com that did pretty good - $25 million raised round two - it was trying to create a community online.

A little after when I was pitching VCs on my own, what I had in mind is what the Chromebook is today, only the price point is not right yet. But then I was not thinking touch as a possibility at all.

The nuclear winter happened. A few years later when I moved to NYC it was with the Chromebook concept in mind.

I got pulled into doing full time political work on a volunteer basis, in Nepal and in America. They were both historic opportunities. I did raise 100K as was the first goal, but my political enemies in the city made sure the idea got scuttled. They killed it. And the Great Recession happened.

After that I started thinking in terms of microfinance, for profit high tech microfinance. Advising or rooting for or even joining the teams of others don't count. A few dot coms fall in that category.

Today I am squarely in Clean Energy, one of the next big things like nanotech and biotech. I will also do sales, and I hope to pick up microfinance down the line. When it comes to software, I am a great user, I'd like to believe. But I never was a guy trying to do the next big thing in software.

I came to New York wanting to do hardware. I am glad Google picked up the slack. I want Google to also do globally wireless gigabit broadband. That is the only way it can become a trillion dollar company.

As for me, let me worry about hydroelectric dams in Nepal.
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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Chromebook: $249 A Much Better Price Point

$199 would have been better still. $199 ad free, $100 ad supported.


Google launches 11.6-inch ARM-based Samsung Chromebook: $249, ultra thin and light, 6.5-hour battery, 1080p video
The new Chromebook, for everyone
Google Unveils New $249 Chromebook by Samsung
Samsung/Google's new ARM-powered Chromebook looks like a MacBook Air, costs just $249
Google announces new Samsung Chromebook, available for $249 on Monday (hands-on video and photos)
Google wants new $249, ARM-based Chromebook to be your second computer
New Google Chromebook Has a Great Price: $250
Google's thin 11.6-inch ARM based Samsung ChromeBook with 100GB of online space is finally compelling at $249 (Video)
Nope, Google's $249 Chromebook totally didn't rip off MacBook Air wholesale
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Friday, January 21, 2011

Armdroid

Android robot logo.Image via Wikipedia
Harvard Business Review: The Fall of Wintel and the Rise of Armdroid: incumbents find it immensely hard to disrupt themselves..... They tried jamming a PC into a smaller form factor, which entirely missed the point. Their tablet should have been about disrupting the PC market with something light, cheap and simple. Instead, Microsoft tried to make it do everything. ...... the only line of business that is barely growing is the Atom, Intel's mobile processor. ..... Microsoft's point of view: now that Windows 7 has been developed, to sell another copy, they don't have to do a single thing. Because of this, it becomes very hard for any executive to advocate the complete development of a low cost OS that will run on tablets: not only would it cost Microsoft a lot to develop, but it would result in cannibalization of its core product sales ...... ARM processors are perfect for powering these handheld devices. Manufacturers can customize to their heart's content. And Android is on track to dominate the operating system space .... ARM and Android — Armdroid — are providing everything that tablet manufacturers need, and doing it more effectively and at a lower cost than Microsoft and Intel are able to.
I am still betting on the Chrome OS Notebook to kill Windows. Tablets and smartphones are all good, but for the power user there is still a need for a bigger screen and a full fledged keyboard.