Outside the Lines

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On this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss Yahoo's new CEO vacancy and the newly launched BlackBerry Storm. We also talk about the grim economic outlook for the holiday shopping season, which will be great for bargain hunters online and offline.

Eariler this month, I spoke with Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla and creator of JavaScript. We discussed the development process for the open-source Firefox browser, the status of Firefox mobile, and new competition.

Eich maintained that increasing competition from Google and Apple, as well as Microsoft, is good for developers and users. It also helps that the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation garnered $75 million in revenue, mostly from its search partnership with Google, which ironically just launched Chrome, a competitor to Firefox. With $33 million in expenses last year, it appears the Mozilla team is well funded to continue development at a rapid pace and attract top talent.

Regarding competition with Google's Chrome and other browsers, Eich said:

It's really a neck and neck race. There is a contest going on not only between Google and Mozilla but also Apple to have the fastest JavaScript engine, to have the best performance on various benchmarks. This is great. Competition is good for users and for Web developers. Another focus for us, especially for me is the Web developers...We are right in there, we are slugging it out. On the Google benchmarks their JavaScript engine is faster, on Apple's benchmarks we're faster than Google currently. It is going to vary, you are going to see it go back and forth, so it is only going to go up, which is the best thing for developers and that is what we are focused on.

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In this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss the flailing economy. The CFOs explaining the financial results on tech company earnings calls echoed the sentiments and uncertainty of every other company and industry. As Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell stated:

We're not economic forecasters, and there is a high degree of uncertainty in outlook based on the state of the economy. As a result we've adjusted our guidance approach as follows. At the top end we're assuming a mild recession, and a relatively modest growth rate for all IT-based products. While at the bottom end we're assuming a deeper recession in the economy and end-season lower growth for IT.

Even Apple's Steve Jobs had something to say about the economy: "Your next-door neighbor can likely predict what is going to happen as accurately as we can."

We also preview what's coming next week at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles next week.

Guest post: Jean-Louis Gassée explains how Microsoft's future business model will borrow from both Apple and Google to compete with the free world of software. The essay was originally posted on Monday Note.

How do you compete with free? That's the question Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, is trying to answer every morning when he goes to work. On the server software side, Windows Server is doing well, especially with the Exchange e-mail server and the unheralded but very good collaboration server, SharePoint. These products have matured, they're relatively easy to set up and manage by IT organizations. The Exchange component is a spectacular success: it manages e-mail, contacts, calendars for hundreds of thousands of organizations all over the world. Even Apple finally embraced Exchange: the iPhone now syncs well with Microsoft's server and the next version of OS X promises "native" Exchange support. In plainer English: Apple's Mail, Address Book and iCal programs, for example, will sync with Exchange "out-of-the-box" just like the iPhone does. (This will be a relief to suffering Entourage users. Entourage is Microsoft's own Outlook sibling on the Mac, but it is a poor relative and lacks Windows' Outlook depth and polish.) Seeing that Windows Server generated more than $20 billion last year, one is tempted to think everything is going swimmingly.

Unix is the problem or, rather, the free Open Source implementations of its function set called Linux and FreeBSD, to name the best-known variants. While Windows Server and Exchange still reign for many Enterprise applications, tens of millions of Web sites run on Linux of FreeBSD software. Further, the Open Source nature of such software encourages sophisticated users to modify the operating system to fit their specific hardware configurations or applications requirements. For example, Google designs and manufactures (!) its own servers and customizes the Open Source OS they run. There's even a rumor they "roll their own" 10-gigabit Ethernet switches but I don't know vouch for that one. In any event, imagine how much the Google account would be worth to Microsoft if the Mountain View company used Windows Server? Knowledgeable readers will immediately object: Google running Windows Server isn't realistic. Not for price reasons but because Microsoft's server software isn't technically suitable for large "server farms" such as Google's. True. It'll be interesting to look at what Microsoft uses for its own Live cloud. In the past, Microsoft has had to resort to "other" server software for applications such as Hotmail. But, "scalability issues" (the ability to grow to serve very large server farms) aside, Microsoft is losing against free server software for the millions of simpler Web servers sprouting all over the world. And, as Linux and its cousins mature, they will inevitably make inroads in Enterprise applications where Microsoft still leads. Open Source competitors to Exchange do exist, they're not yet a strong threat but, if they keep improving, they will erode Microsoft very juicy server business.

On the desktop, Linux is trouble again, but much less so than in server farms. For consumers, as opposed to technically versed sysadmins, ease of use is still a strong plus for Windows. I bought two identical Asus EeePC netbooks, one running Windows, the other a Linux distribution. Windows is still much easier to use and update, Linux is still a little rough on normal humans. One example out of many glitches: the version I used didn't remember Wi-Fi access points and passwords. I had to re-enter everything each time I turned the machine on. This type of problem has prevented Linux from gaining much ground on the desktop.

But this could change: the success of netbooks, their large unit volumes could encourage a manufacturer such as Asus, Acer or Lenovo to invest in the needed polish to make a Linux-based netbook as easy to use as a PC or Mac -- or close enough at a much lower price. And the name, netbook, reminds us it might not need today's (or is it yesterday's?) full suite of robust desktop applications to succeed--it will run applications on/from the Cloud. Imagine a Google netbook.

Lastly, smartphones. Ballmer tries to change the subject by suggesting Apple ought to license its iPhone OS as opposed to keeping it all to itself. Let's skip over Microsoft's proprietary Xbox and Zune software and, perhaps, the upcoming Danger smartphone. Danger, the maker of the Sidekick PDA, is the company Microsoft bought earlier this year,. Microsoft has been selling Windows Mobile licenses for close to eight years now. In the licensing business, the iPhone isn't the real competition, Android is. How do you compete with a free smartphone OS, and a good one at that, which is supported by Google Cloud applications?

My guess is Steve Ballmer is working on a combined answer, one that is sketched before our very eyes already. Microsoft's Live services are but a rehearsal for a much bigger act, Microsoft's Cloud OS, sometimes called Strata. And, based on Microsoft's own Cloud services, we'll see a Danger-based smartphone, as proprietary as the Xbox and the iPod competitor Zune. Put another way, Microsoft's future business model will borrow from Apple and Google, it will have two components: proprietary devices and "universal" Cloud services. And like its models, it will attempt to extract extra profits by nicely tying both components together. For example: iPods are tied to the iTunes service, Android phones might (we don't know yet) better enjoy Google applications.

Interesting times ahead.

Jean-Louis Gassée is a general partner at Allegis Capital. Prior to his venture capital career he founded Be, Inc., which was sold to Palm in 2001. Gassée also held several positions at Apple Computer. He started Apple France in 1981, and in 1985 became president of the Apple Products Division. Earlier in his career Gassée as worked at Data General, Exxon Office Systems and Hewlett-Packard.

In this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I talk about how the economic crisis will impact the tech sector. Both the House and Senate have passed the bailout package, but the legislation doesn't mean that tech or any other industry sector will reverse the downward spiral. Tech companies and financial analysts are rapidly cutting estimates to prepare for a potential nuclear winter in the global economy.

We also discuss Microsoft's forthcoming moves into cloud computing and the state of citizen journalism following the fake Steve Jobs heart attack story that showed up on CNN.

Microsoft is applying its tried and true formula of creating software platforms that can attract millions of users and developers to the hosted applications world. It will be the next major frontier for Microsoft to conquer, competing with companies such as Amazon.com, EMC, Google, IBM, and others. And it's safe to bet that Microsoft becomes one of the major players in the cloud. More to come at Microsoft's PDC event later this month.

On this week's EIC Squared podcast ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss Google's latest disruption in the Web 2.0 field, the Chrome browser, as well as Apple's product launch event on September 9. In addition, Larry explains his idea that Dell and Salesforce.com could merge. Dell is trying to be more of a software company and is using the Force.com platform, and Salesforce.com is a major Dell customer. But, it's unclear how Salesforce.com, its shareholders and customers, would hugely benefit from a union.

On this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet's Larry Dignan and I discuss the legal tussle between Apple and the Mac cloner, Psystar.

This week, Psystar sued Apple on antitrust grounds. Psystar execs said they just want to make the Mac OS "more accessible" by offering it on cheaper hardware than what Apple provides. It's hard not to imagine Apple fighting this one to the bitter end and Psystar getting crushed in a lengthy litigation.

Another battle is brewing with Cisco Systems adding e-mail and calendaring to its on-demand, collaborative software platform with the acquisition of PostPath. This might speed up Microsoft's delivery of an on-demand software suite. If Cisco wants to push its suite further, Zoho would be an acquisition target.

Larry and I also discuss the coverage of the Democratic National Convention. And I share my thoughts on Dell's cloud computing efforts, which means selling bare-bones servers optimized for cost, operational efficiency, and energy conservation.

On this week's EIC Squared podcast, ZDNet Editor in Chief Larry Dignan and I debate whether Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader is the next iPhone.

That is a big stretch, especially given the way the iPhone has turned the smartphone business on its head, at least from a product design standpoint. The Kindle is a nice product, and Amazon could bring music, video, and other kinds of content to the device, but it's doesn't have the Steve Jobs touch.

In addition, all the talk about Kindle's skyrocketing sales doesn't ring true. If the Kindle were on such a hot streak, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos would be talking up the sales numbers. All I know is that I keep getting huge Kindle ads in my face every time I go to Amazon.

After a few hundred times, Amazon should figure out that I am not interested in the Kindle and should show me something that I might actually buy based on my history and the recommendation engine. That would certainly be a more lucrative way to use the front door advertising space.

In the podcast, we also discuss Best Buy becoming an iPhone distributor (good for both companies and not for Wal-Mart) and Gartner's endorsement of the iPhone as enterprise-ready. In addition, we note Dell's latest refresh of its Latitude laptops, including a quick-start feature and a battery that can give up to 19 hours of juice.

Guest post: Jean-Louis Gassée looks into Apple's MobileMe launch misfire and whether Apple can run a worldwide wireless data synchronization service for tens of millions of users. The essay was originally posted on Monday Note.

Simple is hard. Easy is harder. Invisible is hardest. So goes one of the many proverbs of our computer lore. As Apple found out last month with the MobileMe launch misfires, the lofty promise of "Exchange for the rest of us" translated into a user experience that was neither simple nor easy--in a highly visible way. Four weeks later, the service appears stable but doubts linger: is Apple able to run a worldwide wireless data synchronization service for tens of millions of users?

What happened and what does it mean for MobileMe's future?

Let's start by decoding the "Launchpad Chicken" phrase. The game of chicken is one by which two young males test their virility in the following way: from opposite directions, two cars speed towards each other on the same lane of a country road. The one who steers away first obviously lacks cojones and is derisively called chicken. You might ask about brains versus testes but here we are, the chicken is the one who "blinks first". Now, let's turn to the launchpad. Picture the NASA control room before the launch of an expedition to the moon. Hundreds of (mostly) men in white short-sleeves shirts, pocket protectors and eyeglasses, hunched before screens, keyboards, and telephones. Each one monitors a subsystem: left liquid hydrogen tank, backup gyroscopes, main engine telemetry... In the huge air-conditioned control room, five of these men are sweating, something's not quite right with their baby. The temperature keeps rising, the pressure is falling, the telemetry link is weakening. Almost but not quite in the red zone. If the parameters keep drifting like this, they'll have to pick up the red phone. But who wants to be the one who aborts the launch? So, they sweat some more and hope someone else blinks first. There you have it: Launchpad Chicken.

Now, move the imagery to projects with complicated subsystems. You see how the NASA metaphor made its way to Silicon Valley. There is always hope some other engineer will raise a hand and spare me the embarrassment of admitting my part of the project could crash the launch. This is what happened for MobileMe, with a twist on the cojones, so to speak. No one had enough brains and guts to risk humiliation, to raise a hand and say: Chief, we're not ready here, let's stop everything. As a result, MobileMe badly crashed on launch. A couple of weeks later, we have a leak: an "internal" memo from Steve Jobs. The e-mail states the retroactively obvious, the project should have been delayed or at least launched in stages. No less obviously, a new leader is appointed, Eddy Cue, he'll continue to run the iTunes systems as well. Charitably, the deposed MobileMe boss is granted anonymity, he might have been misinformed by his charges, or he might not have asked the right questions at the right times, it doesn't matter anymore.

But, you'll ask, that doesn't tell us what went wrong, which liquid hydrogen tank sprung a leak. This now gets us into two more topics: sync and size. Sync here means keeping information identical, consistent over two or more devices. Less abstractly, for a simple example, I have a phone and a computer, I want their address books to identical or, at least, consistent. On simple cell phones, I use a cable (or a Bluetooth wireless connection) plus software to copy (parts of) my computer address book to the phone. But, wait a minute, I entered numbers on the phone that are not on my computer; I don't want the copy from the computer to wipe out those new numbers. Trouble starts, as if connecting the cell phone to the computer and running the program wasn't buggy enough. You want the software to compare the two address books, the phone's and the laptop's and decide what to keep and what to change, on both devices. But what about homonyms, or different numbers for the same person's home? The program, hopefully, raises those "exceptions" and lets a human arbitrate.

We're just warming up. Now picture a more real-life situation. One traveling consultant with one laptop, one smartphone, both carrying mail, address books, and calendars, and one assistant in the office with a desktop computer. In Microsoft Exchange's lingo, the assistant is a "delegate," has access, including modifications and new entries, to the traveling consultant's data. Everything must be kept identical, consistent, in sync. How is this done?

Using the Exchange server as an example, it keeps the "true" data. And the "clients," meaning the smartphone, the laptop, the assistant's PC submit changes, new mail, an updated appointment, a new contact home phone to the Exchange server. In turn, the server propagates changes to the clients. We say the updates are "pushed" to the smartphone or the laptop, just as they "push" new mail or a new calendar item to the server. You can easily imagine conflict situations: the same appointment changed by the consultant and the assistant, address updates and the like. By now, at least on Exchange, these "exceptions" are well understood and generally well-handled. But it took years of practice. Just as it has taken years for RIM (founded in 1984), the BlackBerry (launched in 1999) creators to polish what is the best-selling synchronized smartphone. Details, details and more subtle mistakes and special cases found and fixed. The BlackBerry got its stardom from truly delivering the Simple, Easy, Invisible proposition referred to in the beginning of this essay.

MobileMe aspires to deliver a similarly invisible level of synchronization for people who don't have an Exchange server, hence the "Exchange for the rest if us" slogan. But seeing the launch glitches, I wonder how many people at Apple stooped to using a BlackBerry with an Exchange account. Doing this would have sobered them a little in advance of the launch, or delayed the whole thing, or tempered the boasts. Shortly after MobileMe's first missteps, Apple publicly and smartly retracted its use of "Push" to describe MobileMe's synchronization and the "Exchange for the rest of us" motto is no longer seen on the company's Web site.

Moving to size: quantity begets nature. At some (often mysterious) point, more of the same becomes something different. One server, ten servers, more of the same. One thousand servers or, in Google's case, running one million servers is of a different nature. Meaning different people with different knowledge and appetites than the ones needed to run a company's email server. If every other iPhone customer wants to sync a PC or Mac with the newly (or old, with the 2.0 software update) purchased iPhone, MobileMe will soon serve millions and, in a not too distant future, tens of millions of iPhones. Besides knowing or not knowing the Buddha of sync, did the MobileMe team have the experience, the knowledge, the appreciation of the "size" problem before them? Very few people in our industry do. Ask Google's rivals why they were trounced by someone coming late to the game but with a better handle on the "size" or "scale" problem. (See this paper from University of California, Berkeley, where ultra-large scale computing is actively researched, with private industry subsidies.) In passing, 10 million MobileMe subscriptions at $100/year is a nice piece of change, one billion dollars, worth the trouble.

Let's step back a little. Apple "pushes" somewhere between 100 and 200 megabytes of updates per month to each Mac user. Last week, the iPhone 2.0.1 update was announced, I connected two iPhones within minutes, the 200Mb files were downloaded and installed without a hitch and I haven't heard any blogosphere complaints on the matter. iTunes has sold billions of songs, serves tens of millions of customers every day and everything works with very few exceptions. In other words, some very large scale Apple systems do work. As discussed above, the iTunes boss (some say slave driver, a meliorative term in context) in now also in charge of MobileMe.

And, last week, parts of the Gmail service were down for 15 hours or so. Last month, Amazon's respected Web Services went down. And, last year, RIM's servers went down for about half a day in the Western Hemisphere, freaking out Wall Street investment bankers and management consultants. Even the best players must endure their share of false notes.

Back to MobileMe today: if you ask subscribers who've never experienced a BlackBerry's smooth delivery of sync, they love MobileMe. It works, it's easy to set up and in the simple (most frequent) case of a PC/Mac with an iPhone, it does the wireless (OTA, Off The Air) sync job as now advertised. We'll see how this scales once iPhones are sold in 21 more countries, 43 total starting August 22nd.

Jean-Louis Gassée is a general partner at Allegis Capital. Prior to his venture capital career he founded Be, Inc., which was sold to Palm in 2001. Gassée also held several positions at Apple Computer. He started Apple France in 1981, and in 1985 became president of the Apple Products Division. Earlier in his career Gassée as worked at Data General, Exxon Office Systems and Hewlett-Packard.