Sun Acquires A Cloud Management Company.
Sun (JAVA) is heralding its acquisition of Belgian cloud computing company Q-layer, “a cloud computing company that automates the deployment and management of both public and private clouds.”
Steve Rubel tells me that the first mover wins in cloud computing. Why bother even trying? It’s over, long-haired dude who runs Sun.
Despite Wired’s insults, it’s safe to say that Apple is entering the cloud market to learn. They can follow others and jump in fully or they can check the temperature and learn what users really want. This is the only way for Apple to differentiate and deliver what Apple’s userbase needs/wants rather than go with what pundits think they should do.
Steve Rubel on the new, new way businesses work:
Rule 1:
Apple is still living in age where its CEO or executive team are the only people who speak for the company.
There is only way to run a company and its my way or the highway! Every company has to blog to survive. Companies that don’t blog are doomed.
Rule 2:
For years we lived in an age where CEOs were like rock-stars. Edison, Henry Ford, Jack Welch, Sam Walton, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs – all are rock stars.
Today, however, employees and “a person like me” are far more trusted, according to data from the Edelman Trust Barometer.
The same Edelman meter that sponsored Walmart*’s “real people” blog and bus tour? Also, Apple’s success is completely the result of Steve Jobs’ rock star status. Not their product quality, marketing, service, design etc. Apple ceases to exist without Jobs the same way GE ceased to exist without Welch,Vanguard ceased to exist without John Bogle, Microsoft ceased to exist without Gates, etc.
Rule 3:
Cloud Computing and Netbooks Erode Apple’s Edge. In three years iLife and iWork will have to be entirely cloud-based and the edge goes to the first movers.
First mover advantage is HUGE! After all, Apple dominates because it was the first mover in the PC market (!) Goto.com was first mover in the paid search market. Creative Nomad is still enjoying its first mover advantage with MP3 players. Wordstar was first in the word processing market. VisiCalc, AOL, Diner’s Club, Apple Newton, Altair, Netscape …..
There are legitimate reasons to doubt Apple’s future success or “mojo” – Rubel’s list is not it.
Makes sense. Both MSI and Apple make computers. Therefore, when people are looking for a new computer, they will decide between a relatively unknown vendor, MSI, and a better known vendor, Apple. But, since they are both computers, consumers will go for the cheaper model, because after all that’s how people decide on purchases. After all, MacBook Air users are the target for MSI.
That was snark. HP, Dell, and Lenovo will suffer more from this than Apple. The majority of people who tilt towards an Apple purchase are not really comparing whether to buy a MacBook Air or buy some no name netbook. That is all.
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