Byebye Microsoft

This is the end of an era. Bill Gates’ momentous decision, a few decades ago, to focus on software rather than hardware and turn the Windows / Office combination into a universal platform propelled Microsoft to the top of the charts. Recently, a series of decisions have gravely undermined Gates’ legacy:

Right-or-Wrong is the enemy of innovation

I have long been fascinated by Iman Wilkens’ groundbreaking book Where Troy once stood, which argues that the city of Troy was located in England, and that the Trojan War was waged by Celts from the continent who, at the end of the Bronze Age, had run short of tin (an essential component in the manufacturing of bronze) and intended to get their hands on tin from Cornwall in Britain. In support of his theory, Wilkens has been able to match a number of topographical features (river names, mountains, coast lines, etc.) with the description that Homer makes of the landscapes of Iliad and Odyssee. Furthermore he has been able to – at long last – make sense of Odysseus sea voyages. By contrast, the dominant theory, which places Troy in Asia Minor, does not offer a single shred of evidence to support itself,

Complacency implausible argument for Nokia’s slow-down

An interesting article in the International Herald Tribune dated 27/09/2010 explores the reasons why mobile phone leader Nokia slowed down, letting RIM’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone take the technology lead.

In this case as in many others, analysts are quick to put complacency at the top of the list: