Archive for the ‘business’ Category
Bribery or Business?
The Second Circuit is deciding whether or not the practice of “reverse payments” — settlement in patent infringement cases where the patent holder pays the alleged infringer to stay off the market — are subject to antitrust scrutiny.
Interesting concept, but my gut feeling is that the practice is anticompetitive. It’s remarkably similar to what the big tech companies did back during the dot-com boom: buy out their competitors to keep them from competing in the market. I know the issue here deals with alleged patent infringement, but the methods are almost identical.
As the article notes, the Federal Trade Commission seems to have the same opinion that I do.
[From Can Patent Holders Buy Off Infringers? Courts Take Another Look - News - ABA Journal]
Just in Time Employment
There is a paradox in the American economic recovery. GDP is expanding at incredible rates, and yet the economy keeps shedding jobs. While the official unemployment figure stands around 10 percent, including worker who are underemployed pushes “the full measure of slack in the labor market closer to 20 percent“. While economists and policy analysts are mixed as to what this means, one certainty is that there will be few gains in employment for the foreseeable future.
Is the problem that there just too much supply in the US labor market, or is there a fundamental change in the way the U.S. handles employment?
The Future of Computing
Today, Apple released its punchline-inducing “iPad” tablet device. Designed to be something between a smartphone and a laptop, the iPad is perhaps the most hyped device of the last couple years. Whether it will be a game changer is yet to be seen, but it is certainly a shift away from traditional computing for sure.
I will not mention the iPod anymore; if you want to do that, read one of the many Apple fan sites for ad nauseum iPad coverage. Instead, I want to describe what I believe is the future of computing.
Just one word: integration.
GM to sell Saab to Dutch carmaker Spyker
News sources are reporting that Dutch car maker Spkyer will now be the new owner of Saab. This comes after a previous deal to sell to Swedish car maker Koenigsegg failed due to financing issues.
[From GM to sell Saab to Dutch carmaker Spyker - washingtonpost.com]
Windows to Add Mandated Browser “Choice Screen” in March 2010
The European Commission details the new, compulsory “Choice Screen” browser selection update to Microsoft Windows. From the Press Release:
What is the Choice Screen and how can people get it?
Microsoft has agreed with the European Commission to offer Microsoft Windows users a Choice Screen giving them an easy choice about which web browser they want to use.
The Choice Screen will be provided to those European Windows users (currently more than 100 million) who have Microsoft’s web browser Internet Explorer set as their default web browser.
Until now, Microsoft has provided its web browser together with its Windows software, whilst the main competing web browsers generally have to be downloaded from the internet. This means that often other browsers do not get installed on consumers’ computers.
The Choice Screen will take the form of a Windows update. The update will be installed automatically for users who have opted for automatic installation of updates via Windows Update so they will not have to do anything to get access.
The Choice Screen will be available from mid-March 2010.
This would have been more effective if mandated before Microsoft launched Windows 7, but I guess it’s better late than never.
Everything That’s Wrong with DC
When small businesses and “power players” collide.
[From In neighborhood beefs, they bring the muscle - washingtonpost.com]
FCC Inquires About Google Voice App Rejection
TechCrunch is reporting that the FCC has sent letters of inquiry to Apple, AT&T and Google regarding the rejection of Google Voice related apps from Apple’s app store. In the letters, the FCC is asking both Apple and AT&T about their levels of decision making in approving/rejecting apps.
AT&T has maintained that it has no involvement in the approval process, although their loosely-written press release gives a wide latitude for interpretation.
I suspect that the FTC and DoJ may get involved next, given the administration’s strong antitrust policy.
[From FCC Takes On Apple And AT&T Over Google Voice Rejection]
The Network Really is the Computer
Sun Microsystems, one of the stalwarts of the computing industry, has a simple motto: “the network is the computer.” Yesterday, Google took that motto to an entirely new level with the announcement of it’s Chrome OS.
Details on Chrome are sparse (which has not stopped technology writers from writing ad nauseum about all the features it will have). What it appears from Google’s press release, however, is that Chrome will be an incarnation of the old “network computer” (NC) concept, where the bulk of the computing will be conducted on centralized servers. Rebranded “cloud computing”, this server-centric model is the latest fad.
NCs have a significant limitation not found in personal computers: to fully function, an NC requires a constant, reliable network connection. Chrome will likely utilize Google’s “Gears” framework. Even so, the dramatic push of an entire operating environment to the web seems both radical and unwise. When Gmail went down for several hours earlier this year, the world panicked. The harm caused by a Gmail outage will be miniscule compared to an outage of thousands of computers.
It is far too early to tell if Chrome will be a mere dumb terminal or something far more sophisticated. A number of important questions also remain to be answered, such as how open the Chrome platform will be, the willingness of people to adopt a new operating platform, and the response of the existing operating system developers.
