The Consultant's Conundrum: Balancing Advice and Execution
I'm starting to conclude that a consultant shouldn't be an execution partner.
Category
Tech & Strategy
Essays on products, platforms, business models, and technology strategy.
22 posts in this category.
10 Years of Apple Maps - A Mega Success
Though the title of the article sounds insane and probably is insane, all deductive reasoning points me to the same conclusion - Apple Maps is a Mega Success.
Profits in Modular Value Chains
In previous post, we looked at the difference between integrated and modular players and why integrated players are well positioned to enter new product categories. Now let us look at the dynamics of value accumulation i
Product Development - Modular and Integrated Players
There are broadly two ways of putting a product together – Modular and Integrated. Modular players like Compaq / HP / Dell in PC industry or Samsung / Huawei / One Plus in Mobile phone industry put various parts from var
Apple, Google Coming Together to Fight COVID-19
If there is ever a time for Apple and Google to come together on a common purpose, it is now. It is amazing to see Apple and Google pledging Bluetooth level OS integrations to enable contact tracing.
Why is Apple Arcade a big deal?
Apple announced Apple Arcade a gaming subscription service that allows users to download and play games by shelling out $4.99 a month (₹99 in India.) Apple partnered with a few gaming studios to curate around 100+ titles
Aggregation in Publishing – Challenges
Aggregation is the new business model. While this is not hot new, it still is hot. Many companies that have multi-billion valuation play in this space. To name a few Uber, Swiggy, Zomato, Netflix, Spotify are all aggrega
Function Over Form
Design is not just how it looks like or feels like. Design is how it works. – Steve Jobs
The iPhone and Apple’s Marketing Ploy
On September 12, 2018, Tim Cook walked onto the stage to announce three new iPhones – iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR. These probably are the only iPhones Apple introduced without marketing a killer feature (5s ha
The State of Software at Apple.
Imagine a big ship with thousands of people on board. The captain is driving it full speed to stay ahead of the competition and reach the destination faster. A misstep in the magnitude of few degrees in the compass would
Google Will Soon Start Blocking Ads.
While the title seems outrageous and click-baity, yes. You read that right.
The iPhone Phenomenon.
Same day 10 years ago a blockbuster phenomenon called iPhone happened and the phones are never the same. When Steve Jobs introduced iPhone at Macworld, he sucked the attention of the whole world and made everyone second
The Macbook Pro Crisis.
By now I got used to the fact that people on Internet will try to prove themselves how much smarter they are than Apple by criticizing every single product Apple introduces only to see Apple make truckloads of money ever
End of the Dear Headphone Jack.
Look at the port closely. This is the standard for audio from time immemorial. This is the port that Sony and htc tried to kill unsuccessfully. Apple purportedly today is trying to kill it again. If any company has the s
Yahoo, Google and the Industry.
To include Yahoo and Google under one bracket is one risky title to start with considering Verizon’s recent buyout of Yahoo and Google’s passes at Apple to be the most valuable company. There’s a reason to it.
Differential Privacy – What the heck is it?
Artificial Intelligence has developed leaps and bounds in recent years. Automation has taken over the world and is doing many things unimagined 10 years ago. Creating auto calendar events, showing your parking location,
Social Networks and the Echo Chamber.
Social Networking which never existed 10 years ago has seen the penetration faster than any other service in the world. While there are many advantages to it, let’s for a minute be cynical and look at what it does to our
Li-Fi – The next Big thing to look for?
Li-fi (Light Fidelity) is being seen as the next paradigm shift in the field of wireless networks. While there are many upsides of replacing Wi-fi with Li-fi, our technology is not ripe yet. In this blog post we look at
If you don’t understand Tradeoffs, You can’t understand Apple.
Its about deciding between having higher mega pixel lens with a smaller pixel size or a lower mega pixel with a larger pixel size that lets more light inside giving you better low light performance.
Google Services – A Faustian Bargain?
Faust is the protagonist of classic German legend. He is a scholar who is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life. This leads him to make a pact with the Devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and wo
Ad-Blockers and the Business Reality.
By now as I write this article, many publishers would have already started creating technologies that bypass adblockers for running their businesses. Recent move by Apple to move out of its values (or what they have spok
Apple Looking like doing things it shouldn’t be doing.
Yes this is different. Apple under the reigns of Tim Cook is different to what Apple under Steve Jobs is. Remembering from the past, one of Jobs’ last advises to Tim Cook is to never ask what Steve would have done. Just