When I first started writing computer books in 1994, I remember being asked whether I had a copy of Word installed on my Mac? You see, as with most publishers then and now, they rely heavily on Word’s Track Changes feature to monitor the editorial production process from the original manuscript to the final version […]

I like being surprised, but I have to tell you that I didn’t expect Office 2008 for the Mac to do very well. You see, Microsoft’s reputation is heavily tarnished these days, and more and more people are embracing Macs; in greater numbers, in fact, than anyone had a right to expect. At the same […]

Although this conversation probably never took place, I can well believe the scene is playing out as if it did. One day, Steve Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who sits on Apple’s Board of Directors, were having lunch and talking shop. In one of those fated eureka moments, they both devised a strategy that […]

Whenever an analyst wants to write something without thinking, it’s easy to pontificate on such silliness as the alleged resemblance of the iPod to the Sony Walkman. Both gained iconic status, but the latter was eventually largely supplanted by me-too products that were cheaper and offered identical or additional features. And let’s not forget the famous […]