Peter Thiel says HP, Yahoo, aren't Technology Companies Anymore (video)

Peter Thiel: Yahoo Isn't a Technology Company Anymore -

Palantir Co-Founder Peter Thiel discusses Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard. He speaks with Bloomberg's Emily Chang on “Studio 1.0.” (Source: Bloomberg--Sept 17)

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How to Build a Better Chromebook

Now that HP has finally unveiled its own Chromebook, I hope that HP and others will start offering a premium Chromebook with SSD drive having at least 64GB of local storage, at least 3 USB ports (current HP model has that), at least 4GB RAM (current HP model comes with 2GB but can be upgraded to 4GB), and a quality Intel processor in non-touch screen hardware, supporting a mouse (current HP does this). I  do understand that some buyers are shopping on price alone. But I (and others), need performance. More and more people, companies, schools, government agencies and other institutions, are recognizing that a Chromebook is preferable for most users over a desktop or notebook running the Microsoft disaster known as Windows 8. If you get a Chromebook, insist on 4 GB RAM, and be sure to utilize the Chrome extensions. And yes, the Chromebook works offline and you won't have to put up with any more BS from Microsoft! (be sure to read the comments about Win8 at the preceding link)

Otherwise, we are going to have to put up with this--

Wolverton: Chromebook better, but still doesn't beat PC - SiliconValley.com: "The (Samsung) Chromebook, by contrast, struggled to keep up with even half the tabs I typically have open. As I flipped from tab to tab, it frequently would have to reload the nominally open Web pages. That was frustrating when I flipped to pages of news articles, not only because I had to wait for the pages to reload, but also because I typically would lose my place on the page."

The above has nothing to do with the Chrome OS, but the cheap hardware components Samsung used in that particular model. Come on HP, Samsung, et al, you can do better! All that being said, if I had to buy a Chromebook today, I'd get the HP with 4GB RAM.

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Apotheker's Legacy of Wrecking HP Continues

Autonomy hasn't been the killer software product that HP pumped it up to be--Business Insider

Meg Whitman is doing all she can to set HP aright after all the damage Leo Apotheker did before he was finally fired (he should have never been hired in the first place--blame the HP board for that horrendous decision).  I just don't know how much more rough water HP is going to have to go through--PCs and copiers are not a booming market and Apotheker threw away webOS and hence destroyed HP's chance to compete in tablets and mobile--

" . . . the industry shift has rewarded upstarts like Amazon.com, which has become a premier cloud provider to business, and Apple, which reinvented itself with smartphones and tablets."(NYTimes)

If only HP had not hired Apotheker but a CEO who could have advanced webOS--HP: Replaces Autonomy Leader With Bill Veghte - Business Insider: "According to a recent report in Fortune, HP CFO Kathie Lesjak tried to stop HP from buying Autonomy for nearly $12 billion last summer, thinking the price was too high, but she lost that battle to then-CEO Leo Apotheker."--$12 billion down the drain. What a waste!

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Recovering from Leo--HP to Keep PC Business

I hope the world is paying attention--one CEO, Leo Apotheker, personally paid millions, did billions of damage to HP--he grossly overpaid for Autonomy, trashed HP's biggest division, created chaos and havoc with his "leadership" and did unknown billions of damage to the brand name. Now Meg Whitman and Ray Lane, the employees and customers, are trying to recover from all the carnage left in his wake. Obviously the HP board was dysfunctional to have hired Apotheker to begin with, but at least they had the good sense to fire him before he completely killed the company.

H-P to Keep PC Business - WSJ.com: The latest study found that other changes, such as reduced purchasing power and the elimination of joint branding opportunities would have cost H-P about $1 billion a year. "It slowly but surely became very clear that the math just wasn't going to work on this one," Ms. Lesjak said. . . . Ms. Whitman's analysis took a more comprehensive approach, said Ms. Lesjak, evaluating 18 different factors and consulting about 100 people. . . . It also found that some of the mitigation strategies initially considered, such as joint purchasing agreements and letting the PC company keep the H-P brand, weren't viable, she said. . . .Ms. Whitman showed she is pressing for still deeper change. She said she is now reexamining options for a mobile operating system, known as webOS, acquired as part of H-P's $1.2 billion acquisition of Palm Inc.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203687504577002144041676680.html#articleTabs%3Darticle

When you have an inept, dysfunctional CEO--if you are lucky to get rid of him before he completely destroys the company--you need time to recover once he is gone, and start moving again in the right direction. HP is recovering and now moving in the right direction.

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A vote for Meg

Meg Whitman Back in Spotlight at H-P - WSJ.com: . . .

. . . . Ms. Whitman—a Silicon Valley veteran who turned eBay Inc. from a quirky start-up into an online auction giant—remains an influential figure in the technology scene as an H-P director and an adviser to a leading venture-capital firm. But the former eBay CEO also has little background in the hardware industry, never ran a company of H-P's size, made some missteps at eBay, . . .

So what? She's a lot better than the inept Leo Apotheker who I've written about here and here. Meg can calm a chaotic situation and bring some sanity to the technology giant. Meg may not be an aircraft carrier like Steve Jobs--but I think she will fool a lot of people and do just fine--and I wish her and HP the best!

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903703604576585142059755936.html#ixzz1Yi46fJoz

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Disarray the HP Way

 
As a follow-up to my post of August 19, 2011 “HP's Leo Apotheker, Master of FUD,” http://www.johnmpoole.com/2011/08/hps-leo-apotheker-master-of-fud.html

I recommend the following:

H-P's One-Year Plan--

Let's say you were given a year to kill Hewlett-Packard. Here's how you do it . . .

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576535211589514334.html#mod=djempersonal

For Seamless Transitions, Don’t Look to Hewlett

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as corporate suicide, but now we know that there is,” a former H.P. director, the venture capitalist Tom Perkins, told me this week. “It’s just astonishing.” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/27/business/for-seamless-transitions-at-the-top-dont-consult-hewlett-packard.html

HP Restructuring: Smart Strategy, Dumb Execution

So why the dumb, rookie move? I have no idea, but it seems like Apotheker panicked - that he was willing to do pretty much anything to avoid another bad-news earnings call - and decided to stupidly pre-announce the news to put a positive spin on a terrible forecast. http://www.bnet.com/blog/ceo/hp-restructuring-smart-strategy-dumb-execution/8202?promo=540&tag=nl.e540 

Losing $207 a Pop, H-P Brings Back Its iPad Rival

 . .  . The decision to manufacture a second run, however, left analysts scratching their heads. . . .

Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said the temporary return of the TouchPad was likely a poorly thought-through decision."They did a lot of these moves in haste," Mr. Wu said. He said the move will likely create confusion among customers and application developers, which H-P is still trying to woo. . . .

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903352704576540982671537062.html#ixzz1WcmvIUz6

Like I said, its just more "disarray, the HP Way."

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The difference between HP and Apple today

Hewlett-Packard’s legend in Silicon Valley and the rest of the tech world is well-known. The company had iconic leaders of its own: Bill Hewlett and David Packard, the Stanford guys who started HP in a Palo Alto garage. But the company lost Hewlett and Packard a long time ago, and it has had many incarnations since then. It has become the world’s largest PC maker, but is now preparing to move away from the slower-growth and less-profitable industry. It is the same industry that has been disrupted by Apple’s newest products, which have helped push tech into the emerging post-PC world. What Googorola and HP’s shift have in common: Apple and Steve Jobs | Good Morning Silicon Valley
The difference between HP and Apple today? Obviously the quality of management and leadership.

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HP's Leo Apotheker, Master of FUD

I use a HP Pavilion laptop in my work every day—it is a beautiful notebook PC with great functionality. When I bought it last December, I didn’t spend more than 15 minutes looking at various HP notebooks on the HP website before making the phone call to HP and ordering exactly what I needed—loaded with 64-bit Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010 (even though I am a heavy Google user, I still need and use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint).

I knew from past experience I didn’t need to waste time looking at alternative manufacturers. Even others were impressed when they saw my new HP: “It looks like an Apple!” (Only I have a lot more power at less cost with my HP than I could ever get with an Apple.) I have been a long-time customer of HP and also have 2 HP printers in my personal office. I use a smartphone and I’ve looked at tablets (including the iPad) but they will not replace my notebook PC anytime soon.  I am just one of millions (if not billions) of similarly situated “knowledge workers” worldwide.

All of that good will and market advantage that HP once had, was swept aside in one fell swoop yesterday by Leo Apotheker, HP’s CEO:

In a sweeping change for Hewlett-Packard, Leo Apotheker, the technology giant's chief executive, said Thursday that he was considering spinning off the company's personal computer business.*

Today I have just one question for Leo Apotheker—at what point did you decide to “trash” your company and the product area in which HP has been #1 and gains “strategic advantage?”

Remember what HP said earlier this year:

As recently as February, Todd Bradley, H.P.'s executive vice president for the company's computer division, insisted in an interview that the PC was still a valuable part of H.P.'s business. He dismissed speculation that the company would dump the unit. "The PC business has been strategically important to H.P," he said. "The strategic importance hasn't changed as the leadership changes."*

I’ll say one thing for Leo—he’s the master at creating FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) about a company and its offerings. I can’t imagine Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Michael Dell (or for that matter anyone other than Carol Bartz) being so inept.

H.P. said it would take 12 to 18 months to decide what to do with the PC unit. Meanwhile, it will continue to run the business as usual.*

I’ve got news for Leo—there is no more “business as usual” for HP’s PC unit after what he did yesterday.  

*http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=830356&f=24

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