What are Steve Jobs' most notable failures?

Like The Architect would say, NeXT was quite naturally perfect. It was a work of art. Flawless. Sublime. A triumph only equaled by its monumental failure.

First, some context: back when NeXT was created Jobs went from being the guy from Apple to the guy who got his ass thrown from Apple, after trying to stage a coup BTW.

Now NeXT computers weren't that expensive considering prices of the time and how advanced it was. Problem is it happened right when the PC became a commodity, no longer an expensive tool for companies and white collar workers. Jobs couldn't adapt to that, he started back when a good computer was almost the prize of a car (if not more) and now he became the old guy that still takes the train and wonders why everybody travels by plane now.

Those were the days of outsourcing manufacturing, yet Jobs wasted a ton of money building a state-of-the-art factory. He wouldn't even buy the motherboards, it was all soldered and assembled right there. I guess that's why he became a big supporter of overseas factories, even saying the Segway was doomed to fail because it was made in the US (and he had a point, given his own experience).

Paul's note about the fancy NeXT boxes its funny considering that's the kind of attention to details that people love about Apple now. But packaging wasn't a big deal back in the '80s and 90's, nor was minimalism.?

In fact those were the times of quantity=quality, of "multimedia" devices, consoles with lots of addons, cars with green LCD displays all over the place, all-in-one PCs with TVs built-in, and big remotes full of buttons.?

Yeah, you need training to handle that.

People are used to Apple's compromises today, but back then compromise was the F word: feature bloat was the rule, not the exception and not by any means a mistake. A product was considered subpar if it didn't have at least 3 separate functions, even if it sucked at all 3. The microwave/toaster/coffeemaker? that's from the '90s...

And BTW, mind Jobs used almost all of his own money on NeXT, he paid $100,000 out of his pocket for the logo alone. There were other investors on board but he was the only one that was going to end up broke if NeXT failed.

And it did, at least the original idea: nobody bought a NeXT, not even the cheaper pizzabox model. However he avoided bankruptcy by doing a 180? and embracing one of the other big trends of the '90s: software. He downscaled NeXT to the NeXTSTEP OS, which is ironic considering the original idea for NeXT was a computer and the OS was added by Jobs along development, one of the first mistakes he made since it not only added several millions in costs but it also delayed the launch of the Cube, killing most of the momentum it had.

How it affected Jobs? well, to start nobody cared or knew who he was during the '90s. Gates was famous, nobody outside IT talked about Windows being a copy of the Mac, it was all ancient history. When Jobs came back to Apple in '97 for most of the people out there it was the last gasp of the Cupertino boys. Apple was doomed, and the dude from the square-thingy computer that was used to code DOOM but that nobody actually bought to play that insanely popular game* was not going to be able to save it.

There was no red carpet at Infinite Loop, no hero's return: the only reason why Jobs made it back to Apple its because they were desperate for a new OS after Copland failed. How bad was Jobs' image back then? well to put it into perspective some people were actually disappointed (and still are) that Apple didn't bought Be Inc, using BeOS instead and bringing back Gass? who was doing a good job before Sculley also fired him.

That he managed to climb out of that hole is nothing short of a miracle.

*On defense of gamers, the version for the NeXT cube and station had a sluggish framerate and no sound.

Source: http://www.quora.com/Steve-Jobs/What-are-Steve-Jobs-most-notable-failures/answer/Juan-Videla

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Thank U.S. troops, notably wounded warriors

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Source: www.urbancure.org --- Sunday, December 25, 2011
The self-evident truths enshrined in our Declaration of Independence are as self-evidently true for Iraqis as they are for us. ...

Source: http://www.urbancure.org/mbarticle.asp?id=122&t=Thank-US-troops-notably-wounded-warriors

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Kindle Fire root reignited, beats 6.2.1 update

Amazon's latest attempt to lock down root access on its Kindle Fire has been, well, routed. It took the tinkerers mere days to catch up and the new root file is now up for grabs, courtesy of Android Police and a few good devs. The method is app-based and looks to be disarmingly simple, but the usual warnings apply; mess up those software internals and bam, you've voided your warranty. Those still willing to dabble can find the full details at the source link below.

Kindle Fire root reignited, beats 6.2.1 update originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/HQbjs_nt1QU/

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HTC's Patent Tweak May Be Too Little in Fight with Apple

December 21, 2011, 10:14 PM EST

By Tim Culpan

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- HTC Corp. Asia?s second-biggest maker of smartphones, can tweak the technology in its handsets to avoid a U.S. trade agency ban. Dealing with the threat from Apple Inc.?s and Samsung Electronics Co.?s new devices may prove tougher.

The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Dec. 19 that beginning in April it would ban the sale of HTC phones that infringed an Apple patent on so-called data-detection, such as touching a phone number or an address in an e-mail to dial or find the address on a map. HTC responded by saying it will remove the offending features from its phones.

Keeping the handsets on the market solves HTC?s immediate challenge after becoming the top selling vendor in the U.S. Samsung?s Galaxy Nexus and Apple?s faster, ?Siri?-enabled iPhone hit the market within the last quarter, posing a new threat to HTC?s place in the $262 billion global mobile-phone market. The Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company is forecast to post its slowest annual sales-growth and first profit decline since the 2009 economic crisis.

?Things were going great at HTC two years ago, their products were so successful and they were the hottest company in mobile phones,? said Will Stofega, an analyst at researcher IDC in Framingham, Massachusetts. ?They didn?t keep the momentum going, and now we?re seeing products that haven?t wowed audiences as much.?

HTC?s revenue will climb 11 percent next year and profit will drop 6.7 percent, according to analysts? estimates compiled by Bloomberg, marking its worst financial performance since the 2009 global economic crisis. HTC?s revenue climbed 50-fold from 2000 to 2010, according to Bloomberg data.

Sales Guidance

Stiff competition prompted HTC to cut its sales guidance for this quarter by 20 percent, last month. That announcement, on Nov. 23, prompted the stock to drop by its daily 7 percent limit in Taipei for two consecutive days, worsening the year-to- date loss to 45 percent.

At least six brokers downgraded HTC since the revised guidance, with more analysts now recommending investors sell HTC than buy for the first time in at least two years.

HTC Chief Financial Officer Winston Yung didn?t immediately return calls yesterday.

The ITC, the agency empowered to block imports of products that infringe the patents, found in Apple?s favor for one of four patents the Cupertino, California-based company alleged HTC breached. Apple?s so-called ?647 patent covered a feature in which the phone recognizes a telephone number so it can be stored in directories or called without dialing.

Ripping Off IPhone

The result, while less than Apple sought, marks its first victory in patent cases and strengthens the argument that Google?s Android ?ripped off the iPhone,? as the company?s late founder, Steve Jobs, once claimed. The ruling is the first definitive decision in the dozens of patent cases that began to proliferate last year as smartphone makers battle over a market that Strategy Analytics Inc. said increased 44 percent last quarter from a year earlier to 117 million phones worldwide.

Apple also has civil patent infringement cases against HTC and Samsung. Both Asian rivals have also filed their own retaliatory actions to the ITC and in U.S courts. The Android operating system has led the global market since last year, climbing to 48 percent of all smart phones in the second quarter of this year and ahead of 19 percent for Apple?s iOS platform, according to U.K. researcher Canalys.

Siri

Founded in 1997, HTC used its partnership with Google to help transform itself from a contract manufacturer of Compaq Computer Corp.?s iPaq personal digital assistant to the biggest U.S. smartphone seller for the first time last quarter. The company is chaired by Taiwan?s richest woman, Cher Wang.

Since HTC became the leader in the U.S., Apple and Samsung have replied with newer and more functional devices. Apple sold a record 4 million units of the iPhone 4S in the product?s first weekend beginning Oct. 14. The model features ?Siri,? a software that allows users to ask questions or issue commands by voice.

In October, Samsung unveiled the new Galaxy Nexus that runs Google?s latest Ice Cream Sandwich software, featuring face- detection technology.

HTC?s relative success in the ITC ruling -- Apple had alleged four patents were infringed, with ITC agreeing on only one --spurred the stock up its daily 7 percent limit in Taipei yesterday. Still, analysts say the company needs to change if it?s to gain on Apple and Samsung.

?They need to improve their products and the design which hasn?t changed in two years,? said Roxy Wong, who rates HTC ?reduce? at Mirae Asset Securities Co. in Hong Kong. ?I?d turn more positive if they became more competitive in their price-performance and design.?

--With assistance from Susan Decker in Washington.

Editors: Anand Krishnamoorthy, Rick Schine

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at anandk@bloomberg.net.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-21/htc-s-patent-tweak-seen-as-too-little-in-fight-with-apple-tech.html

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Anonymous donors pay off Kmart layaway accounts (AP)

OMAHA, Neb. ? The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.

He asked to pay something on his bill because he knew he wouldn't be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.

"She told him, `No, I'm paying for it,'" recalled Edna Deppe, assistant manager at the store in Indianapolis. "He just stood there and looked at her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it wasn't, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in tears."

At Kmart stores across the country, Santa seems to be getting some help: Anonymous donors are paying off strangers' layaway accounts, buying the Christmas gifts other families couldn't afford, especially toys and children's clothes set aside by impoverished parents.

Before she left the store Tuesday evening, the Indianapolis woman in her mid-40s had paid the layaway orders for as many as 50 people. On the way out, she handed out $50 bills and paid for two carts of toys for a woman in line at the cash register.

"She was doing it in the memory of her husband who had just died, and she said she wasn't going to be able to spend it and wanted to make people happy with it," Deppe said. The woman did not identify herself and only asked people to "remember Ben," an apparent reference to her husband.

Deppe, who said she's worked in retail for 40 years, had never seen anything like it.

"It was like an angel fell out of the sky and appeared in our store," she said.

Most of the donors have done their giving secretly.

Dona Bremser, an Omaha nurse, was at work when a Kmart employee called to tell her that someone had paid off the $70 balance of her layaway account, which held nearly $200 in toys for her 4-year-old son.

"I was speechless," Bremser said. "It made me believe in Christmas again."

Dozens of other customers have received similar calls in Nebraska, Michigan, Iowa, Indiana and Montana.

The benefactors generally ask to help families who are squirreling away items for young children. They often pay a portion of the balance, usually all but a few dollars or cents so the layaway order stays in the store's system.

The phenomenon seems to have begun in Michigan before spreading, Kmart executives said.

"It is honestly being driven by people wanting to do a good deed at this time of the year," said Salima Yala, Kmart's division vice president for layaway.

The good Samaritans seem to be visiting mainly Kmart stores, though a Wal-Mart spokesman said a few of his stores in Joplin, Mo., and Chicago have also seen some layaway accounts paid off.

Kmart representatives say they did nothing to instigate the secret Santas or spread word of the generosity. But it's happening as the company struggles to compete with chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.

Kmart may be the focus of layaway generosity, Yala said, because it is one of the few large discount stores that has offered layaway year-round for about four decades. Under the program, customers can make purchases but let the store hold onto their merchandise as they pay it off slowly over several weeks.

The sad memories of layaways lost prompted at least one good Samaritan to pay off the accounts of five people at an Omaha Kmart, said Karl Graff, the store's assistant manager.

"She told me that when she was younger, her mom used to set up things on layaway at Kmart, but they rarely were able to pay them off because they just didn't have the money for it," Graff said.

He called a woman who had been helped, "and she broke down in tears on the phone with me. She wasn't sure she was going to be able to pay off their layaway and was afraid their kids weren't going to have anything for Christmas."

"You know, 50 bucks may not sound like a lot, but I tell you what, at the right time, it may as well be a million dollars for some people," Graff said.

Graff's store alone has seen about a dozen layaway accounts paid off in the last 10 days, with the donors paying $50 to $250 on each account.

"To be honest, in retail, it's easy to get cynical about the holidays, because you're kind of grinding it out when everybody else is having family time," Graff said. "It's really encouraging to see this side of Christmas again."

Lori Stearnes of Omaha also benefited from the generosity of a stranger who paid all but $58 of her $250 layaway bill for toys for her four youngest grandchildren.

Stearnes said she and her husband live paycheck to paycheck, but she plans to use the money she was saving for the toys to help pay for someone else's layaway.

In Missoula, Mont., a man spent more than $1,200 to pay down the balances of six customers whose layaway orders were about to be returned to a Kmart store's inventory because of late payments.

Store employees reached one beneficiary on her cellphone at Seattle Children's Hospital, where her son was being treated for an undisclosed illness.

"She was yelling at the nurses, `We're going to have Christmas after all!'" store manager Josine Murrin said.

A Kmart in Plainfield Township, Mich., called Roberta Carter last week to let her know a man had paid all but 40 cents of her $60 layaway.

Carter, a mother of eight from Grand Rapids, Mich., said she cried upon hearing the news. She and her family have been struggling as she seeks a full-time job.

"My kids will have clothes for Christmas," she said.

Angie Torres, a stay-at-home mother of four children under the age of 8, was in the Indianapolis Kmart on Tuesday to make a payment on her layaway bill when she learned the woman next to her was paying off her account.

"I started to cry. I couldn't believe it," said Torres, who doubted she would have been able to pay off the balance. "I was in disbelief. I hugged her and gave her a kiss."

___

Associated Press writers Michael J. Crumb in Des Moines, Iowa; Matt Volz, in Helena, Mont.; and Jeff Karoub in Detroit contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_re_us/us_layaway_santas

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