A 3rd Eye's Life & Times

Almost there 2

SO!

This is the first blog post here at Techno-Rant and it’s both an exciting and fitting time to kick things off. The tech world is all in an uproar on an almost daily basis, so it’s only fitting that we add to the clamor at any opportunity. Our first order of business is to shallowly dissect HP’s recent announcements to step out of the mobile arena and possible sell off their personal computer arm as well.

Ah, I smell some damn good Rant-o-Roni, mom, but hurry the hell up! I didn’t buy this Steel Reserve just to wash down the last Steel Reserve! Anyway…

In the interest of partial disclosure, I want you to know I’m an Apple enthusiast. Not a fanboy, but a fan. I’ve had my hands in some form of tech or computer for many years and have had great experiences with a lot of brands, including HP. My telling you this will have relevance shortly and in unborn posts to come.

Actually, it’s being an Apple enthusiast that makes me want HP to rethink it’s plans. If we look at The WSJ’s report, we’ll see that HP CEO Leo Apotheker wants to shed these well-developed arms of the company in the name of financial efficiency. While the PC business brings in quite a bit of revenue, ($9.59 billion last year) it’s profit ratio is low compared to other branches of the business, such as their printer or corporate server operations. With steadily falling share prices, what’s a Chief Executive to do? After all, inertia is a bitch.

*Angry platoon sergeant voice* How about manning the F up you yellow-bellied, sap suckin’, momma’s-skirts-hidin’-behind wuss!

HP is a company with a long history of computer innovation and they used to have a reputation for quality. In fact, my roommate still has an HP tower from 2001, and it still runs great! (We know how to take care of computers.) I’m a Mac guy, truth be told, but I’ve got love for Windows, and there was a time when HP was known for quality hardware in the home PC market. They’ve got a big, mature supply lines and manufacturing setups and a boatload of experience in the PC game. Essentially, they’re uniquely positioned to innovate in the home and mobile computing space. But…

You know when someone’s doing something they know sucks so they try to spin it in a different light to shift focus from the root issue? Yeah. That’s what Senor Apotheker is doing. Ya see, it’s going to take time, money, and a lot of coordinated effort to make HP’s PC business relevant again, but it can be and SHOULD be done. What the wise and just Chief Executive wants to do is take the easy way by cashing out instead. And for those of us who respect HP’s legacy, he’s also cashing out our dreams.

Here’s what HP should do: Reinvest in design and R&D. Restructure their home PC offerings and cut out the low budget models. Make design a priority, and bring innovative technologies like bluetooth 4.0, USB 3.0, and Intel’s Lightpeak technology (branded as Thunderbolt on the Mac) to the table. Invest in high quality displays. Reinvent the computer box. And for the love of god, NO MORE PLASTIC! When people hear Windows PC their first thought (or even their 10th) is probably not “innovative”. HP is in a unique position to change that, and they’d be the only ones doing it. Yes, their bottom line would suffer for a few years and stockholders might grumble, but the return on investment could potentially be huge if they got people excited about their home computers again. I know when I hear HPE-570t I don’t exactly get hot and bothered. iMac, on the other hand…

Also, instead of making an iPad knockoff, they should develop something a little different for the mobile space (maybe something to go along with their enterprise server deployment? Duhh…just a thought). Business people would love a mobile solution from HP! The iPad is king for a good reason, because it’s the best in it’s class. Period. But if anyone could bring something to the table to compete with it for the hearts and minds of business people it would be HP. They should NOT make a tablet, but something mobile that’s different. Something, say it with me now, in-no-va-tive. There ya go, you’re getting it!

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HP will never be Apple, and they don’t want to be (although they’d love to have Apples giganto-rific mountains of cash). They could however be the Apple of the Windows world if they reinvested in these businesses instead of cutting them off, and that would be something to be proud of.

laughingsquid:

Other Vaders by Adam McCauley

Almost There.

This is what happens when you work on the 4th of July. Awesomeness, obviously.

It’s time to mac,

let’s handle that,

in 2 to 6 hours we’ll meet back and regroup.

Now let’s shoot. 

He was a simple carpenter.

Mendeleev wrote the book on this shit. *zing!*