by jaganath on July 7, 2008
Most companies and educational institutes have strict IT policies. You normally do not get administrative rights for your work PC. If you need to install any software which is not approved by your IT department, you have to either go friendly with that admin guy or do some hacking yourself. I have observed that IE is the default browser in most companies and they do not allow you to run Firefox. What a shame?
One way to work around this problem is to use the portable apps. While the intention of portable apps is to allow you to carry essential software on the go (typically using a USB key), you can also use these to install software on your PC even if you do not have administrator rights. Just select any folder of your choice on the PC while installing. Portable apps now have a rich collection of software including openoffice and mozilla suite. Of interest for most people could be Firefox, Thunderbird and Pidgin. There is Gimp too, in case you are interested.
So go ahead and fool those admin guys in your company.
by jaganath on July 7, 2008
Apple did something unexpected with the price reduction of the iPhone. In the past, we have seen Apple’s tendency to keep the price of its products always higher than its competitors. They always made their intentions very clear. Apple wants to be known as a niche product maker for a niche market than a mass market manufacturer. But this perception changed with the price cut on the iPhone. Sure, much of the price cut is offered through the subsidy from the mobile operators - but it is definitely an attempt by apple to reach among the masses and create a huge base for its mobile device.
Going by the same logic, Apple may attempt to boost its market share in the PC/Operating systems business by considering a price reduction to many of the products, including the entire laptop line and iMac desktops. This could possibly trigger a mad rush for these products coupled with the the halo effect already created by the iPhone. Recent reports say that Apple’s current market share in the PC business is around 8%, which is a very impressive gain from about 5% a few years back. As it is fast approaching the double digit mark, Apple should re-evaluate its pricing strategy so as to attract more new customers.
