Short Takes: December 15, 2008
By SD Times News Team
December 15, 2008 —
(Page 1 of 3)
Why can't Sun get it done?
It's truly astonishing just how badly Sun Microsystems is doing these days. As ever, the company holds a portfolio of technology that's years ahead of most of its competitors. As usual, the company has acquired some brightly shining stars on the horizon, such as StorageTek and MySQL. And, as usual, the company has completely failed to make a dime on any of it.
The truly sad part is that, on paper, the company has everything it should need to succeed. IBM has done just fine offering its own hardware, databases and operating systems, even in a world dominated by Linux and Windows. Hewlett-Packard has managed to stay afloat despite its own bungled acquisitions and incoherent software strategy. Indeed, it seems as though Sun is constantly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Certainly, it's not easy to turn a massive company around when things are tough, but even when things were flying high a few years ago, Sun wasn't partaking in the benefits.
The company has great ideas, but its execution and distribution of those ideas into a sales channel has never quite jelled. Maybe it's time to auction the whole company off. But then, who'd want it? — Alex Handy
Protection money
Normally I don't buy extended warranties. It's always been my belief that that is where manufacturers really make their profit, and I'm opposed on general principle to giving those conglomerates a penny more than necessary.
When I purchased a Compaq laptop for my wife, though, I bought one. Either the salesperson was particularly good, or my track record with laptops suggested I take the warranty. I can tell you that I'm glad I took it. I have sent the laptop back to Hewlett-Packard no less than five times, and they have repaired it each time in a very timely fashion and to my complete satisfaction. So, good story, right? I thought so too, until I was explaining this to a buddy of mine recently, and he pointed out, "You had to send it for repairs five times? Man, that must be a real piece of [poorly crafted equipment]." Tough to argue with that. — David Rubinstein
Related Search Term(s): Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Sun, Time Warner, Verizon
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