Add Bill Snyder to the list of technology prognosticators willing to doom a product sight unseen. PC World:
If you run a small business and want to avoid wasting money and brain cells on superfluous technology, forget about the iSlate or whatever Apple is going to call its tablet computing device. It’s going to be too expensive, it does things you don’t need to do, and it will add a messy layer of complication to your company’s computing infrastructure.
So, without ever seeing the iTablet, or using the iDevice, or even knowing the size or specifications of the iPad, or knowing anything about the iSlate’s hardware, software, or applications, Snyder is willing to bet that business won’t use it.
I remember reading the same things about Apple’s iPhone. At least those prognostications, though wrong, were made after the iPhone was announced. How is the iPhone doing in business?
The iSlate is rumored to run the new iPhone 4.0, and while I can’t wait to upgrade my iPhone 3GS, it is a really bad choice for a business computer.
This is the same Bill Snyder who disparaged Mac OS X and said hackers would do damage to the Mac’s vaunted OS.
Is it time to panic? No, actual attacks against Macs and the rest of the Apple family, such as the iPhone, are still rare. But as the platform becomes more and more popular, hackers are gearing up to do damage. You’d better protect yourself.
That was over two years ago. How’d that turn out, Bill? He’s the same Bill who advised Apple on how to keep the App Store on top.
Apple should tighten, not loosen, its App Store criteria and keep the App Store way ahead of all the wannabes. The App Store is transforming the way software is conceived, developed, sold, and supported, and this high-margin, low-effort, iTunes-inspired model that favors selling lots of cheap apps over a few costly ones will spread.
Except it hasn’t. The closest rival is the Android Market at about 1/10th the apps of the App Store. He’s also the same Bill who said Apple’s iPhone App Store monopoly should be broken.
If you’re a regular InfoWorld reader or a developer, you’re probably savvy enough to know that unlocking or “jailbreaking” an iPhone to get past Apple’s restrictions is not hard. So why should you care? Here’s one big reason: Apple’s stubborn refusal to open the platform and the implied threat of legal action against those who circumvent its rules make it difficult for developers… to attract the kind of capital they need to build and market better applications.
That was almost a year ago. You don’t hear much from disgruntled iPhone app developers these days. It must be all those checks that curbed their wayward tongues. Now, if we could only get Bill Snyder’s tongue curbed. He’s the same Bill who predicted the long-awaited NetPC.
First and foremost, the NetPC returns control of the computer to the network administrator.
How’d that work out, Bill?
So, now the PC World guru says the Apple tablet is not fit for business. Really? We’ll see. In the meantime, I declare that Bill Snyder is not fit for technology journalism. Why? His articles appear to be pure click-bai; hit-whoring personified. And, his readers know it (but only after they click). Check out the long list of reader comments. Priceless.