Category Archives: What If…

This is a new section on For the Love of Tech. A sections of what ifs that intended to spark discussion and most of all, to have fun!

What If…Apple Acted like Microsoft?

By Rich W Woods

I started this “What If…” section of For the Love of Tech a few months ago. The idea was to ask “what if” questions and then provide a hypothetical scenario of how it would play out. The idea was to create discussion but mostly, to have fun. When I thought of “What if Apple Acted like Microsoft”, it felt like I was finally realizing why I created the entire category.

This column was inspired by a post I saw on Google+. Someone posted one of those “This is what I think of me, what my friends think of me, and what the world thinks of me”, but it showed Android users, iOS users, and BlackBerry users. I commented that I found it interesting that they used BlackBerry as number three instead of Windows Phone and someone else said it was most likely made before Windows Phone. I pointed out that while Windows Phone came out in 2010, Windows Mobile came out in February 2007, and that was Windows Mobile 6. Windows Mobile goes back to 2003 and even goes back before that as Pocket PC and then Windows CE. As it turns out, Windows Phone dates back to the early 90s.

Apple and Microsoft are two completely opposite companies. Apple is a hardware company and Microsoft is a software company, but it gets deeper than that. Apple doesn’t implement features until they know they’ll work while Microsoft fixes it in update one. Apple creates a brand and nurtures that brand until it’s time to abandon it while Microsoft creates a brand, changes the brand, changes it again, abandons the brand, and then brings it back ten years later as something else. So, what if Apple acted like Microsoft?

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What If…The Apple Watch Fails?

By Rich W Woods

I was extremely bullish on the Apple Watch when it was first announced. I loved the Samsung Gear Live and later the Moto 360 and later the Microsoft Band. I’m an early adopter. I like new gadgets. Smart watches are made for folks like me. The most expensive smart watch I bought was Motorola’s Moto 360. The Apple Watch would start at $349, but you expect to pay a premium with Apple, right? And you get a premium product for it

Then they launched the Apple Watch a week ago and gave us a whole month before we would see it in stores and another two weeks until they would sell them, giving us tons of time to speculate if it would succeed. After last Monday, I realized that the Apple Watch could certainly fail. $349 is a premium; however, if you’re a man, you probably want the larger size, which starts at $399. The Apple Watch Sport looks cheap, so you probably want the Apple Watch, which starts at $549 or $599, depending on the size; however, even that one comes with a Sport band, so for a decent looking Apple Watch, you’re paying $649 or $699, depending on the size. Now that’s a bit too much of a premium, especially when given Apple’s history, there will be much more value in the second generation product.

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What If…Tech Companies Existed Solely to Innovate?

By Rich W Woods

I haven’t written one of these in awhile. I started doing “what ifs” a while back, mainly for fun. We’re geeks and we like to fantasize about stuff that might happen in the tech world. This one is What If…tech companies existed solely for the purpose of innovation?

I was at my mother’s house yesterday doing, you guessed it, fixing her computer, because that’s pretty much my job. When I was done, I wanted to leave a note for her, telling her so. I was blown away by my options. Would I have to use a paper and pen? I don’t remember the last time I’ve had to do so!

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What if…Microsoft used Android for Phones and Tablets?

By Rich W Woods

Recently, we came up with the idea to start a new section on For the Love of Tech called “What If…” The idea is that we all love tech - hence the title For the Love of Tech - and we all love to imagine the possibilities of it. It’s a tech version of a comic book fan’s “What if Superman raced the Flash?” Of course we all know The Flash would win in a foot race. The idea was that it would spark discussions and mostly to just have fun and geek out. The first What If was What if…Blackberry made Windows Phones? And now, What if…Microsoft used Android for phones and tablets?

It wasn’t that long ago that this What If… was close to a reality. Nokia made a line of forked Android phones - the Nokia X - that ran Microsoft services. There was a rumor that due to the low market share of Windows Phone, Microsoft would adopt that forked brand on Android.

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What if…Blackberry made Windows Phones?

By Rich W Woods

Recently, I came up with an idea. The idea was to create a new section on For the Love of Tech called “What If…” It is a way for geeks like us to say “What if iPhones were powered by Android?” or “What if there were smart phones that were powered by a Core i7?” The idea was that we could all geek out and it would spark discussions and above all, it will be fun! The “What if?” we will discuss here will be as to what would happen if Blackberry made Windows Phones?

First, a history lesson. Blackberry used to be called Research in Motion (RIMM) that made very popular smart phones. They were known for their physical keyboards and strong security features. Then, the iPhone came out and as the iPhone became more popular, RIMM went into decline. As a last ditch resort, they changed the name of the company to the name of their product, Blackberry, and created their newest operating system, Blackberry 10 (BB10), and made an attempt to recapture the smart phone market.

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