Apple Inc. said Tuesday that it planned to hire a high-ranking I.B.M.technology executive to run its iPod and iPhone hardware engineering groups. Last week I.B.M. had filed suit against the executive, Mark Papermaster, the manager in charge of the company’s blade server business. I.B.M said Mr. Papermaster had signed an agreement that would prevent him from accepting a job with a competitor until one year after leaving the giant computer maker. The executive whom Mr. Papermaster is replacing, Tony Fadell, senior vice president for the company’s iPod division, will stay at Apple in an advisory role to Steven P. Jobs, the chief executive. Because Mr. Papermaster will have a more limited role as senior vice president, devices hardware engineering, Apple may believe that it will be able to easily reject the I.B.M. lawsuit. Apple also has a small business selling a server version of its computer systems that is aimed at corporate applications. But Apple may also be interested in Mr. Papermaster’s processor design expertise. Earlier this year Apple purchased PA Semi Inc., a small microprocessor design firm that was developing microprocessors based on the I.B.M. Power design. At the time Mr. Jobs said Apple would use that expertise to design hardware for its iPhones and iPods. Mr. Jobs’s choice of Mr. Papermaster, who until recently was a processor design expert at I.B.M. appears to be an intriguing gamble. An expert in high performance computing systems, he lacks a background in consumer manufacturing, Until stepping aside this week Mr. Fadell had played a key role in building the company’s dominant iPod business and more recently the iPhone. Apple said last month that it sold more than 6.9 million iPhones in the most recent quarter, surpassing R.I.M., the dominant maker of smartphones. Mr. Fadell joined Apple in 2001, first as a contractor designing the original iPod and then as an executive in the iPod group. He took over as senior vice president in the iPod division in 2006. Trained as a computer designer, Mr. Fadell once worked at the Apple spinoff General Magic, an early pioneer in hand-held computing. Before joining Apple, he briefly started his own firm, Fuse, to build consumer electronics products. Apple also announced that Danielle Lambert, senior vice president for human resources, would leave the company. Mr. Lambert is married to Mr. Fadell, and the company said in a statement that the two were reducing their role at the company to spend more time with their young children.
Nov 4, 2008
Apple Hires I.B.M. Veteran as Device Engineer
Nov 3, 2008
What I Learned From Robert Scoble About How to Become Internet Famous
I’ve interviewed Robert Scoble several times about how to become Internet famous because I’m dying to get some fame. I know it’s not the kind of thing I’m supposed to admit, but I’ve noticed that people who are better known have an easier time launching and growing projects. Scoble is one of Forbes’ 10 biggest Web celebrities, but he’s also ultra-patient, so he indulged my quest. Here’s what he taught me: Attack Where There isn’t a King Scoble told me to notice how big Gary Vaynerchuk became by going after wine, an industry that didn’t have an online celebrity until he got there. “If I started out today,” he said, “I think I would follow Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV.” Get With REAL Celebrities “Mix in celebrities from movies with the technology,” he told me, when I insisted that I’m obsessed with interviewing Internet success stories. Start the Avalanche “All avalanches start with one snowflake,” he said. Keep Producing His biggest message to me was: “Publish a lot, because this is a Google world.”What I Learned From Robert Scoble About How to Become Internet Famous
Web 2.0 already has its big names. Why waste time fighting them for dominance?
Building a reputation takes time. So you have to focus on a subject that you’re passionate enough about to keep pursuing, even when hardly anyone else notices. “Passion,” he told me, “will keep you going after you figure out you only have 15 readers.”
I think Hollywood is a big waste of time, but I can’t deny that movie stars are the real celebrities. Scoble told me to find ways to connect with them. I’ve interviewed several Internet CEOs who told me their traffic jumped just by featuring movie stars.
I wake up every morning wanting to take over the world. Scoble suggested I take a step back and dominate one small niche first, then another and another until I start my avalanche.
I got to know about Scoble because I kept seeing him online. That’s part of his plan. He keeps producing content so that he stays on top of Google’s search results and stays connected to his readers. I’ve watched him pull out his iPhone between conversations and add content to FriendFeed, Twitter and other sites.
Exitmercials Push Visitors to Advertiser Websites
.jpg) Ad buyers jump through too many hoops for low ROI |
Why do buyers jump through so many hoops to entice visitors to their website?
- A minimum circulation.
- Savings when compared to mailings.
- Advertisers supplied a creative image in standard sizes.
- Rather than show the same banner to every visitor, the practice randomizes - thus showing different ads to visitors. This made it hard for the buyer to find their own ad, since it may not show during their visit.
- The ad server controlled delivery, to provide the buyer with the exact number of deliveries that they contracted for. The buyer can buy any quantity - not just the fixed circulation of the publisher.
- Creative talents worked in the limited space to entice viewers to click and learn more.
- A click takes visitors from the ad to the advertiser's web site. This is a click through.
- Buyers supply two phrases of limited length. One is the headline. The other is a tagline.
- Copy writers struggle with catchy phrases to attract buyers.
- Buyers choose keywords that match customer interests to the advertiser's products.
- With the complexity of synonyms, buyers often choose thousands of keywords to describe their offering.
- Buyers bid to pay a cost per click (CPC) or cost per action (CPA). When readers click on the ad, they are directed to the advertiser webpage. Buyers pay only when clicked - a paid click.
- A robot controls placement of ads on a page and the order of ads in a column. Buyers don't control placement and frequency - creating frustration.
"there is insatible demand for any paid click we produce."
- Efficient Frontier reports that CPC buyers pay from $0.30 to $0.60 per click.
- Google has reported mortgage brokers who pay over $4.00 per click.
- If 10% of viewers click-through, the equivalent CPC would be $0.50.
- At average click-through rates of 1%, the equivalent CPC is $5.00.
- At lower click-throughs, the CPC would be higher.
- Buyers supply a website or webpage.
- Buyers choose a target audience.
- Buyers choose a CPC or CPA.
- Views that 99% don't see
- Banner creatives in limited spaces
- Effort to gain click-throughs
- Keyword selection
- SEO to optimize thousands of keywords
- Copy writing to entice clicks
- Fraudulent clicks
- Habitual clickers
- Accidental clicks
- Ad blockers
- Cookie-less
"
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