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The Risk Of Identifying As A Platform
In a YouTube video recently posted, Bill Gates said something along the line of his greatest failure was to not lead Microsoft to produce a mobile operating system that would have been as successful as Android.
I had an up front view of Microsoft’s mobile operating systems in the early 2000s and for Microsoft to create an Android would have required something akin to a labotomy. The Microsoft of the early 2000s saw itself as a platform company, that platform being Windows and as a consequence, its prime objective was to protect the platform because to do so was to protect its existence.
To make something like Android Microsoft would have had to be willing to create a new platform rather than try to extend a desktop platform to mobile, which was doomed for failure. Microsoft could not fathom creating a second platform because to do so, in their mind, was to put Windows at risk. (Microsoft also applied the same thinking to the Internet.)
In my opinion the most important thing Satya Nadella did when we took over Microsoft is return to Microsoft’s roots as a software developer and move away from identifying itself as a platform company. As a software developer Microsoft does not see it’s entire existence depending on Windows, which allows it to embrace other platforms such a making a robust version of Microsoft Office for iOS and Android and even to integrate Linux with Windows.
Had Microsoft not got drunk on the Windows platform, starting with Windows 95, it might have been willing to embrace the Internet and mobile more fully and maintained itself as, in Bill Gate’s words, “the” leading software company rather than “a” leading software company.
Platforms are an institution, and most institutions naturally expend tremendous effort on self preservation. In my opinion the only way a platform company can truly exist over time is by being willing to put it’s current platforms at risk of extinction through the creation of more viable future platforms. In my opinion some people in Google know this and that appears to be the reason why they are quiently working on Fuchsia but only time will tell whether this insight is fully embraced by those who are running the company.
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Our nation is operating concentration camps for refugee children. We need to stop denying that and decide if we are comfortable with that fact. And how we will explain it to our children.
I particularly agree with how this paper called out the church:
And what are the elected officials from Utah — home of a global church, the welcoming Utah Compact and a population generally decent when it comes to refugees — doing?
See President Carter’s description of a Christian nation, which some claim the United States is. Being a Christian nation means more than putting “In God We Trust” on our currency.
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Indeed, peace has been elusive for the United States for almost all of its history, he said. That’s ironic, Carter suggested, given how central the concept of peace is to Christianity.
“We’re supposed to be a ‘Christian’ nation are we not? But we are known throughout the world as the most warlike country on Earth. And I would say almost all the wars in which we’ve been involved, have been unnecessary,” he said.
Source: At Sunday School, Jimmy Carter Extends Praise To Trump For Restraint On Iran : NPR
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Took Mom to the zoo in Green Bay.
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Rail House Brewery Dubbel
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If you are sensing a theme, you might be right!
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Mackinac Island
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There is one in every crowd.
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Nancy Pelosi’s weird (and wrong) views about impeachment - CNN Ross Garber:
The whole point of an impeachment process is to conduct a fair evaluation of the facts and constitutional standard. Initiating an impeachment process also provides a forum for the public to learn about the relevant facts and the constitutional burdens.
Source: Nancy Pelosi’s weird (and wrong) views about impeachment - CNN
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Two duck families by the pond.
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Last year I wrote about Apple’s plans to enable iOS apps to run on MacOS, comparing it to what Google has done for Android on Chrome OS. Today I can officially run Android apps on Chrome OS, but not yet iOS on Mac. An interesting subplot added during WWDC this year is iPadOS, which is clearly an acknowledgement that there are UI elements more appropriate for tablets than phones.
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Nancy Pelosi is proving to be no different than Mitch McConnell. If the Republic falls, history will record both has having contributed significantly to the fall.
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The Rhododendron is blossoming
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Today’s wildlife picture is a duck family in the pond in our condo complex.
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I was not sure our Rhododendron would blossom like this, but she is a survivor.
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I recently crossed the 200 page mark on my wiki. Here are the recent changes.
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Last year I wrote about the Pad and Quill Oxford Case for my iPad Pro 10.5. A year later I can report that I am very happy with the case. The leather has broke in nicely the the “bump” you get when folding the cover back behind the iPad has smoothed out. I have not removed the iPad from the case as much as I anticipated. Part of me wishes for the same case for the iPad Mini, but I do like using the Mini without a case.
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I caught as much of Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote as I could, and consolidated what I have found from various web sites on my wiki. I am looking forward to trying out the new iPadOS.
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If you have a chronic illness, you might find Flaredown useful.
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CNET says that Apple may have added mouse support to iPadOS. Talk about burying the lede if true. I wonder, however, whether that includes support for Bluetooth mice?
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For A President, Congress Is The Law
I wonder, if the Republicans controlled the House, whether there would already be an impreachment inquiry open. Mueller served the role as investigator, collecting evidence and documenting his findings. The Constitution gives the House the job of prosecuting attorney (not the Attorney General) in determining whether to charge the President with a crime, which for the President has the unique label of impreachment.
A Republican inquiry would review the evidence, formally declare there is none to bring charges, and then the case is closed. Until the House says it is closed, the case is not closed no matter what Trump or Barr says. That is the Constitution.
To uphold their oath to the Constitution, Democrats in the House must open the impeachment inquiry and determine whether or not to vote articles of impeachment. They must be willing to take the political risk, if that exists, to fulfill their role in our government. It’s not about politics, it’s about the rule of law.
In fact, I think Congress should produce new presidential special consule legislation that states that all presidential special consule investigations require an impeachment inquiry to formalize the conclusions of the investigation.
If the criminal justice system cannot bring charges against a sitting president then Congress has to take serious this responsibility. That is unless Congress thinks the President really is above the law.
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A year later my main complaint about micro.blog remains, it is still too difficult for me as an Android user to post pictures to my blog.
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Justice Thomas appears to be trying to make the case that abortion is a tool being used to control human breeding, or what is called eugenics. I thought a woman chooses to have an abortion because she is pregnant.
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The temperature here has dropped more than ten degrees in the last several hours.
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