Rob Enderle vs Paul Thurrott
- Published November 3rd, 2007 in Rant
I’m one of those guys that likes to speculate a little bit and through some predictions (ok, let’s call it rumors for the sake of it) now and then about a company or a certain technology. As with any other human, I’m prone to err, which is normal. Furthermore, I’m not even a paid analyst, so I suppose I don’t have an obligation to be right most of the times.
But then there are the so called “industry analysts”, guys wearing a suit, attending big parties and being cited by the Financial Times, Today, Times and others. If they miss the point occasionally I guess that’s pretty normal. It’s like having a bug on a software you’re developing — you’re human after all. But when you constantly miss the spot and you keep being quoted and asked for your opinion, something is truly wrong.
If you’re a frequent reader, you probably noticed by now that I’m a passionate guy. By passionate I mean I usually stand by a certain position that I care about. For instance, I’ve always defended Free Software (although never radically, as in, only Free Software) and I’ve done the best I can to help it grow even more. Same applies to Freedom of Speech, helping the poor (donations), and following what I believe it’s right. Yes, and I also like Apple and Google. Now back to the point.
Lest the fact that I do care about Apple or Linux, the guys that I’m citing on the title of this post can be so wrong that even the biggest Apple or Linux basher on earth would have to concede it. Some quotes
“Take a look at these pictures of Philips prototypes and ask yourself, did Apple do the Xerox PARC thing again and simply swipe an idea from a company unable to bring it to market themselves?” (seen on Daring Fireball).
– Rob Enderle
Please, do concede a moment of your time and really take a look at the screenshots he’s talking about. That’s not missing the spot. It’s called drug addiction. Oh, and Apple didn’t rip off Xerox PARC. They actually paid for staying the over the weekend and they actually improved the interface (as admitted by PARC). And then a company (guess.. Microsoft) ripped off the previous work without paying a single cent. Apple paid $1.2 million dollars, a lot of money by then.
“Linux is a free-software scam”, “Linux advocates […] are terrorists”
– Rob Enderle
“There are people who get up every day, work a 9 to 5 and go home to their families trading their lives for varying degrees of cash. In my view, though clearly not theirs, they are selling their lives very cheaply. These are wage slaves and the difference between people like that and a zombie is generally lost on me. Do you realize that many, I’m not saying all or even most, of the Linux supporters are like this, they have never coded anything in their lives, have never even played a video game, in fact the only reason they are supporting Linux is because it is a cause and their life lacks one. That is an incredibly sad group of folks, and I wonder what their reaction will be when they finally understand they are supporting software and not the second coming.”
– Rob Enderle
“HP’s iPod will outsell Apple’s iPod”
– Rob Enderle
“”It’s clear that Buymusic.com is going to stomp all over the iTunes Music Store. WMA is the right technology, Windows is the right platform, and Buymusic.com supports a much wider range of PCs and devices than does Apple. And there is just no way for Apple to adequately address that problem.”
– Paul Thurrott
“Apple’s short-term success is very real and quite admirable, but the company’s inability to see coming trends in video, subscription content, and interoperability suggests that Apple is repeating the mistakes of the past.”
– Paul Thurrott, 2004
Ok, enough of naysaying. Rob Enderle wins hands down!
Feel free to contribute to this library of ludicrous quotes.
P.S. - Guess who’s one of Rob Enderle clients? Microsoft.
These two idiots (and I don’t use that term loosely) are what they appear to be: paid MSFT shills. They don’t admit it, but they clearly are. Nothing Apple does can stand on its own merits with these two. They pass FUD because that is how they earn a living. Enderle talks about how bad free software advocates are, but he is ten times worse: he makes money passing FUD and generally lying to prop up his master. Look at any interview with MonkeyBoy and you can see how his mouthful of FUD rolls down hill to his minions. His interview in regards to the iPhone is a classic case of how to spew it.
But the reality they miss is that they work for a company that is scared right now. They are losing money on a lot of projects (XBox, MSN, Zune, LiveSearch, etc.) and they are in paranoid mode. Everyone is the enemy. Apple and Google sit on the cusp of making them look just as they are: the naked emperor. What company can get sued by every company and government and lose, and still rake in illegal profits? MSFT. It is beyond me how people like these two continue to work for a convicted monopolist and call every other competitor out.
Just because MSFT has a huge market share in the desktop and office suites, doesn’t mean people have to continue to support them. IT folks need to ask whether they want to make their checks out to a company that operates in this manner. As for my company, we make every attempt to use non-MSFT products.
Chuck,
Unfortunately, you’re right. But the thing is that common people, non-geeky friends, get really surprised when I say I don’t like Microsoft due to their lack of ethics. They’re completely clueless of what Microsoft has been doing, meaning that it hasn’t been properly spread by the media.
As for me, the only application I keep using from Microsoft is Office 2004 for Mac, since most of the documents sent by my clients are not properly formatted on OpenOffice.org and some of them are even not accessible at all (those with complex macros).
I’m pretty sure that both of them were Microsoft Student Partners at some stage! At least they talk like one..
I use to like Microsoft, nowadays it just makes me sick.
I would say that you have valid points. But for as much bashing as Rob does on Linux, by admitting that you are a Linux junky, you are essentially calling the kettle black by bashing Microsoft. Looks to me like you are both on the opposite extremes.
Roscoe,
First off, I’m not an industry analyst so I guess I don’t have to be truthful — although I truly am as much as possible. Rob does. Secondly, I don’t have to me impartial — Rob has.
Anyway, I do like indeed Apple, Google and Linux or Free Software. Why I like them is beyond this text and it could be just because I like Google’s logo colors. But for Rob he must stand an impartial and tangible since he’s a so called industry analyst.
Why does Rob have to stand impartial? He is an analyst, he doesn’t work for Consumer Reports, he is not paid for unbiased reviews. He is paid to give a professional opinion, and that’s what he gives - plain an simple.
An analyst like Rob is important because he is often right, more than not and he understands the industry. Sure, he make not like Linux, and they are not always perfect (the Philips pictures are stupid), but I bet if you and him sat down to discuss technology, and the decisions these businesses make, he would eat you for lunch. That’s why he is on the advisory board for IBM, HP, Microsoft etc - these companies value him, and they would not have him on their board if he didn’t know what he was talking about.
You can sit there and point out the mistakes of a man that is very much in the public eye, but at least Rob has the balls to speak his mind, and so everyone can see it.
I would love to see the mistakes you have made, and then expose them for everyone to see. We are only human afterall.
I like your blog and you are a smart guy, but flaming people is the lowest form of intelligence, it’s not even productive…
Roscoe,
What you pointed is partly right. The thing is, the guy is the example of a prick and arrogant person, and I really distaste that kind of people.
Him being wrong is pretty normal, as I’ve actually pointed out. What is not normal is how he talks about the competition, namely Linux and Apple. Regarding Linux, everyone is a taliban. As for Apple, he has been announcing its death since 1994 and basically, on his own words, everything Apple does sucks.
I do admit my mistakes and most of my opinions are made public through this blog. But I’m not an analyst nor do I have to be right. But he is, so he does.
I like to see true people not being bought by companies to say a certain thing. He doesn’t believe in what he says, he just says what he’s told to say by Microsoft. And I can’t stand that. Even if it looks like flaming people through the eyes of someone.
Talk about two peas in a pod.