Headline June 12, 2015/ ''' OF THESE [ 3 + ONE ] TECH GIANTS ''' : !WOW!

''' OF THESE [ 3 + ONE ] TECH 

GIANTS ''' : !WOW!

BY AND LARGE, I must acknowledge,  as do many in the world,  the splendid selfless and voluntary work done by the students. 

THE PAKISTANI STUDENTS, despite every difficulty and many obstacles, never gave in, and thus distinguished themselves in the service of both humanity and their country.

I am also very touched, by many great, kind, and magnanimous individuals the world over, who volunteered every possible scholarship, help and assistance. This honour is for the students of !WOW! to consider.

I thank Mariam, Rabo, Dee, Shazaib Khan Yusufzai, Salar Khan Yusufzai, Malala Yusufzai, Haider, Bilal Malik, Hussain, Reza/Canada, Ghazi, Tooba,  Zaeem, Hazeem, Ali, Ehsan, Toby/China, Mustafa, Ibrahim, Eman, Armeen, Danyial, Rahym, Aqsa, Faizan, Sannan, Hamza, Hannyia, Vishnu/India,  Maynah and Meriam. 

PROFESSORS YOFFIE AND PROFESSOR CUSUMANO  have been studying the impact of the snowballing phenomenon as case studies in industry since the 1990s-

As these principles of market behavior were also identified in early research by economists including Garth Saloner, Carl Shapiro, Michael Katz and W. Brian Arthur.

The Windows operating system was one such platform almost from the outset, and the Intel-industry-standard microprocessor would become one.

Under Mr. Jobs, the authors note, Apple was long a product-first company. He preferred beautifully designed products that worked in splendid isolation. But now, and just recently:

Apple went on to buy a GPS firm to buoy location software:

[For many of the largest Silicon Valley technology companies, location software undergirds numerous applications and features in their products. For Apple, it has been a game of catch-up.

To that end, Apple confirmed recently, that it had purchased  Coherent Navigation, a Bay Area global positioning company, furthering bolstering Apple's location technology and services].

But Jobs eventually grasped the value platforms. In October 2013, Apple released iTunes for Windows, so Apple's hot iPod music player could enter the larger market of PC users.

''Apple's fortunes changed forever,'' Mr. Yoffie and Mr. Cusumano write.

In June 2007, after initially resisting,  Mr. Jobs announced that that outside developers would be allowed to create software applications for the iPhone. Soon, its App Store took off.

**''Bill Gates got it immediately,'' Mr. Yoffie said. ''It took Andy grove 10 years to figure out, and 20 years for Steve Jobs.**''

''Jobs was always a product first, platform second kind of a guy,'' Mr. Yoffie added. ''But he figured out eventually.''

Professor Yoffie and Professor Cusumano write of   ''striking parallels''   between the early  high-tech  leaders and four members of the next generation:

Larry Page of Google,  Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Ma Huateng of Tencent, a leading Chinese Internet company.

The author's emphasis on the pivotal role of platform strategy raises questions about the long-term prospects for Apple,  the reluctant platform adopter.

In the book and in interviews,  the authors say this could be the company's Achilles' heel someday.

The marketshare of the companies in the  Android  camp for smartphones and tablets    -using software that Google distributes free-    is 80 percent,  more than five times that of Apples IOS software.

And if the  Apple Watch,  they say, is to become a  ''personal digital platform''  the company must open it up to work with all smartphones,  not only  iPhones.

Just as Apple eventually opened up the iPod to work with  PCs as well as Macs.

Still, while the  Android camp rules in market share, Apple harvests most of the profits in the smartphone market.

''Platform theory has always looked at market share, but Apple has taught us to look at profits, too,''  Mr. Cusumano said. It's certainly made me think twice about market share.'' 

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of technology. See Ya all on !WOW!   -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' Students' Struggles '''

'''Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless