At the turn of the millennium, it seemed that gold was starting to go out of fashion with the world's central bankers as a reserve asset.
Between January 2000 and March 2009, central banks reduced their reserve holdings of gold by more than 114 million troy ounces. Since then—possibly driven by the recovery in gold prices and the global financial crisis—central banks have steadily been increasing their holdings.
The International Monetary Fund publishes data monthly on its website, with the latest figures this week showing central bank holdings to the end of February 2015.
The biggest holder of reserve gold is by far the U.S. with 261.5 million troy oz.
The top four between them hold more than 50 percent of all global gold reserves.
Note: We have not included data for China in the above chart as there is considerable uncertainty about how large China's gold holdings currently are.The latest reported data—from 2009—would put them in eighth place.
It is not the top four adding to reserves since 2009 that has caused the turnaround in global holdings. Instead it is emerging and developing markets that have been loading up on gold, with Russia, India, and Turkey accounting for more than 60 percent of the net change in global gold holdings.
The rest of the gold buying since 2009 has generally been accounted for by oil-producing countries, especially those in the former Soviet Union. Kazakhstan has increased its holdings by almost 4 million troy oz., leading to a threefold increase in its total holdings.
The one thing the central bank purchasing since 2009 hasn't done is lead to a sustained rally in the price of the precious metal.
How to Tell If You've Fallen Out of Favor with Your Boss
Your Boss Just Isn't That Into You
Have you read the book "He's Just Not That Into You?" While the now famous book-turned-movie deals with showing women all the signs of indifference from the men they're trying to date, the same principles can be applied to platonic boss-employee relationships as well.
Has your boss stopped calling? Stopped introducing you to new clients? Has it been years since the last pay raise or promotion? Falling out of favor with your boss -- especially when you think everything is fine regarding your working relationship -- is a tough blow to the ego. In fact, sometimes it stings so much that employees take shelter in denial and pretend everything is hunky-dory. But unless you feel like wasting years working for someone who doesn't like you and won't advance your career, you need to snap out of it and take some action.
Here are some signs you and your boss are in a doomed working relationship, and what you can do about it.
6. Micromanagement
You used to get your assignments and handle them on your own without a problem. But now, nothing you do is right and your boss feels the need to tell you that as often as possible.
While every boss is different and circumstances inevitably vary, if your manager is micromanaging you to the point of absurdity it's because he/she doesn’t trust you. And before you start getting defensive, it doesn't matter why. For whatever reason -- misguided or deserved -- your boss feels you can't be trusted to perform even the simplest of tasks on your own. Now you're mired in a dysfunctional situation in which your boss feels like he has an inept employee, as you grow more and more resentful and start dreading work every day.
SOLUTION: The easy answer is quit and find another job. But if that's not possible, try talking with your boss openly and honestly. Suggest one weekly meeting to avoid the constant visits to your desk multiple times a day. Without being confrontational, tell your boss you want to do a good job and excel, but need a little more independence to do so.
5. Inaccessibility & Indifference
While it's the opposite of the micromanaging problem, being on the receiving end of the cold shoulder is no fun either.
Your boss seems to have no problem making some time for his favorites in the office, but when you try to book some time with him/her it never seems to happen. All of your one-on-ones seem to get canceled or rescheduled at the last minute, or worse -- your boss forgets you had a meeting altogether. The harsh reality is managers will make time for someone whenever they feel it is important enough to do so. So if you can't get an audience with your boss while others can, he/she obviously has a specific problem with you.
SOLUTION: If this has been a recurring problem you can forget email -- you need to manufacture some face-time with your boss. Scope out a time the boss is alone, walk in confidently and immediately stress to him/her you need to discuss something important. Say something along the lines of "I know how busy you are, but we seem to have had some trouble with scheduling recently and I really need to talk to you because I value your input and guidance. So do you have a few minutes?"
4. Exclusion
You’re sitting in your cubicle at 2:59 p.m., when suddenly everyone on your team rises and heads to the conference room. You’ve got nothing scheduled and received no urgent emails, so you ask where everyone is going only to find out your boss called a meeting for a project on which you're working. That leaves two options, neither of them very good. Either 1) your boss genuinely and mistakenly forgot to invite you, or 2) you were excluded on purpose. While the latter is obviously worse, if you’re so forgettable to your boss that you slip his/her mind for a simple meeting invite, that’s not a good sign either.
SOLUTION: At the earliest possibility, approach your boss directly and ask him what happened. It might just have been an honest mistake, so avoid being confrontational or emotional about what happened. But if it was intentional, be firm about your need to hear from your boss what problems exist in his/her eyes. Stress the fact that you can’t do your job effectively if you’re not privy to meetings and the most current information.
3. Ignored/Insulted During Meetings
Team meetings -- especially gatherings such as brainstorming sessions -- are supposed to be a non-judgmental place to freely express ideas and get the ball rolling. But if all of your contributions are met with derision, scorn and dismissals from your boss then you know something is amiss. If you're being ignored or -- even worse -- "shushed" during the creative process, then that's a problem that needs to be addressed immediately.
SOLUTION: We sound like a broken record at this point, but you need to talk to your boss about this. Some bosses just aren't great with people or social skills, and he/she honestly might not even realize it's happening. This is a tough tightrope for an employee to walk because if you come across as a complainer, then you're just going to be viewed as a whiner. So eat some humble pie and try something along the lines of "I feel like I might not be expressing myself in meetings in the most effective way and I definitely have a lot of good ideas I'd like to communicate. Do you have any tips that might help me and, in turn, benefit the team?"
There's room to be smart and savvy without turning into a total pushover. Find that middle ground.
2. Lack of Feedback
The only thing worse than constant negative feedback from your boss, is no feedback at all.
At least when your boss is dumping on you, you know he/she still cares enough to say something. But if you're handing in work on a consistent basis and getting zero positive or negative feedback, it could mean your boss doesn't view you as a valued team member and therefore doesn't care what you do. It's possible your time could be limited and you're not being coached up because your boss knows you won't be around much longer.
SOLUTION: If you can find something else that’s a better fit, you might want to pull the trigger. But if you need the job and want to stay, you have to take matters into your own hands. Pull out your dusty copy of your employee handbook and find the section on employee reviews. Is yours way past due? If so, cite that in an email to your boss in which you specifically ask for feedback in the hopes of improving your performance. Couch it in a way that shows you’re ever-eager to evolve and improve. As an added bonus, it serves as written proof that you’re doing your part if it gets to the point of termination or HR getting involved.
1. You're Assigned Menial Tasks
You worked hard for that bachelor's degree. Even harder for the master's. You have a sharp mind, a few years of experience under your belt, and you're itching to get ahead. But it's hard to do that when your boss views you as the office intern. Despite your qualifications, your boss has chosen you as his errand-runner, coffee-bringer and bagel-fetcher. Although you're one of the hardest workers on the team, your efforts are being wasted on menial tasks because your boss has -- for reasons known only to him/her -- picked you as a whipping boy and personal slave.
SOLUTION: It all depends on your boss and your specific situation. If this is a highly competitive job that will be a steppingstone to a high salary position in a year or two, maybe you stick it out. But if you don't want to quit yet can't bear the thought of being a glorified intern, take some action. Make yourself a "brag book" and fill it with specific examples of your noteworthy successes while on the job. Then go to your boss and present him/her with it, asking for added responsibilities. Pitch a new project or idea you've been cooking up, and tell your boss you'd like the opportunity to pursue it.
Maybe you’ll still have to put up with fetching daily coffees, but if you make a big enough impression you can get promoted and escape to greener pastures
Martin Simon |Rex Tillerson, CEO and chairman of Exxon Mobil.
Investors should brace themselves for more volatility in the oil market, with prices staying around current levels for a while, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson told CNBC.
“There is the potential for there to be further pressure on the market for a period of time,” he said in an interview that aired Thursday on “Squawk Box.”
“I think people kind of need to settle in for what is likely to be a bit of a volatile time, and I think need to settle in for what may be volatile around this level we’re at.”
Storage facilities in the U.S. are filling up, and that could put pressure on oil prices as producers are forced to sell.
U.S. crude stocks jumped by 10.3 million barrels last week, more than double the amount predicted by analysts, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Stocks at Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 536,000 barrels, less than anticipated but still another increase at the U.S. crude contracts delivery point.
“As this North American phenomenon has occurred over the last three or four years, [the market] has been surprised at how robust and resilient this has been, and year after year, there’s another million-plus barrels coming out of North America,” Tillerson said.
He would not predict where oil prices were headed. He noted that U.S. crude could dip below the $40-$50 level for a period of time because of those inventory numbers or if things calm down in spots like Libya or Iraq, which could bring more oil online. Prices could also rise if there were disruptions to supply elsewhere in the world, he added.
In the next couple of years “we’re going to kinda wallow around where we are with a little bit this way, a little bit that way, until some of this sorts itself out.”
While U.S. producers have cut back rigs and expenditures, it will take some time before that is evident in the market, Tillerson said. What he believes is really needed is a pickup in market demand.
“If you look at the performance of the U.S. economy, it’s OK but it’s not robust. Europe is still struggling with declining demand and China has actually slowed its rate of energy demand growth. So all of those are conspiring to create this imbalance,” he said.
On Wednesday, U.S. crude futures closed at $51.53 a barrel.
Meanwhile, Exxon Mobil is cutting capital expenditures by about $4.5 billion, to $34 billion for 2015, Tillerson said. However, it is expecting an increase in production.
The CEO stressed that there has been no significant change to its investment philosophy or investment program.
“We live in a commodity world. We’ve been through cycles before,” he said, noting that investment decision-making is not drive by the price, whether it is $40 a barrel or $100.
“It’s all about the quality of the investment opportunity, which we then test, recognizing that we have huge uncertainties in these decisions we make.”
He also said Exxon Mobil was in a good position to acquire companies if the right opportunity presented itself.
“We really are looking for great opportunities where a company has great assets, we see an opportunity because of what we can do with those to create value from that,” he said. “We’re pretty patient. We don’t feel compelled to have to do anything.”
On Warren Buffett selling XOM
Tillerson also responded to Warren Buffett’s recent revelation that Berkshire Hathaway sold its entire stake in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter. Buffett also called it a “wonderful company.”
“I understand he has a portfolio he has to manage,” he said. “We’re still a very attractive opportunity for people who want to have a piece of this part of the global economy, which will always be there in the global economy, because there’s never not going to be energy demand.”
Tillerson said Exxon Mobil has always considered itself to be for the long-term investor.
“People who buy our stock, they own it for generations,” he said. “The stock is largely held for people who are looking to send their kids to college. We pay a lot of pension funds, dividends to people.”
(Bloomberg) -- Just as the Nasdaq Composite Index surges to the cusp of the record high set during the dot-com-era, the excitement about China’s Internet boom is fading.
Half of the 14 Chinese dot-coms that debuted in the U.S. last year are now trading below their initial sale prices. Even Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., one of those still up in price, has dropped 28 percent from its record high in November. On average, the 14 Chinese shares are down 3.1 percent this year, compared with a 6.1 percent advance in the Nasdaq through March 20.
Investor confidence, so high when Alibaba brought its record $25 billion initial public offering to market last September, is being undermined now by a wave of poor earnings at Chinese technology companies. Those that went public last year including Weibo Corp., the microblogging service, and mobile dating app developer Momo Inc. have failed to deliver the revenue investors were expecting.
“The market is nervous,” Michael Wang, a strategist at Amiya Capital LLP in London, said by e-mail March 18. “Whether investors come back is questionable.”
The earnings disappointment -- and stocks’ slump -- is clearly a reflection in part of the slowdown in the world’s second-biggest economy, but a look at broader Chinese equity gauges shows that can’t be the only explanation. The benchmark index in Shanghai is up 13 percent this year through Friday, part of a 78 percent rally since mid-2014, and Bloomberg’s gauge of Chinese shares traded in New York has climbed 5.1 percent.
Quarterly Losses
The Shanghai Composite rose 2 percent to 3,687.73 on Monday, completing a ninth day of gains in the longest winning streak since 2007.
Buoyed by the growth prospect of the world’s largest Internet market with 649 million users, investors assigned higher valuations for the Chinese companies than their U.S. peers at the IPOs. Intensifying competition and spending increases, however, are taking a toll on revenue growth, prompting investors to now scale back those valuations.
Sixteen of 28 Internet and technology firms in Bloomberg’s China benchmark reported fourth-quarter earnings below analysts’ forecasts, including search engine Baidu Inc. and video website Youku Tudou Inc. The percentage of stocks that slid below their IPO levels this year was the highest since 2011, when a series of corporate scandals eroded investor confidence, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Weibo, WeChat
Momo, whose matchmaking app is akin to Tinder Inc.’s, said it lost $2.5 million in the fourth quarter as it boosted marketing expenses six-fold to promote its brand. The stock has fallen 8 percent this month, extending the decline to 23 percent since December when it raised $248 million. While the valuation has declined to about 20 times sales from almost 300 times at the IPO, it’s still more expensive than Facebook Inc., which has a multiple of 18.
The company’s press office, in an e-mailed response to questions on March 18, said Momo is focused on a long-term strategy and it’s too early to judge it’s success.
Weibo, which operates a website similar to Twitter Inc.’s, has tumbled more than 21 percent, wiping out $1.4 billion in market value, since its November debut, amid competition from WeChat, the social networking service owned by Tencent Inc. Sales will drop to as low as $93 million this quarter, from $105 million the previous three-month period, the company said on March 10.
Investors are concerned that Tencent’s decision to begin selling advertising on WeChat’s mobile messaging platform may lure some advertisers away from Weibo, Yue Yao, an analyst at Morningstar Inc., said by e-mail on March 15. Beijing-based Weibo has 175.7 million monthly users, less than half the users of Tencent’s WeChat.
IPO Pipeline
When asked about the company’s performance, spokesman Julien Gong Min referred to comments Chief Executive Officer Wang Geofei made during a March 10 conference call during which he said competition from WeChat will benefit all companies because it “increases the overall scale of the industry.”
While some of last year’s IPOs didn’t perform as expected, it won’t deter investors’ interests in Chinese companies, according to analysts at 86Research Ltd., Rosenblatt Securities Inc., and JG Capital Corp. Six Chinese companies, including search engine Sogou Inc., may go public in New York this year, they estimate.
Sogou, which is controlled by Sohu.com Inc., is planning a U.S. IPO as early as the second half of this year, at a valuation of more than $3 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said last week. The people asked not to be identified because the information is private.
‘Pickier’ Investors
“Investors will be a little bit pickier this year, but there is still a lot of interest in the sector,” Cheng Cheng, an analyst at Pacific Crest Securities LLC, said by phone March 18.
Premier Li Keqiang said at the National People’s Congress meetings this month that China will promote development in areas such as mobile Internet, cloud computing and big data in order to foster an “innovation-led economy.”
Mainland investors may be shifting their funds from U.S. listed companies to the domestic market after the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index entered a bull market, according to Jun Zhang, head of China research at Rosenblatt Securities Inc. The domestic benchmark touched a five-year high March 18, on speculation the government may take steps to boost the economy. The most-actively traded Chinese companies in the U.S. only increased 1.4 percent during the same period.
While Youku, a small-cap Internet television company, has fallen 39 percent since a high in November in the U.S., rival Leshi Internet & Technology Corp., which is traded on the Shanghai Composite Index, rallied 144 percent during the same period.
“As ADRs lose domestic support, many foreign investors will exit as well,” Zhang said by phone from San Francisco on March 18. “Long-term American investors tend to avoid small-cap Chinese companies if the domestic investment isn’t there.”
Distinguished personalities will be awarded in the dinner
closing ceremony of the 36th Hemispheric Congress of Latin Chambers of
Commerce and Industry that will be celebrated on Thursday, the 4th of June of
2015 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. These awardees were
unanimously approved by the International Directors of the principal chambers
of commerce of 22 Latin-American countries in our most recent Permanent
Secretariat meeting celebrated in Puerto Rico on September 30, 2014. Whereas
the Governing body of the Latin Chamber of Commerce of the United States
(CAMACOL) selected Iberia Foods Corp. under the leadership of Mr. Peter
Casais, Vice President to be the recipients of the "Sanchez-to
Sanchez-to Smith award. This award signifies a true leader in the
import/export industry throughout the year.
"Sanchez to Sanchez to Smith" award
Mr. Peter Casais, Vice President, Iberia Foods Corp Entrepreneurial Excellence
Mr. Manuel "Manny" D. Medina, Founding & Managing Partner,
Medina Capital and eMerge Americas. He is "one of South Florida's most
successful tech entrepreneurs" Excellence in Public Service
Mr. Bill Johnson, CEO, Enterprise Florida, Inc and former Port of Miami Director . Excellence in Social Media
Mr. Guillermo Antonio Adames Pasco, Republic of Panama Presidential Press
Secretary. *********************************************************
Distinguidas
personalidades serán premiadas en la cena clausura del 36 Congreso Hemisférico
de Cámaras de Comercio e Industria Latinas que se celebrará el jueves 4 de
junio de 2015 en el Hotel Biltmore de Coral Gables. Estas premiaciones fueron
aprobados unánimemente por los Directores Internacionales de las principales
cámaras de comercio de los 22 países Latinoamericanos en reunión de la
Secretaría Permanente celebrada en Puerto Rico en septiembre 30, 2014. Mientras
que la Junta de Gobierno de la Cámara de Comercio Latina de los Estados Unidos
(CAMACOL) seleccionó el "Galardón de Sánchez a Sánchez a Smith" a la
empresa más destacada por su exportaciones/importaciones durante el año.
Galardón de Sánchez a Sánchez a Smith
Sr. Peter Casais, Vice President, Iberia Foods Corp Excelencia Empresarial
Sr. Manuel "Manny" D. Medina, Founding & Managing Partner, Medina
Capital y de eMerge Americas considerado "uno de los más exitosos
emprendedores de la tecnología e innovación" Excelencia al Servicio en el Sector Público
Sr. Bill Johnson, CEO Enterprise Florida, Inc y ex Director del Puerto De
Miami.
Excelencia en Medios de Comunicación Social
Sr. Guillermo Antonio Adames Pasco, Republica de Panamá, Secretario de Prensa
de la Presidencia.
Summary:Microsoft wants Windows 10 to run on every PC worldwide, which is why they're offering it as a free upgrade to everyone running Windows 7 or 8.1. But the company's obsession with "genuine" Windows threatens to scuttle that grand plan.
Microsoft wants everyone to run Windows 10.
They're so determined to make a clean break with the past, in fact, that they've made an unprecedented offer of free Windows 10 upgrades for anyone running Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. That's a huge user base, representing hundreds of millions and perhaps more than 1 billion PCs worldwide.
This is a very big deal. For the first time ever, a major Windows version upgrade will arrive via Windows Update, with no payment required and no hoops to jump through.
Now, though, the company appears to be backing down from that initial, apparently too-good-to-be-true offer.
It's yet another round of disappointment in the continuing saga of Microsoft licensing. Every time it looks like the company is about to do something to make Windows licensing more sensible and less onerous, someone (usually in the legal department) gets cold feet.
To understand what's going on here, we need to start with a quick primer on how Microsoft turns operating systems into cash.
Microsoft's business model for Windows has been unchanged for years: PC makers pay for OEM copies of Windows, which they sell to consumers and businesses. Consumers pay for upgrades (unless they're hobbyists building their own PCs, in which case they are expected to pay for a retail Windows license). Enterprise customers pay dearly for volume license upgrades that include a slew of advanced management features and additional use rights.
The bedrock of that model is the full Windows license , which Microsoft insists on receiving payment for, usually through an OEM. Through the years, Microsoft has come up with stickers and certificates of authenticity, augmented by holograms and other anti-tampering mechanisms, to help prove that a PC has that underlying license and is thus, in its weird marketing-speak, "genuine."
It was big news back in January when Windows boss Terry Myerson announced that "a free upgrade for Windows 10 will be made available to customers running Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1 who upgrade in the first year after launch.*"
Note the word "customers." Myerson didn't say "consumers," and there's not a word in theaccompanying blog post to suggest a distinction between business and consumer use. (That fact will become important shortly.)
Yes, there's an asterisk, which leads to this footnote:
*Hardware and software requirements apply. No additional charge. Feature availability may vary by device. Some editions excluded. More details at http://www.windows.com.
Last week, Microsoft took the "free upgrade for everyone" story to the next level, with Reuters reporting that Myerson told them, in a telephone interview, "We are upgrading all qualified PCs, genuine and non-genuine, to Windows 10."
At Microsoft, "non-genuine" means improperly licensed and pirated copies, and the Reuters story quotes Myerson as discussing Microsoft's desire to "re-engage" with hundreds of millions of Windows users in China, where most are running unlicensed pirated copies of Windows.
I confirmed that quote via email with a Microsoft spokesperson and also asked whether the deal applied worldwide. Here's our complete exchange on the subject:
Me: And on the "free upgrades for pirates" surprise announce, does that apply worldwide?
Spokesperson: The upgrade applies to any market.
The first impression from Myerson's remarks was that Microsoft was essentially offering an amnesty program, as the company "re-engages" with pirates worldwide. Get an upgrade, they appeared to be saying, and come back to the fold. All is forgiven, and by the way can we interest you in Microsoft services like Skype and Office 365?
But a follow-up statement from Microsoft, one that has clearly been vetted by lawyers and top management, arrived less than 24 hours later and is chock-full of qualifiers:
The statement came in two pieces. First:
The consumer free upgrade offer for Windows 10 applies to qualified new and existing devices running Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. Some editions are excluded from the consumer free upgrade - including Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1. Active Software Assurance customers in volume licensing have the benefit to upgrade to other Windows 10 enterprise offerings.
The good news is that this statement clarifies the meaning of "Some editions excluded" from that earlier footnote. Windows RT is dead, of course; we already knew that. And no, the free upgrade doesn't apply to Enterprise editions of Windows. Those upgrades are available only through volume licensing programs, and only VL customers who pay for the Software Assurance benefit will get the Windows 10 upgrade. Fair enough.
But I noticed something odd in the rest of that paragraph. Not once, but twice, it refers to "the consumer free upgrade offer." That word consumer, which was nowhere to be found in the January announcement, has a very specific meaning when it refers to Microsoft's desktop operating systems. Consumer editions, such as Windows 7 Home Premium, are distinct from business editions, which cost more and have the word Professional, Pro, Business, or Enterprise as part of the name.
You can find many examples of these distinctions in official Microsoft support documents. The Microsoft Support Lifecycle page is typical.
Back in January, Windows 10 was going to be a free upgrade for everyone, with only Volume License customers excluded. Why is the word consumer now creeping into official statements? Will people using Windows PCs for business purposes get a free upgrade, or will they be forced to pay up?
Based on previous experience, I'm afraid there's going to be an unwelcome surprise for business users later this year.
And then there's the second part of the statement, which is dense with legalese. I've snipped some throat-clearing from the beginning, along with a gratuitous discussion of the hazards of pirated software. This is the relevant part:
With Windows 10, although non-Genuine PCs may be able to upgrade to Windows 10, the upgrade will not change the genuine state of the license. Non-Genuine Windows is not published by Microsoft. It is not properly licensed, or supported by Microsoft or a trusted partner. If a device was considered non-genuine or mislicensed prior to the upgrade, that device will continue to be considered non-genuine or mislicensed after the upgrade.
Here we go again.
Microsoft wants the press and the public to think of Windows 10 as a free upgrade for everyone. And they want to offer a friction-free upgrade experience via Windows Update, which will benefit them by getting their entire customer base (or a very large chunk of it) on the most recent release.
But now the lawyers are busy adding exceptions, including the right to drag you into court if they think you've violated their licensing terms. (And make no mistake about it, Microsoft regularly drags people into court for installing Windows without paying for it.)
All of which means that we are in for another round of confusing licensing questions. Here's a list I came up with right off the top of my head.
Why do many boards leave IT security primarily to security technicians, and why can’t techies convince their boards to spend scarce cash on protecting stakeholder information? We offer guidance on how to close the IT security governance gap.
What happens to members of the Windows Insider program running the Windows 10 Technical Preview? Do they have to prove that they have a legitimate Windows 7 or 8.1 license before they get the final edition? If so, how will that work? And why, for heaven's sake?
Will consumers running Windows Vista and XP on hardware that's compatible with Windows 10 have to pay for an upgrade? If so, how much? And again, why? It can't represent enough revenue to be material, and it can only add complexity to a process that should be as simple as possible.
How are build-your-own-PC customers supposed to get Windows 10? How about someone who wants to run Windows in a virtual machine on her MacBook?
What happens a year after Windows 10 ships and the "consumer free upgrade offer" ostensibly ends? Does Microsoft really plan to start charging for upgrades then? Seriously?
And a question I've been asked repeatedly: If someone takes advantage of the free Windows 10 upgrade offer and then suffers a system disk crash, how do they reinstall Windows 10 on the replacement device?
What's sad about this whole mess is that Microsoft had a chance to make a bold move and do something genuinely innovative with software licensing. Instead, we're back to nitpicking and using Orwellian language like "genuine" to describe impossibly complicated situations.
Look, Microsoft is trying to get out of the paid upgrade business, at least as far as consumers are concerned. Back in January, Myerson described the brave new world of Windows 10 and beyond as a simple service: "And just like any Internet service, the idea of asking 'What version are you on?' will cease to make sense," he said.
If that's the goal, then why not just say, "If you own a PC today, you can install Windows 10 for free." Call it a one-time amnesty, if necessary, but get past it. Why insist on this weird and outmoded "genuine Windows" concept?
In practical terms, Microsoft's latest announcements say, quite simply, that consumers do not have to pay directly for Windows any longer.
Windows prices have been plummeting for years. This chart shows the upgrade prices that were offered on launch day for the last four major versions of Windows.
Introductory prices for Windows upgrades, 2006-2015
Windows Vista Home Premium and Business upgrades were $159 and $259 on launch day. Ouch.
The introductory upgrade prices for Vista's successor, Windows 7, were described as a "screaming deal" at $50 and $100 for the Home Premium and Pro editions, respectively.
And now Windows 10 will be free for a very large number of people, although we don't know quite how many.
OEMs still have to pay Microsoft for licenses, a cost that is passed along to PC buyers, but those costs have dropped precipitously as well.
The new Windows 8 with Bing SKU is free for some small Windows tablets and costs as little as $15 on others. We don't know how much Microsoft is charging for the standard edition of Windows 8.1 on more conventional PC form factors, but it's a very good bet that that price tag is a fraction of what it was just a few years ago.
If Microsoft is serious about moving to a business model where Windows versions don't matter and the bulk of its revenue comes from services like Skype and Office 365 and Azure, why this last desperate bit of clinging to an outmoded business model?
It's no surprise that mobile device are taking over, but what does this mean to the average user and the desktop? Jack Wallen shares his perspective.
I've noticed an interesting phenomenon (one that is not new even really a phenomenon -- considering the evolution of the user). Lately I've witnessed a massive rise of people sharing links on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, et al) only to find those links to be the mobile version of the sites they've visited.
That should come as no surprise to anyone. Or should it? If you glance at the statistics, you'll find varying reports of mobile vs. desktop usage. One report will declare 80% of users are searching the internet with mobile devices, whereas another report claims mobile internet searches hovering around 5%. These numbers are a major challenge to fold into logic for a number of reasons. One serious flaw in the calculation is the use of Chrome. Chrome reportedly takes over 60% of internet usage -- but how does the mobile version play into that statistic (considering most Chrome instances default to standard desktop browsing as their identifier)?
No matter how you slice and dice the statistics, there is one indelible piece of data that bubbles to the top -- mobile devices are taking over. Within the next five years, outside of the world of business, the relevance of the desktop will be seriously challenged. Although you might be thinking "What does this have to do with me?"
The answer? A lot.
Mobile-friendly web
Consider this ─ nearly every business has a web site. It's a necessary tool of the trade in the modern age. Of those websites, how many are built such that they offer both desktop and mobile experiences? If the current iteration of your company website doesn't auto detect if a user is viewing through a desktop or mobile browser, you are already way behind the times. Hold off on re-tooling your company site and, within the next five years, your site will be irrelevant to the average user. Yes, most every site will work on a mobile browser -- but the user experience (UX) isn't nearly the same. The difference between usability on the desktop and the mobile device is vastly different. To that end, every business needs to seriously consider having their site(s) retooled to offer both desktop and mobile versions.
And consider when smart watches evolve to the point where they function independently of smart phones! If you're not already offering a mobile-friendly iteration of your company website, you'll find yourself in a GoGo Gadget hole you might not be able to pull yourself out of.
Growing dislike of the desktop
People love their mobile devices. This is a candy-level crush the desktop and laptop have never really enjoyed. Unlike the desktop, the average user feels they cannot live without their mobile devices. The rise of usage the mobile interface is seeing could easily lead to a growing dislike for the desktop and laptop experience. That growing dislike spells doom for the desktop.
Think about it this way -- no matter which mobile platform you use, it was designed for absolute simplicity. No interface on any piece of technology has enjoyed such a success in the area of UX as with the mobile device. Android, iOS, and even Ubuntu Touch were all designed to make interacting as simple and enjoyable as possible. The desktop and laptop? Not so much. Consider the overall reaction to Windows 8 vs. Android Lollipop -- very different reactions (even though both had massive shifts in the UI). People loathed the shift from Windows 7 to 8. Change on the mobile platform, however, is much more readily welcome. Why? Because that change almost inevitably means an even better experience. Creators of mobile platforms are that much better at designing interfaces.
To me that lays the foundation of unrest in the making. People are cutting the cords to their desktops in favor of mobile technology. It will only be a matter of time before users will actually prefer the mobile UX over the desktop. The next evolution will see users unfamiliar with the desktop. It sounds unlikely, but consider the amount of young kids with their hands on mobile devices (where they once toyed with laptops and desktops) and you should easily see where this evolution will inevitably lead younger generations.
Beyond your company website
Because users are growing more and more dependent upon mobility (and the devices that comprise the evolution), it falls onto you to revamp not only how your company functions, but the tools you use to function. Your CMS, ERP, HRM, and other tools need to become mobile-ready. For some, it's nothing more than installing a module that adds a mobile solution for the tool. With tools like Sharepoint, you can define how the site is displayed on mobile devices (you must activate Mobile Browser View as the Sharepoint admin). Within SugarCRM you can enable individual modules for mobile access.
You may balk at the idea of retooling the tools of your trade, but if you want to be in line with the evolution of the new world order, this will be necessary. When your employees are away from their desks (either in meetings, at lunch, or at home), the possibility that the only means they have to work is mobile clearly indicates you will have to, at some point, accommodate this change.
Consider this -- at some point in time, users will walk away from their desktops and laptops (for good) and opt only for the mobile device. This evolution towards mobility means businesses must enable employees to work with their tools from within the likes of Android and iOS -- smartphones and tablets.
This trend will not slow down. Users will eventually cast aside the standard operating system and procedure in favor of the new world order. If you and your business cannot comply with that change, you will be left behind. Is it a gloom and doom scenario? Not necessarily. But if you want to remain in-line with the needs of the masses, mobility must be on your radar -- and not just with regards to email, texting, Facetime, and Google Hangouts. Your websites, tools, and methods need tweaked to meet the on-the-go nature of mobility.
Has your company fully embraced mobility? If not, what holds you back?
Mi buen amigo Eduardo Rey comentaba en sus sabias reflexiones lo siguiente :
“Tengo que callar cuándo estoy nervioso, apasionado, salido de mí mismo, muy irritado o indignado; porque ahí no es el momento, no están dadas las circunstancias propicias para hablar. Debo callar, pero que mi silencio no sea hostil, sino amable; que mi rostro hable con la sonrisa de la bondad y de la comprensión”.
Lidita Jaramillo, mi incomparable “erguelita”, me enseñó hace unos años un valioso refrán que dice:
“Es mejor callar que locamente hablar”, lo cual coincide con la valiosa sugerencia de que, en ocasiones resulta prudente el amarrarnos la lengua para en un momento de agite evitar decir algo de lo cual posteriormente nos toque lamentarnos en razón a sus indeseables consecuencias.
Estar en silencio, al menos diez minutos al día, en serena reflexión, o cuando los pensamientos agitados tengan a nuestra mente en el estado de “La loca de la casa”, es algo que es recomendable hacer precisamente para volver a la normalidad y permitirnos pensar, a partir de la estabilización mental, en forma más adecuada.
