The VAR Guy

One innovation is easy. But sustainable innovation — building lots of worthwhile new things again and again, even as you maintain your old products — is challenging. The VAR Guy wonders: Is open source the key to sustainable tech innovation? Is open source the best way to keep a maturing company feeling vibrant and young? Before you answer, consider some of these scenarios.

The VAR Guy built this site entirely on open source software (of course, he paid some talented developers to piece it all together). And during the first few months of business, our resident blogger had ample time to test new open source components for this site.

But then something wonderful — and disturbing — happened. This “fun” site turned into a business. Our blogger actually had to blog (no stop!) for his loyal readers. It’s as if he shifted from innovation mode, to maintenance mode.

Still, open source seems to be the best way to keep on innovating. Especially for a small business. By skipping a few hours of sleep, The VAR Guy can test open source code from developers across the globe. Like a kid snapping together a new set of LEGOS, our resident blogger keeps finding (and testing) new building blocks. Best of all, he relies on the work of strangers from far off lands who don’t demand any money.

In stark contrast, companies like Microsoft have to keep hiring developers, debugging legacy code, and apologizing for less-than-stellar products. Clearly, the open source model beats closed source for ongoing innovations.

Rare Fruit

Or does it? How do you explain a company like Apple — the apparent king of sustainable innovation. Just when you warm up to your iPod, along comes the iPhone and now the iPhone 3G. As you brag about your MacBook Pro, along comes the MacBook Air.

How does Apple out-innovate the entire Wintel industry — Microsoft, Intel, Dell, HP, Lenovo — and so on? And how does Apple stay ahead of open source on many fronts?

Sure, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth says he sees the day when Linux will be more intuitive than Mac OS. Frankly, The VAR Guy doesn’t see that day coming anytime soon.

When it comes to sustainable innovation, the open source model seems to have just about everyone beat. Everyone, that is, except Apple.

Forget rising gas prices. The VAR Guy’s biggest expense continues to be his excessive spending on all things related to Steve Jobs. And this weekend, he’ll likely spend another $100 on something that Steve Jobs helped to create. (Hint: It isn’t from Apple.)

This time, The VAR Guy is walking right by The Apple Store and heading to the movie theater. Wall-E, opening June 27, sounds like another certified hit from Pixar — the digital animation studio that Jobs helped to build. (Pixar is now owned by Disney.)

And as The VAR Guy noted last year, Pixar is the most bankable movie production team in the world.

The VAR Guy’s family of five will likely line up for opening night tickets. Throw in some popcorn and colas, and it should be a $100 evening.

Matt Asay, author of The Open  Road blog, is telling the world how Macs are replacing PCs at corporate meetings. But that’s not all, Asay notes. Check out this photo from the Missouri School of Journalism. Look at all those Macs. The Kids Are All Right! So, what does all this mean for Microsoft?

Okay, let’s not go overboard, Mac fans. Microsoft still holds more than 90 percent of the desktop market. And get this: The VAR Guy believes Microsoft is going to get Windows 7.0 right — because Ballmer & Co is so embarrassed by Vista bloat.

Either way, there’s a key theme here: The desktop is now open to competition and third-party innovation. Instead of bowing to Microsoft’s desktop icon demands, PC makers can now choose Linux (and often do) as a pre-install option on some systems. And unit sales of the Mighty Mac jumped 50 percent in May.

And one look at the Missouri School of Journalism suggests tomorrow’s bloggers will all be running Macs. Just like The VAR Guy.

If you have any doubt about Apple’s continued momentum, check out the company’s unit Mac sales for May — which jumped more than 50 percent. Somebody call Mel Brooks. Apple’s momentum has accelerated passed Ludicrous speed. Steve Jobs has gone to Plaid. Here’s why.

Barron’s does a nice job summarizing Apple’s Mac momentum with tidbits like this:

As Lehman analyst Tim Luke points out in a note today, new data from market research firm NPD shows Mac unit sales grew 50% on a year-over-year basis in May, ahead of the 37% Q2 growth Lehman had expected.

On June 1, The VAR Guy noted that open source users were responsible for purchasing many of the new Macs. But readers weighed in, and said Microsoft missteps coupled with Apple innovations created the perfect storm for Mac sales.

Apparently, The VAR Guy’s readers were right. Fifty percent unit growth further solidifies the Mac as a mainstream — rather than niche — option for businesses.

Now, here’s a look at Apple traveling at Plaid speed…

Apple has found an intriguing way to train thousands of kids on Macintoshes this summer. The strategy involves free “camps” hosted at Apple Stores across the country. Thousands of kids — including The VAR Guy’s own sons — are signing up. Here’s why.

Apple Stores remain the coolest retail destinations for adults and kids alike. Even if you’re not ready to spend money, you can hang out at the Genius Bar to get some hands-on help and direction from Apple experts.

Now, about the Apple Camp. During these three-hour workshops, kids can learn how to make a movie, compose a song, create a slideshow and more, according to Apple. Best of all, the Apple Camp is free; that’s a great price if you’re an anonymous blogger with shallow pockets.

It’s hard to imagine another technology company offering this type of camp. Hanging out with Microsoft in the aisles of Best Buy or Circuit City doesn’t sound like much fun. But making a movie on a Mac in an Apple Store? Cool.

Of course, there’s the age-old concern that kids will wind up “hard wired” to a specific  vendor platform (Mac OS) and won’t be creative in other worlds.

But The VAR Guy will worry about those concerns as soon as Apple gets 90 percent market share on the desktop. In the meantime, his kids are going to Apple Camp.

As the Apple Macintosh nears a record 8 percent market share, The VAR Guy strongly believes open source is accelerating the Macintosh’s momentum. Here’s why.

First, the big news: Apple’s share of the operating system market grew 5.69% in May to hit a record 7.80%, while Windows in all its flavors dropped half a point to 91.17%, according to a Net Applications survey cited by Fortune magazine.

Sweet. But Apple doesn’t deserve all of the credit for Mac OS’s recent momentum. The open source crowd, it seems, deserves plenty of applause as well.

The more time The VAR Guy spends at open source events meeting with developers and executives, the more frequently he sees MacBooks, MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros on the scene.

During one recent meeting in New York, The VAR Guy spotted multiple managers from Alfresco — the fast-growing software developer focused on open source content management — armed with MacBooks. Some Alfresco insiders say 80 percent of the company is now running on Mac hardware. And Alfresco general manager Matt Asay himself has written about the open source community’s affection for the Mac.

Sure, Apple is scoring with the Mac. But don’t forget the big assist Apple is getting from open source fanatics.

The VAR Guy is broke. Cash flow looks good for June, but he needs to count his pennies until that time. Still, he keeps hearing about the new 3G Apple iPhone. Speculation is mounting that the new iPhone will arrive in June. Is it time for him to give his old iPhone to his lovely wife — so that he can take the 3G plunge? And if so, does anybody have $400 to spare?

BusinessWeek and some Web articles are speculating about Apple’s future in the business market. Is Apple finally ready to “push” deeper into business? That question may be moot. Fact is, Apple is creating business “pull” rather than business “push.” Here’s what The VAR Guy means.

When the iPhone launched, millions of “consumers” purchased the device. But many of those consumers turned out to be corporate power brokers. This created “pull” in the corporate market, as consumers dragged iPhones into business.

It’s happening again with the iMac and MacBook laptops. The VAR Guy has attended several corporate IT events in recent weeks. In each case, the presenter was using a MacBook to present information about business analytics, business intelligence and business process management. Business, business, business!

At the end of each session, CIOs often visited the presenters to fetch more information about the MacBook. More customer pull, rather than Apple push.

Ironically, Microsoft — rather than Apple — may be creating the biggest pull for Apple in business. As long as Vista remains a disappointment and low-end PCs continue to break down, savvy companies will continue pulling harder for Mac OS and Apple’s hardware.

The VAR Guy isn’t suggesting that Mac OS X will topple Windows. But there’s plenty of pull for Apple in business — even without Steve Jobs making a corporate push. So let CRN and BusinessWeek speculate about Apple’s future in business.

Now that Microsoft has ended its pursuit of Yahoo!, a lot of folks are analyzing the big picture at both companies. Yada, yada, yada. But instead of focusing on the forest, The VAR Guy would prefer to focus on one tiny tree: Zimbra, the open source email platform that Yahoo owns, can now breathe a little easier.

Alas, under Microsoft’s potential ownership, Zimbra would likely have suffocated and died. Plenty of Zimbra fans expressed their fears about Microsoft to The VAR Guy.

And for good reason. Zimbra is a wildly popular open source email platform. Plus, it’s cross-platform and it even has a loyal following within Mac OS X Server communities — particularly university IT departments.

Sure, Microsoft has come around a bit to open source. And the Microsoft-Novell alliance has won praise from selected enterprises that want to run Windows and Linux side by side.

But let’s be clear: Microsoft’s bid to acquire Yahoo (which Microsoft withdrew on May 3) targeted online advertising. Zimbra, which Yahoo acquired in September 2007, would have been chewed to pieces as Microsoft digested Yahoo.

So good luck Microsoft, as you seek alternative efforts to compete with Google. And good luck Yahoo, as you try to explain to investors how you let Microsoft walk away from the negotiating table. But most of all, good luck Zimbra. You escaped a terrible fate now that the Microsoft-Yahoo discussions appear done. Don’t squander this new lease on life.

Low-cost mini notebooks like the Asus Eee PC continue to win rave reviews. And now Fortune is praising a Hewlett-Packard mini-laptop that “packs a lot of punch.” You can almost see Steve Jobs writing on an white board somewhere at Apple, weighing the pros and cons of launching his own tiny notebook offensive.

But does Apple really need a super-small, low-end offering? The VAR Guy isn’t sure. Even so, Steve needs to watch the market closely. The reason: Apple doesn’t like surprises–especially in its core vertical markets.

Here’s the key problem: Fortune magazine, one of Steve’s regular reads, is praising HP’s mini laptop — which targets the education sector and starts at about $500. Moreover, l0w-end Linux-centric systems like the Asus Eee (the three E’s stand for Easy to work, Easy to learn, Easy to play) continue to attract low-end buyers.

So there’s Apple, celebrating the success of its high-priced, super-thin MacBook Air. But the price gap between Apple’s slim, slick laptop and HP’s sub-notebook is $1500 or more.

Will Steve blink? Will he give us a Mac Mini — but in a portable, low-cost format? The VAR Guy waits … and wonders.