Mid To Late August 2011 Was A Rollercoaster Ride In IT History
The third and fourth weeks of August, 2011 were marked by major IT industry news. These major changes in the IT industry marked both ends and beginnings of new eras for two industry giants, as well as a nosedive that created a recovery for another IT Giant.
Right in the middle of August 2011, Google announced a defining decision for Android: it acquired Motorola Mobility, in order to create a better standard for Android, among other reasons. On the 15th of August, Google broke the news that Motorola Mobility is now in their roster of assets, but will be managed as an entity separate from Google. This news divided the IT industry lines, as some IT authorities praised the move, while others denounced it. Either way, we will see what this spells both for Google and the mobile device industry as the months unfold after the buy-out.
Not even a week after, Apple's Steve Jobs finally gave the public his answer to a question that had been hanging over Apple for the past few months, after his series of medical sabbaticals: he resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Inc. on August 24, 2011.
Rumors were already swirling around the state of his health for the past few years, and the decision to finally take a step back for health reasons was a moment that gave certainty about the leadership of Apple, Inc.
While a good number of Apple fanboys and investors were concerned about whether Jobs' successor will prove to be worthy to fill in a Tech Industry icon's shoes, current Apple CEO Tim Cook has already proven his mettle in leading the company, as he had frequently stepped in when Jobs had to take medical leaves. In fact, he had already been running the company for at least six months until Jobs' final announcement.
Steve Jobs will now serve as Apple Chairman and member of the Board of Directors, taking on more of an advisory function, while Tim Cook will fill in the active, executory roles he used to have as Apple CEO. This role had been Cook's functions since January 2011 and he had proven competent in them.
In other news, HP announced on the 18th of August, 2011, that it was discontinuing its WebOS device line but will keep looking for ways to keep developing WebOS. Then, in light of dismal sales, Hewlett-Packard made the HP Touchpad do a calculated price dive around the 20th of August when it dropped the HP Touchpad's prices from $599 (32GB model) to $149, and $499 (16GB model) to $99, respectively. The fire sale proved to revive the Touchpad, and now HP has announced that it's going to give the Touchpad another production run in order to satisfy its customers.
The last weeks of August 2011 were crazy for tech, as IT companies made crucial and defining decisions. What does September 2011 hold? We can only wait with bated breath.
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