CES: Worse Products Through Software

I think the current smartphone wars are a great example of how hard it is for companies to expand their products outside of their "core competencies".*

Watching Apple try to tackle web services, most handset makers try to tackle software and pretty much anyone other than a web company trying to tackle social (even Google seems to have real trouble here) leads me to believe that most companies optimize in hiring and organization for a limited skillset that makes it almost impossible for them to succeed in most other domains. I'd be willing to bet everything I can buy, steal or mortgage against even one traditional television hardware vendor managing to create a successful software platform, much less more than one.

*I'm so sorry that I wrote that phrase. Please forgive me