Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Divergence

Two perspectives about "convergence" [bold added], albeit on different subjects:

FASB and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) expect to issue final, joint standards in their major convergence projects by mid-2013, according to a report to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Plenary on Accounting Convergence posted Monday on the IASB website.....delays are unfortunate but necessary to ensure that the changes bring about improvement to financial reporting.
Convergence is bad 
Analyst: How do you think about the markets for tablets and PCs going forward? Why don't you believe the ultrabook and the tablet market won't converge? Isn't realistic [sic] we'll have a device under two pounds with great battery life that can fold up? 
[Apple CEO Tim] Cook: Anything can be forced to converged, but the problem is that products are about tradeoffs. You begin to make tradeoffs that you make at end of the day that don't please anyone. You can converge a refrigerator and a toaster but that probably won't be be [sic] pleasing to the end user.
If you're the best, converging with your competitors helps neither you nor your customers. On the other hand, if you're not the best, then convergence may make you better.

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