Perhaps the difference between IT and the professions listed in the story is that, for me, IT is a job. For policemen, Firemen, etc, perhaps it's a calling.
Second: I'm currently self employed; but, when I had to attend social events, I had the following thoughts:
1) I don't like you people. If I had a choice, I wouldn't associate with most of you if I didn't work with you. You're rude, coarse, hyper-agressive, etc.
2) I was travelling alot at the time, for business. Again, if I had a choice, I'd be at home with my wife, rather than at a hotel with people I don't like (see point 1) ) Amazing how business travel can turn you into a homebody.
Ram's last paragraph is interesting - around the competitive advantage that implementing and ERP package will bring to your company.
My belief is not to customize packages when you implement them - I liken it getting a tattoo, seemed like a good idea at the time, but you'll regret it later - you have no support from the vendor, etc.
However, what competitive advantage do you gain by implementing the same business processes as your neighbor? How can you possibly justify spending millions of dollars simply to stay in the same place?
Would open source ERP help in customizations, or modifying the software to meet your unique business practices? Again, I'm simply not knowledgeable in the ins and outs of open source.
I'm not really familiar with the concepts behind Open Source (other than that the software is free). I've got a question on software quality.
The big ERP vendors are legendary for bugs - SAP, BAAN, i2, Peoplesoft, you name it. I personally have done several implementations of J.D. Edwards OneWorld, and, frankly - Literally thousands of bug fixes required before going live. You wondered at points whether any testing was done at all prior to release.
Different people have mentioned "Don't knock it - ERP is BIG" and it is - my standalone version of JDE is 2.5 GIG. Obviously with software this large, a certain number of bugs are to be expected.
How would open source help in this instance. Would bugs get fixed faster? Proactively? Better initial software quality?
I agree. What this merger represents is an increase in the barrier to entry for journalism as a whole.
Someone posted in Slashdot that this merger confirms the "commoditization" status of content - The delivery of content, and not the content itself, is now the focus of these large media companies.
I'm still trying to digest just what this new focus represents. Will the already superficial reporting in mass media become even more superficial, with more opinion, more drama, less analysis, and less facts? Will alternate news sources become marginalized?
The effects of "content commodity" is already apparent - for example, try finding further information on a news story beyond the initial report in AP. You'll just find many, many reworded articles based on the original Associated Press story. Nothing more.
In my view, theonion.com parody stories represent how media will evolve. Imagine a nation of USA Todays
Compared to some past "people of the year" who actually made a contribution, for better or worse, for mankind, Jeff Bezos is a disappointing choice. The concepts quoted from the Time article on six core values, etc. are not revolutionary. Many, many non-ecom corporations are spouting the same rhetoric now. "Focus on the customer" "cut costs", etc. Interestingly, part of Bezos'cost cutting includes moving away from custom code to off the shelf(http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK 19991115S0087) Elements of e-commerce truly are revolutionary. When I used E-bay for the first time, for instance, I thought that this was truly a new way to conduct transactions, to bring buyers and sellers together in a new, better way. But, e-com in the Amazon.com sense is not the second coming that everyone predicts. Like mail order, there is a limit to what transactions people will do on line. For instance, I can't ever see myself buying clothes online - the experience of examining the fabric, the seams, etc, prior to buying make this something I have to do the old fashioned way. When the e-commerce bubble bursts, and it will, it won't be pretty. I hope it doesn't drag the innocent along with it. In a year, Time's choice for person of the year may look vaguely ridiculous DP
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps the difference between IT and the professions listed in the story is that, for me, IT is a job. For policemen, Firemen, etc, perhaps it's a calling.
Second: I'm currently self employed; but, when I had to attend social events, I had the following thoughts:
1) I don't like you people. If I had a choice, I wouldn't associate with most of you if I didn't work with you. You're rude, coarse, hyper-agressive, etc.
2) I was travelling alot at the time, for business. Again, if I had a choice, I'd be at home with my wife, rather than at a hotel with people I don't like (see point 1) ) Amazing how business travel can turn you into a homebody.
CBC.ca is my news outlet. More of a Canadian slant than the BBC, though, but still, more trustworthy than any of the commercial sites.
Ram's last paragraph is interesting - around the competitive advantage that implementing and ERP package will bring to your company.
My belief is not to customize packages when you implement them - I liken it getting a tattoo, seemed like a good idea at the time, but you'll regret it later - you have no support from the vendor, etc.
However, what competitive advantage do you gain by implementing the same business processes as your neighbor? How can you possibly justify spending millions of dollars simply to stay in the same place?
Would open source ERP help in customizations, or modifying the software to meet your unique business practices? Again, I'm simply not knowledgeable in the ins and outs of open source.
I'm not really familiar with the concepts behind Open Source (other than that the software is free). I've got a question on software quality.
The big ERP vendors are legendary for bugs - SAP, BAAN, i2, Peoplesoft, you name it. I personally have done several implementations of J.D. Edwards OneWorld, and, frankly - Literally thousands of bug fixes required before going live. You wondered at points whether any testing was done at all prior to release.
Different people have mentioned "Don't knock it - ERP is BIG" and it is - my standalone version of JDE is 2.5 GIG. Obviously with software this large, a certain number of bugs are to be expected.
How would open source help in this instance. Would bugs get fixed faster? Proactively? Better initial software quality?
If solution to the problem doesn't end in QED, are they disqualified, similar to not using "who is" in Jeopardy?
I agree. What this merger represents is an increase in the barrier to entry for journalism as a whole.
Someone posted in Slashdot that this merger confirms the "commoditization" status of content - The delivery of content, and not the content itself, is now the focus of these large media companies.
I'm still trying to digest just what this new focus represents. Will the already superficial reporting in mass media become even more superficial, with more opinion, more drama, less analysis, and less facts? Will alternate news sources become marginalized?
The effects of "content commodity" is already apparent - for example, try finding further information on a news story beyond the initial report in AP. You'll just find many, many reworded articles based on the original Associated Press story. Nothing more.
In my view, theonion.com parody stories represent how media will evolve. Imagine a nation of USA Todays
I'm borrowing my father-in-laws' welder to turn my Ford Explorer into a Mad Max style buggy.
My shopping will consist of hockey/motocross equipment and as many crossbows as I can find (for the turret, see?)
Compared to some past "people of the year" who actually made a contribution, for better or worse, for mankind, Jeff Bezos is a disappointing choice. The concepts quoted from the Time article on six core values, etc. are not revolutionary. Many, many non-ecom corporations are spouting the same rhetoric now. "Focus on the customer" "cut costs", etc. Interestingly, part of Bezos'cost cutting includes moving away from custom code to off the shelf(http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK 19991115S0087) Elements of e-commerce truly are revolutionary. When I used E-bay for the first time, for instance, I thought that this was truly a new way to conduct transactions, to bring buyers and sellers together in a new, better way. But, e-com in the Amazon.com sense is not the second coming that everyone predicts. Like mail order, there is a limit to what transactions people will do on line. For instance, I can't ever see myself buying clothes online - the experience of examining the fabric, the seams, etc, prior to buying make this something I have to do the old fashioned way. When the e-commerce bubble bursts, and it will, it won't be pretty. I hope it doesn't drag the innocent along with it. In a year, Time's choice for person of the year may look vaguely ridiculous DP