Ironic indeed. Once in my career I worked for a company that required a drug test prior to commencing employment. They also issued me a laptop that had all sorts of software on it that tracked everything we did. I don't use drugs of any kind so at first I didn't mind the drug test. In a way it was even reassuring that I knew the people I worked with were drug free. But slowly it emerged that there was a pattern of control that they were exercising on us. First the drug test, then the laptop with the big brother software on it. Then when you sign up for medical benefits you find out that there is a "discount" for submitting to a medical exam. In fact it was a penalty for NOT submitting to the medical exam.
Every time I used that laptop it gave me the fucking creeps. Every IM, every email, every website I go to someone back at HQ is watching me. It got to the point that I created an Ubuntu build on an external HD and took it with me when I traveled. If I had to do anything, and I mean anything at all, that wasn't work related I would reboot and run it off the external. My reasoning was that if Windows never started up then the creep-ware would not load. It's feasible they could have put something in the BIOS but I doubt they would have gone to that trouble. I didn't stay there long enough to find out.
Now that I'm a contractor I don't have to put up with any of this shit. If I can help it I'll never work for any big company again, certainly not one that does this kind of stuff.
You're right, it does happen and it is illegal. It's just another form of discrimination and, as such, it's fairly easy to get around in a legal sense.
"It is, I think, legal however for various employees who are valuable (celebrities usually) to have contract clauses prohibiting various behaviours." - Yes that's correct and it poses a very interesting question. Your example of riding motorcycles is a good one. Riding a bike is a hobby, not an addiction (well, some might disagree but it's really not an addiction). Much like skydiving or bungie jumping or participating in MMA events for that matter. It's an activity that you choose to pursue in your free time that could be argued by some to be high risk. You have a greater chance of getting hurt, or even killed, than you would if you played chess or horseshoes or raised orchids.
The central question in my mind is this: Does an employer have the right to dictate what you do when you're "off the clock" so to speak? Perhaps if you're a highly paid athlete or celebrity whose career depends on you being physically healthy and injury free. I don't believe that extends to the blue or white collar worker. As long as I'm not breaking the law and I am able to perform my duties on the job I don't think it's any of the employers business what their employees do on their own time.
I'm not a smoker. I hate the smell. But I don't agree with this. The last time I checked tobacco was legal to purchase and use. If it's a question of health insurance costs then what's next? Should we also exclude hiring people that are overweight, or have high blood pressure, or their lipid count is too high? Because surely they will consume health care dollars at some point too. What about people that have too much stress? Exclude them too? What happens if nobody will hire people that smoke? Should we just categorize them as permanently disabled and have society support them...or maybe just send them to a leper colony?
This is a clear example of exactly why I don't want employers involved with health insurance. Sooner or later it comes down to money and then things like this happen.
Personally I think that alcohol is a far, far greater problem to society than tobacco. Here is an indisputable fact - 100% of all drunk driving accidents and deaths are caused by alcohol. All of them...every single one. I can't prove this but my feeling is that a good percentage of assaults and domestic violence incidents are fueled, at least in part, by alcohol. In nearly every bar fight I have ever seen both of them were drunk. I'm not suggesting that alcohol has the same effect on everyone but it sure messes up a lot of people.
Smoking is bad for you no question. Anyone that smokes should try to quit. People can get addicted to tobacco much like people can get addicted to alcohol. Instead of excluding tobacco users from the work force why not try to help them quit? If a smoker has the qualifications then hire them but tell them, look we'd rather you didn't smoke. Science has proven that it's bad for your health and we'd rather have healthy workers than unhealthy workers. It's better for you and it's better for us. So here's what we're going to do. We have a smoking cessation program and we'd like you to attend it. It's going to be part of your on-boarding process. We're going to pay for it and our expectation is that at the end of it you're going to be tobacco free. We're doing this because we think you'd be a good employee and we like to treat our employees right. At the end of it you're going to thank us. Your children will thank you because you'll live long enough to see their children. You'll feel better about yourself and that's the kind of people we want working here. What do you say?
Hey, I'm older than you are so don't let age be a barrier to your success. The first thing you need to ask yourself is what do you enjoy doing? Not what pays me the most money, not what hot skill can I chase, not am I washed up - what do you like doing. If you like coding, and it sounds like you do, then get some books or look at some online offerings. The good news is that.NET is object based so at least you're not coming from a COBOL background. That would be a lot tougher hill to climb. You might want to start out with Java. It has it's flaws but it's widely used so there is definitely work out there.
Another option for someone your (our) age is consulting. You've been around a while and probably learned some lessons along the way. That sort of experience is valuable in the business world. But I'm going to tell you straight - to be successful in consulting you've got to have some people skills. You're also going to need to be good at requirements gathering and have excellent verbal and written communication skills. It's not for everyone but it can be a very rewarding career.
How about a technical architect? You know, the guy that designs the solutions and hands them off to someone else to code. For that type of thing you don't necessarily need an intimate command of the language (although it's helpful). What's more important is understanding conceptually what the business problem is and how to use technology to get to the solution.
Maybe SAAS? Software as a service is the big thing now. Products like Salesforce and Workday, to name a few, are getting a lot of traction. Sure, you're going to have to learn some new skills but since it's so new everyone else has to learn it too. So you're on equal footing.
In short, find something you love to do. Once you've done that get some books or take a course or two and dive right in. Don't be intimidated by age or anything else. If I can do it so can you. Good luck.
This from one of my Filipino friends...evidently the libel law could be used to prosecute someone who is critical of their local Mayor, for example, and posts something negative about it in Facebook. It could even be extended to prosecute anyone that posts comments in support of it, or shares it or even "Likes" it. So while most people are in agreement about the cybersex parts of the law, the libel clause is worrisome. The Philippine Constitution was crafted to be much like the American Constitution so there is a clause guaranteeing freedom of speech. Many are claiming that this new law is therefore unconstitutional. Someone will challenge it I'm certain.
The problem is that in the Philippines the courts have been known to be corrupt, like every other facet of society there. Justice is served only to those that can afford it. This law echos the days of Marcos when journalists were routinely thrown in jail without a trial or any legal representation if they dared utter anything negative about the government. Despite the best efforts of the current president, corruption is still rife. The societal structure is much like Mexico where you have a handful of wealthy families that own vast amounts of land and are active in politics, ensuring that laws are passed to keep the lower classes exactly where they are while continuing to build their massive fortunes.
If that's the case then half the people of Seattle should be walking with a cane. People there drink a LOT of coffee. I'd like to see a few more studies before I buy into this one.
"Congratulations! You're calling it by the name professionals have used for years. There's even a mention of it on Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], where it forms part of a larger article on the problems with decision making." - Great minds think alike:-)
"I'm an educated and intelligent person, and this happens even to me." - I'm not suggesting there is any correlation between intelligence and the inability to make decisions. Indeed, I believe that intelligence may contribute to it due to the fact that some intelligent people tend to over analyze.
"Nope, they haven't discovered anything - at best, it's a rediscovery of an old military principle. "A leader can be wrong, he cannot be indecisive"." - I didn't say they "discovered" anything. I said they "figured out". There is a subtle difference. At some point in my life I figured out that peanut butter and jam go well together. I didn't invent the concept I simply found out what others before me have found out.
Right on. I ran out of Mod points or you would be getting one from me for that post. Since when is using the internet an implicit agreement to track my every move? If others don't mind then fine but I want to have the choice and the default option should always be opt out unless I specify otherwise. Microsoft did get it right here and I hope that the other browsers follow suit. I'm not the biggest MS fan either but I give them credit where credit is due.
What these guys have shown is an ability to rise above what I call decision paralysis. Everywhere we go we are inundated with choices. Next time you go to the grocery store or pharmacy take a moment and marvel at all the choices we have. Dozens of shampoo formulas, pain relievers, snacks, clothing...you name it. For many people that's a good thing but for others it just stops them cold. I remember being in a Walmart a few months ago. I go to the aisle and pick up a bottle of aspirin. There is a lady there trying to decide which one to get. I go to get something else, on the other side of the store, and discover that I had forgot to get something in the pharmacy section so I go back. That same lady is still there trying to decide what to get. Decision paralysis. It must have been a good 10 or 15 minutes and yet there she was still trying to figure out what to get.
What Obama and others have figured out is that often the worst decision is no decision at all. You just pick something and go with it. If it doesn't work out, deal with it and adjust.
Gives her something to do until the next California Governor election comes up. By then she will have tired of the 'HP' experiment and leave it to someone else to pick up the pieces.
Take it from someone that has been implementing ERP systems for years. Salesforce and Workday are fine products but they are not a magic pill. No software is going to save companies from making stupid decisions. I've said this before but HP is the worst run company in Silicon Valley. HP's problem is not a lack of ERP software it's a lack of leadership. Sure, you can get some savings by way of operational efficiencies but then what? Printers are about the only thing that makes money for HP and Whitman comes out and condemns that division. Nice. And it's internal IT systems are to blame (at least partly) for their current woes? Well there's a real ringing endorsement for HP's consulting services, don't ya think?
So this is the grand plan, Meg? Really? Right after the announcement I see some guy on CNBC saying he expects HP's stock to drop to $7 a share before it's all said and done. Meg Whitman...captain of the Titanic.
Microsoft has had their share of unsuccessful hardware (Zune comes to mind) but they are capable of getting it right sometimes too. They make a really good mouse and keyboard for example. XBox is successful, albeit after years of losing money on it. I think they are able to build technically successful products but what kills them time and again is poor marketing and an inability to make anything perceived as "cool" by the hip generation.
The Zune was a really good MP3 player (better than the iPod in many ways) but it had that horrible brown color and MS put no marketing behind it. This is a lesson that gets lost on hard core techs sometimes - it doesn't matter that your product is technically superior if you can't sell it. This is what Apple excels at - superior marketing.
If MS hopes to be successful with their branded phone they are going to have to hire some people that know how to sell stuff. First thing I would do? I'd get rid of all of those idiots behind that series of ridiculous Seinfeld ads. Remember those? Yeah, nobody does and that's the point. Complete waste of time and money. Next thing they have to do is design something that looks cool and is easy to use and is well built. Number three - develop some features that set them apart from IOS and Android. Give people a reason to buy an MS phone instead of the default choice of Apple or Android. Otherwise why bother? Just get one of those two and call it a day.
This is Microsoft's last, best chance to get back in the mobile game. If they blow this one then they might as well throw in the towel and accept their fate as the leader in an increasing dying industry (desktop pc's).
I'm grandfathered in on their unlimited data plan and share 400 minutes and 1000 texts with a second line. Unlimited mobile to mobile too. Throw in a 20% discount from a former employer and we're paying about $115/mo including taxes. I travel a lot and the coverage is excellent all over the country. The other day I compared plans with Verizon. They came in at $160/mo (before taxes!!!) and that was sharing 5GB of data, not unlimited. Way too expensive. Plus, they don't use SIM cards so you can't use one of their phones anywhere overseas. Not a big fan of VZ. Sprint and Tmobile come in at about what I'm paying now. The contract-free providers are not much cheaper although it's tempting. I'd like to be able to use the same phone I have now if I switch to contract-free but it seems they want you to buy another phone. For now, I'll probably just stick with AT&T. They all kind of suck but the service is good so no real incentive to change yet.
Oracle has a long and well documented track record of screwing over everyone they come in contact with - including partners. Nokia needs to tread very carefully here. Perhaps it's a move of desperation on their part.
First off, thank you to you and some other key people in the IT field for introducing me to computers. It's gone from a hobby to a passion to a way to make a living while still getting to play with the toys I love.
Two questions...
1) What do you see as the next "big thing" in IT? Modern technology has the potential for leveling the playing field like nothing else in the history of mankind. We've seen the invention of the printing press, the light bulb, the internal combustion engine, etc. and all of them have made a huge impact. But computer technology, and mobile computer technology in particular, may have the greatest impact of all. What do you think? 2) What do you want to be remembered for most?
If you really want to motivate people then pay them a good wage. When they work overtime pay them for it. I've seen too many places that hire people on straight salary and then expect you to work long hours and weekends without any additional compensation. When I say compensation I don't mean buying the team a pizza or mentioning them in some "at-a-boy" email that comes out afterwards. Or some vague mention of a "bonus" down the road that never arrives because of one of several built in excuses that management conveniently plays at the end of the quarter. I'm talking cash...cold, hard cash. Not next quarter or at the end of the year...next paycheck.
These days my default position when it comes to management is that they are full of shit until they prove to me otherwise. That's why I switched to contracting. You want me to work overtime? No problem...my hourly rate is 'X'. If you don't want to pay me then get one of your 'salary slaves' to do it. Funny how often something that was a crisis 5 minutes ago ceases to be one when management finds out that they're going to have to pay me to stay late and fix it.
Let's see...what are the benefits of being a full time employee? 1) 2 weeks vacation a year 2) A handful of Stat Holidays 3) $3000 a year towards your 401-K (as if I'm supposed to fund my retirement on that) 4) No training 5) No job security 6) Forced overtime with little or no compensation for it
HP has got to be the worst run company in Silicon Valley. The founders must be turning in their graves. It seems to be a magnet for terrible CEO's - starting with Carly and the disastrous Compaq acquisition . Since her, Hurd seems to be the only one that was any good. Well, apart from his skirt chasing and poor judgement. Apotheker nearly ran SAP into the ground before he left there and brought the same "vision" to HP. What a disaster. Now they have Meg Whitman. Under her watch at eBay they "bought" Skype for $2.1 Billion only to find out that they didn't really own the source code. Smooth move, Meg. Now at the helm at HP, her brilliant plan to save them is to continue selling commodity PC's at razor thin margins. If not for ink cartridges they would already be bankrupt.
WebOS - great OS, lousy apps. I picked up one (actually two) of the Touchpads at the fire sale. Here are my observations of it:
- The OS is beautifully designed. Logical and fluid and reasonably quick - It seems that about half the apps I tried were warmed over Palm Pre apps that were scaled up to fit the Touchpad screen. They looked absolutely horrible. The core apps (email, etc.) seemed fine though. - The volume doesn't seem to go very loud. When I try to watch a movie on a plane it's not loud enough. If I reboot it into ICS (which I installed shortly after buying it) the volume is plenty loud. - Nice screen. Not retina quality but pretty good.
My advice to anyone that has a Touchpad would be to install ICS on it. WebOS just doesn't have a lot of good apps. Nice OS but the overall experience is just putting lipstick on a pig.
I've never met the man although I have tremendous respect for his technical skills and the barriers he has helped to break down. But he might be in a little over his head on this one. Romney's comment about the airplane window was obviously in jest and I don't expect he will win any comedy awards any time soon. Torvald's crack about Mormonism was not only uncalled for, it's offensive. I'm not a Mormon but i defend people's right to practice any religion they choose, or not practice any at all. For someone that is supposed to be a so called 'leader' in their field it shows shockingly bad judgement.
As I said, I've never met Torvalds but I've seen videos of him speaking and my impression of him, apart from his considerable technical talents, continues to dwindle. He appears to have no social skills what so ever - exhibit A, see above. It doesn't do much to dispel the pasty, gruff, immature stereotype of the uber geek. The guy seems like he ought to be living in his parents basement with a big bag of Cheetos, gallons of Mountain Dew and empty pizza boxes piled up beside the CPU.
I defend Torvald's right to free speech, by the way, but for someone in his position I would expect a little more polish.
I think it's a perfect example of technology attempting to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The old school dials and push buttons work. They never break. I can operate them without having to take my eyes off the road. Now voice activated controls are a different matter. Those I see a lot of value in but the hunt and peck touch screens are just a disaster waiting to happen. I bet they cost a lot of money to repair as well.
Today's drivers have a dizzying array of distractions. Between cellphones and increasingly video game-like car controls it's a wonder there are not more accidents. I, for one, think that touch screen controls in cars are a really bad idea. It forces you to take your eyes off the road to adjust the radio or the air conditioning or other items that with manual controls can be operated by feel. I have an older car and all my controls are manual. I know exactly where the radio buttons are without having to look at them. When I travel and rent cars I notice that they all have this same sort of design. Everything is operated by a touch screen and you have to drill down through menu options to get what you want. It looks cool but it's distracting to operate.
Cellphones, of course, are self inflicted distraction. From behind the signs of obvious. Slow swerve towards the next lane followed by the head jolting up and an abrupt lane correction. When I see idiots like that I stay far, far away. Secretly I hope that one of these morons smashes their car into a tree (without injuring anyone else of course) so that I can pull over behind them, get out of my car and laugh uncontrollably at their stupidity. But I digress....
If we can prove that robot driven cars are safe then I think it's a good thing...if only to save us from ourselves. Todays cars are more powerful, more distracting and there are simply more of them on the road.
Perhaps they are teaching MS Office because people are very likely to use it in whatever office environment they might work in. We can debate the virtues of MS Office vs Libre Office but what is certain is that MS Office is far and away the most popular office package on the market. Maybe MS donated a bunch of software to the university and in return they are teaching courses on it. Who knows? Personally, I'd just take the course credit and move on. Sometimes you've just got to pick your battles;-)
I don't know if it's fair to say BB is done but I'm sure seeing a lot fewer of them these days. At a place I used to work at I got issued a BB and I've got to say that I really liked it. The battery would last forever it seemed. The phone calls came in loud and clear. It was great for texting and email. It was secure. I really liked the physical keyboard. But they were slow to adopt the touch screen interface and now seem dated compared to the iPhone and Android phones.
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Ironic indeed. Once in my career I worked for a company that required a drug test prior to commencing employment. They also issued me a laptop that had all sorts of software on it that tracked everything we did. I don't use drugs of any kind so at first I didn't mind the drug test. In a way it was even reassuring that I knew the people I worked with were drug free. But slowly it emerged that there was a pattern of control that they were exercising on us. First the drug test, then the laptop with the big brother software on it. Then when you sign up for medical benefits you find out that there is a "discount" for submitting to a medical exam. In fact it was a penalty for NOT submitting to the medical exam.
Every time I used that laptop it gave me the fucking creeps. Every IM, every email, every website I go to someone back at HQ is watching me. It got to the point that I created an Ubuntu build on an external HD and took it with me when I traveled. If I had to do anything, and I mean anything at all, that wasn't work related I would reboot and run it off the external. My reasoning was that if Windows never started up then the creep-ware would not load. It's feasible they could have put something in the BIOS but I doubt they would have gone to that trouble. I didn't stay there long enough to find out.
Now that I'm a contractor I don't have to put up with any of this shit. If I can help it I'll never work for any big company again, certainly not one that does this kind of stuff.
You're right, it does happen and it is illegal. It's just another form of discrimination and, as such, it's fairly easy to get around in a legal sense.
"It is, I think, legal however for various employees who are valuable (celebrities usually) to have contract clauses prohibiting various behaviours." - Yes that's correct and it poses a very interesting question. Your example of riding motorcycles is a good one. Riding a bike is a hobby, not an addiction (well, some might disagree but it's really not an addiction). Much like skydiving or bungie jumping or participating in MMA events for that matter. It's an activity that you choose to pursue in your free time that could be argued by some to be high risk. You have a greater chance of getting hurt, or even killed, than you would if you played chess or horseshoes or raised orchids.
The central question in my mind is this: Does an employer have the right to dictate what you do when you're "off the clock" so to speak? Perhaps if you're a highly paid athlete or celebrity whose career depends on you being physically healthy and injury free. I don't believe that extends to the blue or white collar worker. As long as I'm not breaking the law and I am able to perform my duties on the job I don't think it's any of the employers business what their employees do on their own time.
I'm not a smoker. I hate the smell. But I don't agree with this. The last time I checked tobacco was legal to purchase and use. If it's a question of health insurance costs then what's next? Should we also exclude hiring people that are overweight, or have high blood pressure, or their lipid count is too high? Because surely they will consume health care dollars at some point too. What about people that have too much stress? Exclude them too? What happens if nobody will hire people that smoke? Should we just categorize them as permanently disabled and have society support them...or maybe just send them to a leper colony?
This is a clear example of exactly why I don't want employers involved with health insurance. Sooner or later it comes down to money and then things like this happen.
Personally I think that alcohol is a far, far greater problem to society than tobacco. Here is an indisputable fact - 100% of all drunk driving accidents and deaths are caused by alcohol. All of them...every single one. I can't prove this but my feeling is that a good percentage of assaults and domestic violence incidents are fueled, at least in part, by alcohol. In nearly every bar fight I have ever seen both of them were drunk. I'm not suggesting that alcohol has the same effect on everyone but it sure messes up a lot of people.
Smoking is bad for you no question. Anyone that smokes should try to quit. People can get addicted to tobacco much like people can get addicted to alcohol. Instead of excluding tobacco users from the work force why not try to help them quit? If a smoker has the qualifications then hire them but tell them, look we'd rather you didn't smoke. Science has proven that it's bad for your health and we'd rather have healthy workers than unhealthy workers. It's better for you and it's better for us. So here's what we're going to do. We have a smoking cessation program and we'd like you to attend it. It's going to be part of your on-boarding process. We're going to pay for it and our expectation is that at the end of it you're going to be tobacco free. We're doing this because we think you'd be a good employee and we like to treat our employees right. At the end of it you're going to thank us. Your children will thank you because you'll live long enough to see their children. You'll feel better about yourself and that's the kind of people we want working here. What do you say?
Hey, I'm older than you are so don't let age be a barrier to your success. The first thing you need to ask yourself is what do you enjoy doing? Not what pays me the most money, not what hot skill can I chase, not am I washed up - what do you like doing. If you like coding, and it sounds like you do, then get some books or look at some online offerings. The good news is that .NET is object based so at least you're not coming from a COBOL background. That would be a lot tougher hill to climb. You might want to start out with Java. It has it's flaws but it's widely used so there is definitely work out there.
Another option for someone your (our) age is consulting. You've been around a while and probably learned some lessons along the way. That sort of experience is valuable in the business world. But I'm going to tell you straight - to be successful in consulting you've got to have some people skills. You're also going to need to be good at requirements gathering and have excellent verbal and written communication skills. It's not for everyone but it can be a very rewarding career.
How about a technical architect? You know, the guy that designs the solutions and hands them off to someone else to code. For that type of thing you don't necessarily need an intimate command of the language (although it's helpful). What's more important is understanding conceptually what the business problem is and how to use technology to get to the solution.
Maybe SAAS? Software as a service is the big thing now. Products like Salesforce and Workday, to name a few, are getting a lot of traction. Sure, you're going to have to learn some new skills but since it's so new everyone else has to learn it too. So you're on equal footing.
In short, find something you love to do. Once you've done that get some books or take a course or two and dive right in. Don't be intimidated by age or anything else. If I can do it so can you. Good luck.
This from one of my Filipino friends...evidently the libel law could be used to prosecute someone who is critical of their local Mayor, for example, and posts something negative about it in Facebook. It could even be extended to prosecute anyone that posts comments in support of it, or shares it or even "Likes" it. So while most people are in agreement about the cybersex parts of the law, the libel clause is worrisome. The Philippine Constitution was crafted to be much like the American Constitution so there is a clause guaranteeing freedom of speech. Many are claiming that this new law is therefore unconstitutional. Someone will challenge it I'm certain.
The problem is that in the Philippines the courts have been known to be corrupt, like every other facet of society there. Justice is served only to those that can afford it. This law echos the days of Marcos when journalists were routinely thrown in jail without a trial or any legal representation if they dared utter anything negative about the government. Despite the best efforts of the current president, corruption is still rife. The societal structure is much like Mexico where you have a handful of wealthy families that own vast amounts of land and are active in politics, ensuring that laws are passed to keep the lower classes exactly where they are while continuing to build their massive fortunes.
If that's the case then half the people of Seattle should be walking with a cane. People there drink a LOT of coffee. I'd like to see a few more studies before I buy into this one.
"Congratulations! You're calling it by the name professionals have used for years. There's even a mention of it on Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], where it forms part of a larger article on the problems with decision making." - Great minds think alike :-)
"I'm an educated and intelligent person, and this happens even to me." - I'm not suggesting there is any correlation between intelligence and the inability to make decisions. Indeed, I believe that intelligence may contribute to it due to the fact that some intelligent people tend to over analyze.
"Nope, they haven't discovered anything - at best, it's a rediscovery of an old military principle. "A leader can be wrong, he cannot be indecisive"." - I didn't say they "discovered" anything. I said they "figured out". There is a subtle difference. At some point in my life I figured out that peanut butter and jam go well together. I didn't invent the concept I simply found out what others before me have found out.
Right on. I ran out of Mod points or you would be getting one from me for that post. Since when is using the internet an implicit agreement to track my every move? If others don't mind then fine but I want to have the choice and the default option should always be opt out unless I specify otherwise. Microsoft did get it right here and I hope that the other browsers follow suit. I'm not the biggest MS fan either but I give them credit where credit is due.
What these guys have shown is an ability to rise above what I call decision paralysis. Everywhere we go we are inundated with choices. Next time you go to the grocery store or pharmacy take a moment and marvel at all the choices we have. Dozens of shampoo formulas, pain relievers, snacks, clothing...you name it. For many people that's a good thing but for others it just stops them cold. I remember being in a Walmart a few months ago. I go to the aisle and pick up a bottle of aspirin. There is a lady there trying to decide which one to get. I go to get something else, on the other side of the store, and discover that I had forgot to get something in the pharmacy section so I go back. That same lady is still there trying to decide what to get. Decision paralysis. It must have been a good 10 or 15 minutes and yet there she was still trying to figure out what to get.
What Obama and others have figured out is that often the worst decision is no decision at all. You just pick something and go with it. If it doesn't work out, deal with it and adjust.
Gives her something to do until the next California Governor election comes up. By then she will have tired of the 'HP' experiment and leave it to someone else to pick up the pieces.
Take it from someone that has been implementing ERP systems for years. Salesforce and Workday are fine products but they are not a magic pill. No software is going to save companies from making stupid decisions. I've said this before but HP is the worst run company in Silicon Valley. HP's problem is not a lack of ERP software it's a lack of leadership. Sure, you can get some savings by way of operational efficiencies but then what? Printers are about the only thing that makes money for HP and Whitman comes out and condemns that division. Nice. And it's internal IT systems are to blame (at least partly) for their current woes? Well there's a real ringing endorsement for HP's consulting services, don't ya think?
So this is the grand plan, Meg? Really? Right after the announcement I see some guy on CNBC saying he expects HP's stock to drop to $7 a share before it's all said and done. Meg Whitman...captain of the Titanic.
Microsoft has had their share of unsuccessful hardware (Zune comes to mind) but they are capable of getting it right sometimes too. They make a really good mouse and keyboard for example. XBox is successful, albeit after years of losing money on it. I think they are able to build technically successful products but what kills them time and again is poor marketing and an inability to make anything perceived as "cool" by the hip generation.
The Zune was a really good MP3 player (better than the iPod in many ways) but it had that horrible brown color and MS put no marketing behind it. This is a lesson that gets lost on hard core techs sometimes - it doesn't matter that your product is technically superior if you can't sell it. This is what Apple excels at - superior marketing.
If MS hopes to be successful with their branded phone they are going to have to hire some people that know how to sell stuff. First thing I would do? I'd get rid of all of those idiots behind that series of ridiculous Seinfeld ads. Remember those? Yeah, nobody does and that's the point. Complete waste of time and money. Next thing they have to do is design something that looks cool and is easy to use and is well built. Number three - develop some features that set them apart from IOS and Android. Give people a reason to buy an MS phone instead of the default choice of Apple or Android. Otherwise why bother? Just get one of those two and call it a day.
This is Microsoft's last, best chance to get back in the mobile game. If they blow this one then they might as well throw in the towel and accept their fate as the leader in an increasing dying industry (desktop pc's).
I'm grandfathered in on their unlimited data plan and share 400 minutes and 1000 texts with a second line. Unlimited mobile to mobile too. Throw in a 20% discount from a former employer and we're paying about $115/mo including taxes. I travel a lot and the coverage is excellent all over the country. The other day I compared plans with Verizon. They came in at $160/mo (before taxes!!!) and that was sharing 5GB of data, not unlimited. Way too expensive. Plus, they don't use SIM cards so you can't use one of their phones anywhere overseas. Not a big fan of VZ. Sprint and Tmobile come in at about what I'm paying now. The contract-free providers are not much cheaper although it's tempting. I'd like to be able to use the same phone I have now if I switch to contract-free but it seems they want you to buy another phone. For now, I'll probably just stick with AT&T. They all kind of suck but the service is good so no real incentive to change yet.
Oracle has a long and well documented track record of screwing over everyone they come in contact with - including partners. Nokia needs to tread very carefully here. Perhaps it's a move of desperation on their part.
First off, thank you to you and some other key people in the IT field for introducing me to computers. It's gone from a hobby to a passion to a way to make a living while still getting to play with the toys I love.
Two questions...
1) What do you see as the next "big thing" in IT? Modern technology has the potential for leveling the playing field like nothing else in the history of mankind. We've seen the invention of the printing press, the light bulb, the internal combustion engine, etc. and all of them have made a huge impact. But computer technology, and mobile computer technology in particular, may have the greatest impact of all. What do you think?
2) What do you want to be remembered for most?
If you really want to motivate people then pay them a good wage. When they work overtime pay them for it. I've seen too many places that hire people on straight salary and then expect you to work long hours and weekends without any additional compensation. When I say compensation I don't mean buying the team a pizza or mentioning them in some "at-a-boy" email that comes out afterwards. Or some vague mention of a "bonus" down the road that never arrives because of one of several built in excuses that management conveniently plays at the end of the quarter. I'm talking cash...cold, hard cash. Not next quarter or at the end of the year...next paycheck.
These days my default position when it comes to management is that they are full of shit until they prove to me otherwise. That's why I switched to contracting. You want me to work overtime? No problem...my hourly rate is 'X'. If you don't want to pay me then get one of your 'salary slaves' to do it. Funny how often something that was a crisis 5 minutes ago ceases to be one when management finds out that they're going to have to pay me to stay late and fix it.
Let's see...what are the benefits of being a full time employee?
1) 2 weeks vacation a year
2) A handful of Stat Holidays
3) $3000 a year towards your 401-K (as if I'm supposed to fund my retirement on that)
4) No training
5) No job security
6) Forced overtime with little or no compensation for it
Fuck that. I'll stick with contracting.
HP has got to be the worst run company in Silicon Valley. The founders must be turning in their graves. It seems to be a magnet for terrible CEO's - starting with Carly and the disastrous Compaq acquisition . Since her, Hurd seems to be the only one that was any good. Well, apart from his skirt chasing and poor judgement. Apotheker nearly ran SAP into the ground before he left there and brought the same "vision" to HP. What a disaster. Now they have Meg Whitman. Under her watch at eBay they "bought" Skype for $2.1 Billion only to find out that they didn't really own the source code. Smooth move, Meg. Now at the helm at HP, her brilliant plan to save them is to continue selling commodity PC's at razor thin margins. If not for ink cartridges they would already be bankrupt.
WebOS - great OS, lousy apps. I picked up one (actually two) of the Touchpads at the fire sale. Here are my observations of it:
- The OS is beautifully designed. Logical and fluid and reasonably quick
- It seems that about half the apps I tried were warmed over Palm Pre apps that were scaled up to fit the Touchpad screen. They looked absolutely horrible. The core apps (email, etc.) seemed fine though.
- The volume doesn't seem to go very loud. When I try to watch a movie on a plane it's not loud enough. If I reboot it into ICS (which I installed shortly after buying it) the volume is plenty loud.
- Nice screen. Not retina quality but pretty good.
My advice to anyone that has a Touchpad would be to install ICS on it. WebOS just doesn't have a lot of good apps. Nice OS but the overall experience is just putting lipstick on a pig.
Some jokes just write themselves...
I've never met the man although I have tremendous respect for his technical skills and the barriers he has helped to break down. But he might be in a little over his head on this one. Romney's comment about the airplane window was obviously in jest and I don't expect he will win any comedy awards any time soon. Torvald's crack about Mormonism was not only uncalled for, it's offensive. I'm not a Mormon but i defend people's right to practice any religion they choose, or not practice any at all. For someone that is supposed to be a so called 'leader' in their field it shows shockingly bad judgement.
As I said, I've never met Torvalds but I've seen videos of him speaking and my impression of him, apart from his considerable technical talents, continues to dwindle. He appears to have no social skills what so ever - exhibit A, see above. It doesn't do much to dispel the pasty, gruff, immature stereotype of the uber geek. The guy seems like he ought to be living in his parents basement with a big bag of Cheetos, gallons of Mountain Dew and empty pizza boxes piled up beside the CPU.
I defend Torvald's right to free speech, by the way, but for someone in his position I would expect a little more polish.
I think it's a perfect example of technology attempting to solve a problem that doesn't exist. The old school dials and push buttons work. They never break. I can operate them without having to take my eyes off the road. Now voice activated controls are a different matter. Those I see a lot of value in but the hunt and peck touch screens are just a disaster waiting to happen. I bet they cost a lot of money to repair as well.
Today's drivers have a dizzying array of distractions. Between cellphones and increasingly video game-like car controls it's a wonder there are not more accidents. I, for one, think that touch screen controls in cars are a really bad idea. It forces you to take your eyes off the road to adjust the radio or the air conditioning or other items that with manual controls can be operated by feel. I have an older car and all my controls are manual. I know exactly where the radio buttons are without having to look at them. When I travel and rent cars I notice that they all have this same sort of design. Everything is operated by a touch screen and you have to drill down through menu options to get what you want. It looks cool but it's distracting to operate.
Cellphones, of course, are self inflicted distraction. From behind the signs of obvious. Slow swerve towards the next lane followed by the head jolting up and an abrupt lane correction. When I see idiots like that I stay far, far away. Secretly I hope that one of these morons smashes their car into a tree (without injuring anyone else of course) so that I can pull over behind them, get out of my car and laugh uncontrollably at their stupidity. But I digress....
If we can prove that robot driven cars are safe then I think it's a good thing...if only to save us from ourselves. Todays cars are more powerful, more distracting and there are simply more of them on the road.
Somehow I doubt that is part of the curriculum :-)
Perhaps they are teaching MS Office because people are very likely to use it in whatever office environment they might work in. We can debate the virtues of MS Office vs Libre Office but what is certain is that MS Office is far and away the most popular office package on the market. Maybe MS donated a bunch of software to the university and in return they are teaching courses on it. Who knows? Personally, I'd just take the course credit and move on. Sometimes you've just got to pick your battles ;-)
I don't know if it's fair to say BB is done but I'm sure seeing a lot fewer of them these days. At a place I used to work at I got issued a BB and I've got to say that I really liked it. The battery would last forever it seemed. The phone calls came in loud and clear. It was great for texting and email. It was secure. I really liked the physical keyboard. But they were slow to adopt the touch screen interface and now seem dated compared to the iPhone and Android phones.