Why can’t software companies figure out that competing with proprietary standards is a lose-lose proposition.The effort to build and maintain compliance with competing standards is a huge waste of development resources without adding any value. The cost of using the technology to the consumer rises dramatically as the cost is passed on as well as […]
Continue Reading...Category: musings
Now I Know What Was Missing in My Last Company
Go to this link in Youtube: How long can you last before laughing out loud??
Continue Reading...Jobs is Nobody’s Fool
Everyone’s talking about the Steve Jobs’s publicized call to end DRM and then boom — He gets EMI to drop their rights. Brilliant!! What nobody is talking about is the timing of his call. Note that he has over 75% of the MP3 player market using a proprietary file format in a market where 90% […]
Continue Reading...My Microsoft Days are Numbered
I have been a big fan of Microsoft for over 20 years. I bought one of the first IBM PC-XT’s instead of an Apple II because I could tell that the IBM-MSFT combination would bring killer productivity to the business world — and it has. The problem is that my time is becoming too valuable […]
Continue Reading...Gmail Contacts is BrainDead
I am not a Google hater, but some of their designs and functionality completely escape me. The latest in my rants is their contact management capability in Gmail. Its not just broken, its braindead. Who doesn’t need contacts to synch with other applications? And what’s the complication in providing an export facility that works off […]
Continue Reading...This cannot be true! Google search stinks in Gmail
It amazes me that smart companies do such stupid things. Google is known for its search engine technology and have mastered the art of delivering accuracy despite the lack of specificity of the user. So it is truly mind altering to finally figure out in Gmail that there is no wildcard nor fuzzy logic search […]
Continue Reading...Planned Obsolescence — Built to Trash
I was struck by a comment made by the repairman of my old but reliable clothes dryer. The unit had come with the house so neither my wife or I had any idea how old the dryer was. When he saw it, he gave us one of those whistles reserved for “They don’t make these […]
Continue Reading...BBC Sex ID Test
Its not what you think. The research is suggesting that our brains are highly influenced by our hormone levels (testorone or estrogen). Its a very interesting test that avoids the stereotypical questions that anyone can game if they have half a brain. This quiz focuses on activities that you have to perform on the test. […]
Continue Reading...Video as User Documentation
I can’t wait until user documentation is replaced by user video. Examples make it so much easier for users to understand what they should do to fix a problem. The more we write, the more we must rely on language that often defies human logic (e.g. like clicking on the Start menu in order to […]
Continue Reading...Itunes Piracy Issue & Authorizing Computers
Apple is having lapses in their security. The account of my teenage son suddenly showed approximately $600 in Itunes purchases that he did not make because of email alerts that he received from his account profile. Calling Bank of America, we learn that they are having a significant problem with Itunes theft. The theft is […]
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