Office:Mac 2008 First Day

Entourage:

What I wanted
(1) and easier interface and (2) an office preview feature like I have in Office 2007 with Outlook

I did not post a movie of my email because — not that its visible, but the prospect of spam, not fun. My comments should suffice

What I got:
(1) nicer interface — it actually lets me put my Exchange email above the “folders on my computer” stack which (for me) is a good thing because I thought my main exchange email was more important (2) no office preview (3) “My Day” I am not really “wowed” on this but its the Mac equivalent of the “Outlook Today” screen found in the last few versions of office.

I had to re-set my fonts for writing and receiving, but all in all, it was great and I never lost anything.

Word.

What I wanted:
(1) *.docx capability and (2) the smart art and super effective smart art and graphics capability of Office 2007

What I got:
(1) was not a problem and (2) was there but in a different way from Office 2007. The floating “inspector” facilitates most of the same functonality I’ve experienced in Office 2007.
Surprise: Great Charts (i.e. charting data in bar-graphs and the like) ! The charts were great and their 3-d and coloring capabilities are heads and shoulders above 2004. Not as good as Numbers or Keynote in iWork 2008 but good

Power Point

What I wanted
(1) *.pptx capability (2) smart art, and (3) some better transitions

What I got:
(1) and (2) and (3) is not enough to write home about. However I echo the “Charts Surprise”

Excel:

What I wanted
(1) *.xlsx capability (2) great charts

What I got:
(1) and (2) and I got some great templates for spreadsheets that I was not expecting. Thanks!

Sorry for the video quality. This was a quick and dirty.

Net, net, get it when you can

Later,

V

 

Mac Office 2008: First (Night) and Day

Office 2008 Mac

Originally uploaded by slidecynic.

This is my review of the installation and “first impressions” of Office 2008 for the Mac.

It was almost like Christmas…. OK, face it I am a geek for this kind of stuff, I stayed up to midnight and this is how it went.

Last week I got an email from Apple notifying me that Office 2008 was ready. I’ve been checking the web for this package since last October as I run a shop with two platforms, Apple and Windows. I’ve upgraded my Windows Office to Office 2007 and I love that package. Yes, its a little goofy, but the results have truly stepped up my game in the PowerPoint department. Office 2007’s PowerPoint deployment in my mind, from a usability point of view (and non-expert results) is slide-by-slide as good as or better than Keynote in iLife 08 (my opinion only)

Anyway, I was getting tired of looking at 2004 technology and reading about delays with office and looking at the “geniuses” in the Apple Store shrug their shoulders when I asked them about Office 2008. Also I was sick of down-saving my *.docx, *.xlsx and *.pptx files down. To be fair, Keynote in iLife 08 will opne *.pptx files if you need to work with them.

So I waited and waited. When I got the email from Apple, I looked online for the best price (including tax) for the full version and the winner was Amazon.com.

I also sweated a bit around which version I would purchase/license:

The Upgrade Version for $214.99

The Home and Student Teacher Edition for $130.99

The Full Version for $354.99

The Special Media Edition for $449

I picked the Full version. I use it for my business and I use and Exchange server. The email client, Entourage, does not support Exchange AND you cannot upgrade to the Student Version (not sure if that last bit helps the purchase process along but I thought you might want to know)

When I got it, it was “pre-order” so after the order was in, I panicked. The online documentation (for pre-orders) was so poor I didn’t know whether or not I would have to re-install or whether or not it would know to upgrade me. So, I strolled down to the Apple Store, sought out a “genius” and he told me that I wouldn’t have to re-install, it would upgrade.

I went home calm but nervous — he doesn’t work for Microsoft and he probably could sell more iWork (this is how I think), so I was still worried.

Anyway, the UPS delivery came and there it was, in this little box, I ripped it open and here was my software.

Let me tell you, back in the day, this was a more exciting event but now, I was just looking forward to getting this done.

So I pulled it out and — yes dear hearts — read the flimsy little brochure to get some Redmond-focused advise on this upgrade issue. Nothing. Nada.

So I took a deep breath — checked to see if Time Machine (thank God for that) had been running in case I needed to restore. I must say, Time Machine (the automatic local backup that comes natively with Leopard has given me such a level of confidence in my work, I just cannot urge anyone enough to upgrade for this specific feature).

I inserted the DVD, and went through the install process. I am not going to give you instructions — the developrs have the “install wizard thing” down, I am just going to add anything to see how I can help.

“Thing One”: It will ask you if you want to delete Office 2004. If you have the original media, agree to this. Do it anyway, it just moves it to the trash and if the install is a bust, move it back to your applications folder (I think).

“Thing Two”: It does NOT upgrade, it just migrates your settings (WAY BETTER), your custom dictionaries, and your Entourage “Identities” (the tech word for your email profiles including all the email server settings you struggled to set up — especially you exchange people)

“Thing Three”: When you open Entourage, please do not be in a rush. As I mentioned, it migrates your settings but it also (at first run) “upgrades your messages”. I think its some sort of special thing but it just takes a long time, I had about 1gb of message data according to the wizard. It took 10 or 15 minutes on my MacBook Pro.

That actually helped, the wait, because I went away, had a glass of water and I knew when I came back I’d have brand new email!

I came back and I got an error message something about couldn’t load my libraries…. (no panic here). So I looked around, took a sip from my wine glass (ok, I got nervous and picked up the Chardonnay instead of the water — it was 11pm!) and opened Entourage again. Perfect. I restarted and tried it again. Perfect again. Not sure. I had a colleague install the same package and he didnt see the error.

Net-Net. It was fine and I love it. It worked great

Next Post… my experience with the suite….

 

“Keep the Bentley, can I at least keep my custom dictionary from MS Office?” (UPDATE: MAC AND OFFICE APPLICABILITY)

This is applicable to my version of Office 2003 (and I just got it to work on Office 2007) and I’m pretty sure this worked for me on Office XP (that, however, I cannot guarantee).

I hate relearning or retraining anyone and anything (it’s a character flaw) and I noticed when I restored one of my office computers because of a problem and re-installed Outlook I noticed that my dictionary forgot all the words I taught it.

Devastating. My Word documents had more red in them than a “Jaws” sequel.

I work in software and that is one of the few places besides science and medicine where we make up words and phrases (and teach them to our dictionaries by selecting “Add” or “Ignore”. I select “Add.” “Ignore” just pushes the problem off to another day, like Scarlet O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

When Mike, who knows the MS-stack well, didn’t have it at his fingertips, I went looking and figured it out with the help of a lot of smart people and a Google search. To save you a few steps I’m detailing this out so you dont have to figure it all out in the same way I had to. Someone had to be as dense as me.

I found for you so you don’t have to work the problem in the same fashion I had to.

First off, “type ahead” isn’t an easy enough definition for Microsoft. “Autofill” sounds much more palatable (by the way, as I write this, “Autofill” is failing my dictionary. Ironic.) So here are my results after three hours of research

If I were 14, saying the name of this file in class with girls in the class would have me in a lot of trouble with the teacher. Nonetheless it makes me happy to know that they haven’t beaten out the juvenile in me. Why I still think like this still makes me laugh.

Where to Start:
In order to find out what you need you should find the file, “custom.dic” in your computer.

The file can be found in the following location:
C:\Documents and Settings\[USERNAME]\Application Data\Microsoft\Proof

My scenario has you moving your settings to a new computer. If that is the case, you would set up MS Office on the new computer and then find the file above on your old computer.

(1) After you locate this file, copy this file over the network (my file wasn’t even 100 kb in size) or on a thumb drive (or via email if it will make it past your spam filters).

(2) Copy the file to the same location in your new computer.

(3) NOTE!! if you are reading this after a few months of loading up your custom dictionary on your old computer, simply follow this little shortcut:

(3 a) Rename your current (on the new pc) “custom1.dic”

(3 b) Copy the previous computer’s “custom.dic” into this same folder

(3 c) Open both files in Notepad

(3 d) Copy the content of both files into one column in MS Excel

(3 e) Sort the column alphabetically

(3 f) (if you’d like to weed out the duplicates, do so at this point in time)

(3 g) Select and copy the list (in Excel) back into the file you’ve decided to be the “custom.dic” of record (over-writing the previous entries)

(3 h) Save the file and Make sure its called “custom.dic”

Go on into your Office suite applications and see what you’ve done!

Moving your PC Custom.dic to Your Mac

This just in. This also works for moving your “custom.dic” file from your PC to your Apple computer running OS X and Microsoft Office.
The only changes:

Instead of looking under “Documents and Settins” find the “Custom Dictionary” file under

“Users/[USERNAME]/Library/Preferences/Microsoft”

Use the same method as above, but open both “custom.dic” and “Custom Dictionary” in TextEdit, copy, sort and clean the contents in Excel and paste them back into “Custom Dictionary”

NOTE: In either case, your updated dictionary will not initialize until you re-start your office suite (not your PC or MAC, but the applciations within which it is used). I still use this technique with My Mac when I run Parallells and Bootcamp together; there’s no need to switch platforms and be handicapped with a spelling deficiency…

 

What’s Going On?

I’ve been tracking GDP, software industry consolidation, and the growth of “features” (versus real companies) and I’m finding that office vacancies in traditional tech areas (silicon valley, redmond, etc) are going down.

There could be a variety of theories but I am interested if any of the people who look in on this blog know how or why its going on.

Best

 

Can Technology Innovation Stifle Innovation?

Yes and Amen.

Its like I’ve been to some Technologists Annonymous meeting and realized I had a problem.

“Hi, my name is Vince and I work in technology. Its worse than that, I work in enterprise technolgy”

I look around the room, even the hardened ones cringe, but in response I hear “Hi Vince” in unison.

I go on.

“Well, it started off when I was hired to implement software….”
And then I go on to discuss how I looked on as if it was absolute normalcy when I began to add consultant-speak to my every day langage. Items like “outside-in” and “get a 360-degree view.” Yes, I even go into where I’ve become a cross-platform (PC and Mac) PowerPoint guru.

“I first started to sense that I hit rock bottom when I started talking in web-page address-speak.”

” ‘Oh the URL (I actually said it so it sounded like “You” “Are” “Elle) is www.xxx.xxxx slash xxx dot H-T-M-L dot ASP.’ I actually heard it on a recording of a WebEx (another forced addiction) session I ran.”

I digress….

However it is just that I’ve started to realize that the vocabulary and worldview in big technology (especially those of us non-programmers who know enough to vapor-ware up a software specification to a developer) is so limited as to leave us nothing to do but rehash frameworks “thought up” by Dun and Bradstreet Software in the 1980s and 1990s.

Maybe I’m not getting it out right but we use words that were meant to describe flesh and bone experiences to describe the breadth or depth of a software’s effectivity (I almost said “solution”). In other words, “our solution is much more robust…” It means nothing. But say it in a presentaion or better yet have it as a bullet on your powerpoint (AKA crack for the business ADD set) and the room will nod in robotic assent.

Deep down the presenter knows no one knows what the $##$##@ you are saying

But hey, its not a conference call and there are bagels…

I used to not worry for all of us — the programmers and developers going after startups, there are a group of mavericks I thought. Nope.

They are worse, they are mult-dependent patients. Venture Capital and Big Tech. Shelve the Big Tech for a minute (most if it is but no one wants to admit it), these people are either “chasing the ghost” looking for that elusive first (or next) round of capital or are running low on their last roun and for some reason looking back to the VC instead of in the face of thier customers (who oddly enough will put them in far more control of their lives).

However in the classic “i love you, now go away” dysfunctional reationship scheme, the VC will ineveitably (if you do not or cannot deliver within their fund window) dump you when you need the money the most. Now if you’re “chasing the ghost” or running out, the panic sets in. The reality is that most of the time you could have been selling, you spent getting into the VC network to get funding and doing pitch after pitch.

Now to be fair, I’ve never done a pitch (per se formally) but I’ve danced the perimiter and prepped some people and sat with a lot of VCs and successful pitch makers and, well, all that energy (for some of them) could be better focused on generating revenue.

So back to my question, “can technoogy innovation stifle innovation?” my yes is so resounding because I see people stuck in tired frameworks, chasing funding over customers, and in all of their faces THEY THINK THIS CRAP IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

This makes me tired but I think I am onto something.

The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem

Gnite

 

…About Doing Things That I Like

1-Dimensional.

It used to be that my greatest fear would be that — to be this 1-dimensional “being” that is known for one thing only and when that thing hits the skids the game is over. 1-Dimensional, 1 Trick Pony, Being the Guy who played “Potsie” on Happy Days, Being Andrew Dice Clay.

Look, when I come out from behind my little “humorous” trite things its really something I worried about. Note “worried.” While that is a concern, my concern now is that I’ve spent my time as an entrepreneur/consultant/small business owner doing things that I like.

Those of you that know me understand that I am now involved with a new venture, Turnswing. It is one of the most interesting things I have done in 10 years. I am finally doing something that I like to do. The plus is I am now doing it with a tight network of people that “work” with me very well, respect where I’ve been and want to help us all take things to the next level.

Where I transitioned from was a successful consultancy that I built with some partners over five years but, in the end it got messy and we parted ways very, very painfully — in a way. The exit was cathartic, it drew me closer to my family and those that could understand what I was going through. It forced me to revisit every move (oh and now THAT sounds fun) in my business career and think about it not from the perspective of someone just going through the tactical bit of it, but from someone looking at it from the sidelines.

I will hash through that in another post. Here however I wanted to share a simple epiphany.

I just moved to the Providence area and I was so excited to be so close (relatively speaking) to Boston’s high-tech corridor and metroplex. It gave me a chance to get close to the movers and shakers on this side of the country. I have gone to a great number of Boston Startup Meetup sessions and even sat in on some great startup-meetup venture capital sessions.

More on my comments about what I saw in another post (I need to keep on message in this one — one of my failings on which I am working)

I didn’t like one thing. Mohammed had to come to the mountain. I forgot to mention how much I’ve grown to hate driving and traffic, didn’t I? I had to drive to Boston, Waltham, etc. It blows (for me).

So while I was cleaning my garage with my kids, it occured to me how conceieted I was. “Why” I said to myself, “Self, what about a startup community in Providence?” “What about a startup community where you can be involved and drive only 15 minutes in crappy traffic?”

So I spent the afternoon A.G. (after garage) looking for startups in the area. I must say, it looked a little slim but I have some interesting starts for gatherings and meetings.

First I saw providence: ~geeks$. Yes that is what the title of thier site is. and it had a lot about their series of “Geek Dinners” which was a cool way to “form” some meeting situations. (a lot of lawyers are sponsoring these events. My fear is that there are probably more lawyers than startups in Providence).

Second I saw the Brown Enterprise Forum. I joined on the spot. $30. That’s the ticket. Now if my online registration really worked that’d be even cooler. Somehow I feel I just joined the website of some Phisher in Nebraska buying a case of beer and Slim Jim’s wiith my credit card tonight… I’ll call Master Card in the morning. Regardless, my analysis of their site found three things (1) their benefits are to offer some very, very elementary startup business information (so it must be for students and recent graduates) (2) they have a focus on life sciences as well as others but life sciences is key (3) there are even more lawyers and real estate people on here than actual companies (or venture capitalists). Regardless, I think its the beginning of a rocking relationship (when my ID is activated I’ll know more)

So I am playing “all politics is local” card and looking into this. I hate going far, I love participating in a local scene, and I think I will be of some help to these companies.

The search for “Providence Startup” is slim, so is the search for “Providence High Tech“

I hope I don’t have to buy a commuter rail card for the MBTA.

Later,

V

 

An Open Letter to Mike McGrath…

Dear Michael,

We saw your press release (PR mission accomplished), and we literally had to go out and check our calendars to make sure we weren't in the adolescent-dazed late nineties!

So in the spirit of showmanship and your upcoming Bible Study Software Conference in Las Vegas, I came Lets come up with 10 reasons someone would switch to i2; from an in-production implementation of Manugistics.

Reasons We'll Stop Using Manugistics and Listen to an i2 Salesperson

 

1. Massive repatriation of cash from overseas — burning a hole in my CEO's pocket

2. The Sarbox people say we have too much cash on hand and that poses a risk, so we decided to blow it all at the track. It was closed so we voted and chose an i2 implementation.

3. I've only gotten 80% of my ROI from Manugistics so I thought I'd knock us underwater for a tax write-off

4. I am a former i2 employee who doesnt feel railroaded out of a job and I'm wondering, "Does this really work after the demo? I've just gotta find out."

5. Again with the same direct mail piece you've been sending every year??? Hey….now that I really look at it, I never quite thought about it like that! Thanks!

6. We've outsourced everything else — why not ship our implementation and our knowledge capital around our supply chain overseas for an offshore implementation?

7. I'm sure the same guys that got me to where I am will do so much better using a proprietary language

8. SA-who? No we don't do advanced statistics here….

9. I 'aint buying anything from a dude flying a MIG jet! What if he changes his mind about me?

10. Hey…but we get a free trip to Vegas!

Look, everyone knows that the high tech clients Manugistics won in the past — the ones that haven't gone to you, Mike have either gone to Adexa or are looking at other tools like Kinaxis (WebPlan sounded so much more like a solution). What in the world were you thinking?

I checked, it is is hot down there in Texas — oh have you decided to move there yet — maybe the heat and the pollen let this one slip out of a boardroom joke an onto the wires.

For your sake, lets hope you have a couple of "switchers" in the pipeline and when they do switch, this press release will sound like gold and all you'll be doing is standing next to the fax machine waiting for faxes.

Before you hook up another line for the fax overload, make sure you know how to manage being marginalized by Oracle (broadly) and SAP (specifically). Think it through, if you "rustle up" a re-review, do you think you're the only one they're going to call to the dance?

I've got one for you that wasn't in the press release: what can i2 do right now to ensure that they are "Column A" in that evaluation matrix? More so than the incumbent? More so than Oracle and SAP?

To think your shareholders need to endure this — especially when Business Wire charges by the word. It it were me, I'd work on putting a simpler, more expert and thoughtful face on your company. Do that and all the customers will look.

You are inviting Manugistics customers to your "Planet" session in Las Vegas….who knows? What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…lets hope you bring some home to Texas, or wherever you are.

Later,

V

 

…and then there was one

Something has changed in the force…

At one time there were two big supply chain companies, Manugistics and i2 Technologies. The debate could rage on for years about who was first or who was best, but the story I know best was from the inside looking out and then from the outside looking in. Manugistics was my first real big software company job. Being there in 1997 was perfect timing (for everything except my options), as I learned so much and put myself in such a better position going foreward in this industry (not to mention meeting some really amazing people — and lets not forget the frequent flyer points).

I bring this up today because this afternoon, JDA Software announced that it's acquiring Manugistics for $211(million) in cash. I have a lot more thoughts around this. More later (possibly). Now in terms of free-standers, "…and then there was one." I am a little sad in a silly nonsensical (i.e. ilogical and stutupid) nostalgic sort of way. But, without this deal — what would they have done with the debt service staring down the hall at them?

I don't know much about JDA, I've seen a demo of their E3 product (if I take that on as a proxy, they know the retail space very, very well) and have seen the ERP-like AS/400 footprint they have sitting around working for years at retailers around the world. Per a friend, "it just works" (its a theme people, work with me).

Five things I took away (that I'm sharing now) about the conference call (password is "jda")

1. Hamish Brewer, JDA's CEO understands the space and (sounds as if) he understands how the deal will work.
2. The debt gets paid (talk about a sword of Damocles) — $180 million large — off the table
3. They believe that by taking the rumors off the table (that Manugisitcs is for sale); the sale announcement will open up any pipeline that was "held up" as a result of the rumors.
4. Yes there will be headcount reduction — there always is. These guy's (JDA's execs) would get murdered if they didn't.
5. Technology shift or emphasis for the first time to Microsoft SQL server. Support for SQL Server 2005 will be added right away. Techie boys and girls — that is important. The bet, a-la Vinne Mirchandani will be on SOA

A lot of Manugistics alum will be listening in on this call and wondering, "what next?" If done right, this deal will help Manugistics. The question remains around the "how" of the execution. The deal is not done, the dust will settle and there are a ton of SEC things going on — so don't be ticked off if no one plays nice until the lawyers and the SEC police back off.

Quiet period, clean room, or not, the world just changed and a lot more people have got to think about being nice to a lot more people now. The people factor is critical here — the expertise and the answers are not all in India.

The one question I have is this: when Oracle buys a company, its Oracle that you "throw through the window" and the acquired company is the trailer; the same with SAP, and other companies (SSA, Infor, etc). When two companies of the same size merge, who leads through the door? Their only overlap is in retail now — and that could be turned into something very healthy for both company's sales forces.
I am actually betting on Manugistics on this one — the "noise" will be abating, they will have a CEO who can provide the dynamic leadership that this company needs now. Somebody should be looking at WDS.

Sell on boys and girls and lets hope this clears the air.

UPDATE: Someone asked me to sum it up from a client's perspective, so here goes:

If you were a Manugistics customer you would worry about two things (1) if they were for sale and the uncertainty that would bring and (2) what will happen to them if they have to pay off $180 million in debt in 18 months or so?

Well now, the rumor is no more: they've been purchased by someone who sees value in their company and will make them more efficient AND pay off their debt. The "noise" and concern has abated. As a Manugistics customer, I'd have little to worry about right now. No one can predict the future…who knows what Google will do??

Later,

V

 

Operations, Fuel, and Corporate Coping

Thinking supply chain management is relegated only to the world of academics?  Today's Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) has a lot to  say about how companies are managing and optimizing their operations via supply chain and deeper thinking about how they work. Among the high points of the article:

• Pinehall Brick Co., has started putting slightly larger holes in its bricks because lighter bricks take less power to produce.
• UPS stopped looking at its repair process in a blanket fashion,"The company found a blanket maintenance schedule was wasteful, since maintenance needs vary depending on the size and even the type of tires on a truck. The logbooks are already saving the company an estimated 330,000 quarts of oil a year" (from article)

Interesting note about where ROI thinking is going in company vis-a-vis energy prices, "Economists note that most companies are hesitant to invest heavily in new processes or machinery, particularly if that means funneling money away from other goals, such as new products. But as energy prices rise, the payback on such initiatives grows shorter, making them easier to justify." (article)

Don't think this is the last thing at $72 per barrel is going to do to us.

Later,

-V

 

Shh, don’t tell anyone, I dont have TiVo!

"You hate people!"
"But I love gatherings. Isn't it ironic?"
-Clerks, 1994

I think I am "technology siloed" with an emphasis on my office and business related life. I have a few computers (a Tablet PC and a PowerBook), Voice over IP Telephone from Vonage, a sleek little Blackberry phone, a small audio setup for podcasting (why I needed 2 microphones, I'll never know), a 2-line phone, a wireless (and wired) router (yes connected and secure), and a networked laser printer. That's all I can see from here.

However, just yards away languishes my 15-channel deep analog (non-digital) cable, a CD player, I did get a DVD player last fall from Target for $29… Oh yes and not to be left out my 19" Zenith tube TV I bought in 1994.

The "Digital Divide?" My friends, I am the Digital Divide.

I didn't realize I had this problem until i was thinking through my cancellation of Netflix. Yes, I got it an it got bad. First, 1 movie a month, then 2 and then 4 at a time… I was in heavy rotation. I knew I had a problem when I began to run out of movies to watch, when I caught myself debating the high points of this movie...

I mean I got it because I didn't watch enough TV to "get" TiVo, so I had to have something hip to at least talk about. Then, it got old so I went and cancelled it. Cold Turkey. Its nice, I feel back in balance again, divided but in balance.

Funny thing is…I watched more than half the movie on my laptop PC in my office.

I am so pathetic.

This, believe it or not is not an exercise in self-abuse, its more a thinking of how we use technology and how we use it and don't even know we do. I mean I had to go out, in outfitting my office technology, fit the device to the purpose and see if it really worked. I did tons of research by provider and by product (I even bring in all the software to bridge the technology to get it to work for me).

TiVo is an exceptional blend of hard drive technology, networked subscription, and broadband "piggybacking". Yet to most people, research wasn't done. They wanted TiVo, and they went out and watched it and get this: IT JUST WORKS.

Why doesnt most enterprise technology work like this? What is the big hassle? Where is the "better answer" for which everyone is looking? It's in there. Don't get me wrong, but the average buyer, either during a sales cylce or as its being implemented, has to not only get that better answer, they need to understand how. The Problem is the soup of details is often so thick for the average buyer they might as well scream "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" to their enterprise software vendors.

You try it.

Go to your window (or your blog) and say it.

What's that you hear?

Crickets?

Yes and that's not just because of the vendors (they don't help things), but there are a lot of companies that make things a bit more complicated than they need to; and no vendor would want to miss that one customer that wanted that "one feature"…so they muck it up with complexity.

In a way, the enterprise market (vendors and customers) are "technology siloed" a bit like me (are you scared now?).

A C-level team will license and implement the most complex software schemes possible for their businesses without issue. Those self-same executives will zip home, flop down in front of their flat panel televisions watch a bit of TiVo (or their DVD from Netflix), and possibly work out at the gym on their digital treadmill while listening to their iPods. These things all "just work."

How can we look at the stuff that "just works" in one place and accept, almost without question things that just dont elsewhere?

"I thought you wanted the software simple?"
"I do want it simple, but I love the things the complex stuff promises. Ironic, isn't it?"

Later.

-V

UPDATE: This just in. I found an example of something that "just works" see Andrew McAfee's blog at Paragraph 7 of his April 10 blog posting