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Welcome to the IT-Director.com Hall of Flame, an insight into some of the more unusual (and often offensive) comments we receive in response to published articles.
If you are easily offended, we suggest browsing our homepage instead!
1. The futility of challenging Apple perfection
Oh dear, What a pointless article, again based on personal opinion rather than any facts. Generally speaking, noone cares whether you like Apple or not. Stick to expressing your personal preferences on a blog. Fact is, Microsoft/IBM versus Apple is not something that can easily be compared. Your article would be too long to read if it even attempted it. I'm sure there are many people out there who could take an opposing view based on their experiences (Myself being one of them). Apple has created very good software and hardware to suit the needs of the individual. Just the same way Microsoft and IBM have. Each provide their own functions for whatever needs be. That said, if you are really even inkling that Vista is more functional for work, you really have something wrong with you. Don't waste people's time with this article.
Date: 8th December 2008 | By: chris | Reply #15658?
3. The Price of Free
MS Office Pro is currently selling at over £350 ( $525 ) via online retailers in the UK, so a 300–400 user SME could pay over £100,000 to invest in the latest version of MS Office, before deployment costs. The same price for Open Office - £0. Of course having invested in MS Office there are support and upgrade charges to be paid, which the OpenOffice user does not suffer. The costs notwithstanding, IdaRose misses the point - there is no interoperability issue - users normally have one or the other package, they do not routinely switch between them. There is also not much of a compatibility issue - unless one is so naive as to think that MS Office file formats are some kind of world standard - users work in clusters, typically within an enterprise, where they are commonly equipped with the same software. Occasionally editable form documents are transmitted externally, and they may be incompatible with the (commercial) Lotus or Wordperfect office suite products used in many organisations. From a European perspective I find IdaRose's comments ill-considered and ill-informed, below the quality of reporting that I expect to see on IT-Director.com. Cost is ALWAYS an issue for consumers of IT, any IT function leader who thinks otherwise is commercially incompetent, and in respect of Compatibility - last time I looked MS Office had c. 50% market share - meaning that approximately half of us were using some other package. As someone who runs an enterprise that does use both MS Office and Open Office, and has used OpenOffice since its reincarnation from the original Star Office, there are good and valid reasons for choosing MS Office over the lower cost alternatives in some circumstances, however IdaRose does not address them. Open Office also provides some aspects of functionality which are clearly superior to the MS Office offering, however these also appear to have passed her by. Overall a disappointingly ill-considered piece of reporting that would have been better off being spiked instead of being published on such a reputable site.
Date: 17th November 2008 | By: Steve Burrows | Reply #15603?
5. EGL - A Different Programming Language
All due respect, any OO language is going to have some procedural code in it in order to make the relationships work. Objects are all very nice until one has to either couple or de-couple them to a database, which is altogether yet another form of relation. Me, I've been writing code for 25+ years from Assembler to "OO" languages like Java and C++. I'm comfortable in any environment or language, etc. The point is very simple. I do not trust the same people who are responsible for the current mess to unravel it. It's just another stepping stone in total control. IBM is saying, okay it only took us 50 years to get it right, but trust us now and move everything to EGL. Then we can unplug all other compilers for end users(that’s me) and get rid of programmers altogether. They have done it before. There are too many issues to discuss but the larger body of IT is way ahead of IBM. Only IBM thinks the IT world still revolves around them. EGL is just another useless idiotic scheme to garner even more control for themselves. No real programmer is going to use EGL unless it's forced. IBM is making a serious tactical error (surprise) with EGL. It will just drive those that support those systems away and into the waiting arms of SUN, HP and MS. The IBM rhetoric surrounding EGL (not here mind you) has taken on the same bitter tone it always does, well the "programmers" aka "coders" really never got it right, they really don't understand. So here's our new medicine, so all the simple minded people can get it right, because as the "best" of computerdom we say it's so. IBM's best days were hardware, now that's no longer true (as far as the competition). What's left remains to be seen. The idea of legacy modernization has meant moving "away" from IBM not toward it. EGL is a last ditch and failed attempt at stemming the tide. Mind you I've worked on IBM mainframes but mostly mini line using legacy languages in the past. IBM could approach this far differently and succeed but a totalitarian approach just isn't going to work. Unfortunately I think illegitimate spawn of guys who dreamed up COBOL invented EGL. I just don’t think claiming genius for yet another tortured code generator works and worse claiming it will correct the mistakes of all IT staff (aka simple minded) is a great marketing tool. If their game is to pull the compilers from programmers then I hope they fail miserably because so far that’s all I can see. And if IBM’s past is any indication they have no problem doing just that. If businesses did not need individuality and uniqueness in their systems then there literally should be only one source code tree from which all software is derived, it just ain’t so. It reminds me of Gates idea to put a digital painting on the wall so that when you tire of viewing Mona Lisa you can switch to another great work of art. Idiots!
Date: 7th August 2008 | By: tslate | Reply #15432?
7. HP and EDS: What does the deal mean for Xerox?
Having worked for EDS at one consulting assignment, and worked for CSC mopping up after EDS at another job (both in the LA area), I can understand why every project EDS has laid hands becomes a partially-functional mess. Most people don't know that EDS was run for years by Perot Systems, the company whose management 'style' gave us Post Office Shootings (and in one case a shooting at Hughes Aircraft). Perot's top-down despotic methods only work for a limited time, and he's had loads o' money to throw at any problem he's caused in the past; had he been elected President of the US (though he wasn't even close, instead votes for him helped Bill Clinton get elected instead), the scenario would have been very similar to the demi-socialist nightmare we live in the UK today. I can easily tell you that EDS will only run properly - for the first time in its spotty existence - if HP is smart enough to sack the lot at the head office. HP's service and support sectors have never had too many complaints, which is why most of us weren't too concerned when HP bought up Compaq. The relationship has been fairly smooth and very productive for the user. So for EDS perhaps there's hope. But only if HP cuts the rotting head off the body.
Date: 20th May 2008 | By: SP Goodman | Reply #15260?
9. Vista-compatible Apps
Even the Vista-compatible apps I have do not load onto Vista, Vista is a real dog.
Date: 18th November 2007 | By: Givememymoneyback | Reply #14768?
11. Seagate Optimizes Drives for Digital Video Surveillance Systems
Didn't realise that you were so heavily PR ... a very similar
document was posted as a news release this week. Hardly independent
analysis!
Date: 10th October 2007 | By: Emma K | Reply #14611?
13. HP Software to acquire Opsware, and makes a loud cloud of smoke in the process
Get your facts right: Start by trying to spell the guy's name correctly. Its Andreessen, not Anderson. Also, learn to read: the Internet and IT environments are still growing (evidenced by analyst reports, ww server shipments, IT spending).
Date: 26th July 2007 | By: Bill | Reply #14393?
15. Software AG: integration of its webMethods acquisition into its portfolio
This site is in danger of becoming the Simon Holloway zine - is everyone else on holiday?
Date: 26th July 2007 | By: Bob | Reply #14400?
17. Book Review - More For Less
A thinly veiled attempt to create advertising revenue from amazon - a more substantial review would probably work better!
Date: 20th July 2007 | By: Heather | Reply #14383?
19. HP Software's service desk dilemma in Asia Pacific
That's awful advice. Your recommendation on how to counter "distraction and confusion" is to invest in an actual project, that will naturally produce the distraction and confusion that surrounds the start of any project. You are asking companies to incur the cost of considering alternatives, when the current situation is not yet clear. Six months is not a particularly long time for an installed service desk system from any vendor. Given your own facts - the impact of upgrading HP systems is not clear, Microsoft may be a stronger player soon, etc - the logical conclusion is "wait and see", not "spend on projects". This sounds like a blatant attempt by a consultancy firm to profit from FUD.
Date: 5th July 2007 | By: JD | Reply #14322?
21. Why Toshiba was zapped by the Blu-Ray
your an idiot yhe hd market is to small to call a winner you think you know what your talking about but you don't you should be alowed to post anything on the web your premature with your prodiksion the hd disc market is about 3% compared to dvd's stupid
Date: 23rd June 2007 | By: bla | Reply #14276?
this idiot couldn't have added more incorrect garbage, and flat out lies in this article.
Date: 22nd June 2007 | By: B Smith | Reply #14268?
Robin Bloor is an idiot. This format war is far from over. Blockbuster still carries HD DVD in at least 250 stores, as well as online, and has stated that they will look to carry HD DVD in the future.
Date: 22nd June 2007 | By: james | Reply #14262?
23. When will Apple Overtake Microsoft?
This guy is completely out of his mind. Moreover, Leopard is a total joke -- nothing more than the same old ugly girl with new makeup...and not even good makeup.
Date: 15th June 2007 | By: Seth | Reply #14231?
25. Software Development and the Rise of the Alpha Techie
What about the alpha-analyst? Huh? Get a real job.
Date: 30th May 2007 | By: Gary Long | Reply #14132?
27. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 latest draft
Should be POOR. Then you can say IT-Director.com has POOR design principles and POOR image.
Date: 6th June 2007 | By: BT | Reply #14156?
29. Appliance! What appliance? Sybase partners with Red Hat
This was a pointless, rambling piece.
Date: 5th July 2007 | By: BB | Reply #14324?
31. Power.org Hosts Software Summit
Analysis? I see no analysis in this article. It's written by someone who didn't attend, and just wrote some crap based on what he found on the web.
What a waste of time.
Date: 8th May 2007 | By: huh? | Reply #14051?
33. Vista Sales Disappoint Microsoft And Cheer Apple
The answer is very simple: copy much better Mac OS X than they have done! Microsoft is pathetic, they do not know even how to copy properly.
Date: 23rd April 2007 | By: iTD | Reply #13946?
M$ are No. 1 because they bully or buy-out competitors. Not any more, people are beginning to see that it is perfectly OK to use computers without touching Micro$oft.
Vista is a bloated copy of OS X, their security features are as useful as a paper fire door and the whole thing looks like a Fisher Price toy.
OS X is UNIX underneath. Open Terminal and you have the most powerful OS in the world. Oh yeh, you can run Windows as well if you have to, but why bother?
OS X is the future. It is not gimicky. If that's what you think, you obviously haven't spent any real time using OS X.
Date: 23rd April 2007 | By: Jamie | Reply #13921?
Umm, another Mac user - have they been brainwashed? Give me the versatility of a PC and a robust Microsoft OS any day. Vista is good - it just needs a chance to prove itself. I think over the long term the Mac users will come back to Microsoft - its a bit like people switching from BT to a cheaper service only to find that the novelty soon wares off.
Date: 23rd April 2007 | By: Trevor Kennings | Reply #13916?
35. New OpenSolaris Distribution for Developers
I used to think that this site had become a branch of Microsoft's media relations (or publicity) division. But with this article, it seems it's also now become an arm of Sun's marketing division.
Can you please leave the marketing blurb to the companies whose products you're pushing, or at least clearly mark any such market-ese as "commercial" so we know to avoid reading them? Journalistic ethics would require that as a minimum.
Date: 16th March 2007 | By: Muyiwa Taiwo | Reply #13748?
37. Hisoftware makes the web better
Interesting article, however, I think it still highlights clearly that they are still a few years behind Watchfire! They still don’t have mechanisms for managing the results, such as prioritization or issue management.
Date: 4th April 2007 | By: E | Reply #13859?
39. A vista of Apples, penguins and more
Don't worry, comments like these are paid by M$ :)
Date: 25th February 2007 | By: Daniel | Reply #13680?
41. Is Apple's iTunes Monopoly About To Die?
"To that you can add the fact that the iPhone doesn't allow direct download to the phone."
1. Apple will allow it. When the iPhone becomes available. Check-out their recent patent approval(s).
2. People want to own their music, thank you.
3. I hope they are paying you well to prostitute yourself. The author is quoted on their website.
4. £1.99 per week, give me a break.
Date: 15th February 2007 | By: Bryan TO CA | Reply #13602?
You A) clearly lack understanding of peoples music habits or B) Simply trolling for readers by playing devils advocate. People want the music they like. They DON'T want unlimited music that THEY DO NOT LIKE or have the time
looking for some new music that they do like.
Subscription is great for the the corporations involved but they ignore that the public has very little interest.
You don't have a clue, that's very clear.
Give Zune time it will make a move like the Xbox finally did, with XBOX360.
Date: 15th February 2007 | By: davew | Reply #13600?
43. Prediction: One day you WILL reduce total storage
Prediction: one day someone will have the nerve to break the deafening silence and tell you to quit behaving like an analyst and start thinking like a rational human being. in doing so you might just realise the stupidity of this question. Or perhaps the entire article was written with the thinly veiled guise of flogging another failing analst report! (Google around and you'll see that other analysts are giving their research away these days. Selling for £995 just reeks)
Date: 14th February 2007 | By: David Nocks | Reply #13569?
45. HP's Customer Dis-Service
I will be found dead before I ever buy another HP product! $500 stuck in an HP 2710 that is 1 year old and all customer service offers AFTER 3 HOURS on hold is to sell me a new unit....over my dead body! May this company continue on its road to Bankruptcy!
Date: 24th February 2007 | By: Cigar Dan | Reply #13675?
47. Buy Microsoft, it's your patriotic duty
Crap!!
In a profession where change is a goven and innovation is saught,
it amazes me to see these thing crop up everytime MS releases a
product.
Linux - who wants a clone of a 35 year old
operating system ? Freaking stupid !!
News Flash !! - software CHANGES because computers get faster
and cheaper, innovation in software design and programming goes on
DAILY, and the World continually comes up with new requirements! It
ain't your fathers mainframe or RISC box anymore folks!
Date: 6th December 2006 | By: James | Reply #13130?
Just say Linux.
The city of Munich in Germany has.
I would not buy a car that is faulty regardless how good it might
look.
Vista and the new office is overblown, very unsafe and when it
comes to value a rip off. Most people will have to update their
computer just to run it and to accommodate the never ending
security patches.
Date: 6th December 2006 | By: Chamelion | Reply #13124?