dchase Weblog Archives

IBM likes people

IBM says that computing is about people, not machines, and they even have the collateral to prove it.

Posit: people in Antartica

Q: Would there be a Computerworld Antartica if there were no people in Antartica?

A: No.

Posit: defining the firm

The firm is defined by how it uses technology, not by what technology it uses.

The best interactive agencies

marchFirst finally files for bankruptcy. It's chapter 11, but apparently the plan is to sell all remaining assets. Wasn't too long ago that the hype machine called marchFirst the Best Interactive Agency. They weren't. The best interactive agencies are the hundreds of small or medium size shops out there with people who realize that an interfaces and the technologies behind them are meant to be used by a real person.

Melanie Griffith - Internet Visionary

#13 in eCompany's Dumbest Moments in e-Business History:

Melanie Griffith, the star of Crazy in Alabama and the founder of MelanieGriffith.com, tells Paper Magazine, "I don't care if people think I'm a dumb blond or stupid or an overage actress or over the hill. I don't care because I'm gonna have a very successful Internet company, and I'm gonna have $100 million in the bank and I don't really give a shit what anybody thinks!"

NBCi returns to NBC

Today's digitalMASS boldly states that the NBC buyback of NBCi is part of a trend. It's a healthy trend too - since these shouldn't have been separate companies in the first place. You can't blame NBC (and Disney and Viacom), though, for trying to cash in on the markets.

Today's digitalMASS also has a lightweight but hype-free article on wireless. The following particularly caught my attention because of it's blatent obviousness:

"...the key to success is to make [wireless] natural extension of an organization's business strategy and e-business infrastructure."
- Steve Mills of IBM

Um, all technology should be treated as a natural extension of an organization's business strategy. Actually, an e-business infrastructure is no more than an extension of business strategy. You'll be able to tell that we've moved past this "New Economy" when you see a Fortune 500 company utilizing the internet throughout the organization yet have no internet division or business line.

MIT puts their money where their mouth is

Academics have said that the value of the Internet is directly related to the amount of information that people can contribute and access. Well, MIT's putting their money where their mouth is, announcing that they will be putting all course material online. Does having the data freely available harm the university's ability to successfully charge tuition? No. People don't pay tuition for the data, they pay for the people - the human interaction with professors and other students. That's where knowledge comes from and it is definitely worth the price of admission.