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 Shall We Dance? Cha, Cha, Cha |
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By Fritz Nelson
I have four important announcements. First, when business & trends editor Christy Hudgins-Bonafield was a teenager, she belonged to the Rocketeens Square Dancing Club in Huntsville, Ala. Second, I am told that contributing editor Peter Morrissey plays the blues harp in his office during lunch, perhaps to release the soulful sounds of his deep network despair. Third, I forgot to mention last issue that Computer Associates declined to participate in our review of database systems management. It says its policy is to participate only in reviews that cover end-to-end systems management, and not point products.
One Square dancing has nothing to do with what's in this issue, but Christy's feature on Microsoft (page 82) gives me the opportunity to release some information I've been collecting. First, let's look at a week of entries in Bill Gates' Diary: · Invited entire tech-support department to play golf. Brought Melissa to complete the foursome. · Steve Jobs started work today. The silverware looks great, but he doesn't do windowsŠyet. · Bought my first Macintosh. It's sooooo cute! · Reminder: 35-cent Snapple coupon expires in two days! · Memo to self: Next time, when my wife says we need to buy china, she means dishes. · Ran into Demi and Bruce. Upped my offer to $1 billion. · Seventh day. Rested. And this press release: "Microsoft has announced a $54 million lawsuit against Tomaguchi maker, Bandai. Microsoft is claiming that the electronic pet is an infringement of its intellectual property. 'Software that needs constant, even hourly attention, or else it dies? Sounds like Windows to me,' stated a spokesman." OK, this one's real: "This is your exclusive chance as a Microsoft Preferred Customer to use Microsoft Windows98 before its official desktop debut. For $29.95 ($39.95 CDN) you get a preview copy of Windows98 Beta 3 on CD-ROMŠ. You get detailed online documentation, dynamic Web-based help, and limited technical support." Indeed. So, let me get this straight. We help Microsoft work out the bugs and we pay it $29.95 for the privilege? And how about those poor Canadians? Isn't the acid rain enough? Two In Syracuse, N.Y., which may as well be part of Canada, Peter Morrissey had the blues. He had been trying to get Cabletron's Spectrum and a slew of homegrown solutions to help him proactively manage the Syracuse University network. He soon tired of this hodgepodge and decided to test shrink-wrapped trending products (page 56). He ran them for a couple of months, then used the results to write a proposal for new equipment and uncover some hidden network problems. This isn't a fairy tale we created to provide a context for a product review; it's real. This isn't a case study either; it's a product review conducted by a real-life IT professional. You see, when I say our testing is real-world, I don't just mean that we test in real-world environments. I also mean that our testers come from the real world. Not just contributing editors, like Peter, but also our staff. Read technology editor Joel Conover's Sneak Preview of Fluke's Enterprise LANMeter (page 44), and you'll see what I mean. Cha, Cha, Cha One final announcement before I go. CA World (the trade show, not the amusement park) takes place April 27. I was invited, but declined to participate unless all of our editors could go. Besides, I have to gear up for POF World '98. --Fritz Nelson, fnelson@nwc.com |
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by Fritz Nelson Caught Smack Dab In The Middle Real-World Labs Are Real Tough On Vendors Insecurity, Obsession And Computer disAssociation Religious And Other Psychedelic Experiences What's Online By Joe Caponi |
And finally, I just received this important press release, which I must share with you: "Designing with Plastic Optical will be the focus of POF World '98, to be held June 1 to 4, 1998, at the Providence Convention Center, in Rhode Island. A conference program and demonstrations on how to design and install plastic optical fibers..."
