ITXtreme with Paul Ryan

Is Microsoft Is Doomed? (ver. 2)

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-12-06T06:13:50-08:00

By focusing on the end-user (Vista, Office 2007), Microsoft delights the user with fun and functional platforms at the risk of alienating their core constituency -- the IT professional. READ MORE

Is Google Enterprise For Real?

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-10-31T07:44:17-08:00

A few days ago, I saw the canned Google presentation about how Google is moving into the enterprise (enterprise 2.0), with their integrated suite of personal productivity products, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Spreadsheet, Writely, etc. I see this type of service as a basic good for the economy since it almost removes the barriers to entry for coordination of new startup endeavors. As we all know, small businesses are the basic engine of the economy -- the SBA estimates that over half of US employment is in small business. And more importantly, job growth is heavily tied to the success... READ MORE

Cozying Up to Dictators and Hooligans

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-08-31T08:41:31-08:00

Wow. Do anyone think that it is a co-incidence that Tibet is not available in Google Earth? How interesting. It seems that 'Do No Evil' really should be 'Do no evil, as long as it isn't too hard'. What courage. What crap.... READ MORE

Where Have All The Good Product Managers Gone?

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-07-12T10:53:44-08:00

Sometimes I feel as if I am in the song. "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" from Van Halen's classic album Diver Down. Where have all the good times gone? Once we had an easy ride an' always felt the same Time was on our side, we had everything to gain Let it be like yesterday Is that me or Happy Days? Except, I'm usually changing the chorus to "Where Have All The Good Product Managers Gone?" Every week, I get calls from frantic recruiters, friends in startups, VCs, that are looking for 'good' product managers. I generally reply... READ MORE

Same As It Ever Was

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-07-12T10:12:02-08:00

By now, you've all heard of AOL's plans to stop charging for services when the customer brings their own access (i.e. have broadband connections and are using AOL email, etc.). This is pretty sad. This means that it took AOL 5 years to figure out that the subscription revenue model for services typically offered for free by everyone else (Google, Yahoo!, MSN) is a bad idea. This seems to me to be an example of the original corporate strategy legacy (subscription based revenue) driving the corporate beast into the ground. In the modern, always-on, always connected world, there might be... READ MORE

10 Really Bad Ideas

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-07-04T11:50:52-08:00

It's the 4th of July (Happy 4th!), and as I was pondering all of the great gifts that have been passed down to us here in the U.S.A., my thoughts drifted to lots of other things that we shouldn't be thankful for -- a sort of hit list for really bad ideas that seem to keep re-appearing periodically. So here's a list of 10 bad ideas that piss me off this glorious 4th of July: 1. Format Wars. Am I the only person that believes that format wars are counterproductive and basically futile? The poster-child of a lost effort in... READ MORE

'Net Neutrality' Nonsense

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-05-31T19:03:26-08:00

Is the Internet a public utility? Or is it an agglomeration of profit-making businesses that have unfettered rights to change, price, and allocate their product? I believe how you answer this question (and belive me, both answers have some validity) is quite telling as to your view of marketplaces in general. The public utility folks (a long list of folks including the EFF) believe unequivocally that all traffic should be treated the same. The 'greedy' providers claim that this is merely a QOS issue -- ensuring equal access to Internet resources requires that heavy users pay more.... READ MORE

Bye Bye Scott -- Don't Let the Door Hit You On The Way Out

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-26T09:13:23-08:00

Ok -- I admit it. I've always disliked Sun ever since my days at DEC. They were the first Google-like wunderkinder that I remember. Sun was cool, when we, at DEC, we old, stodgy, and worries about things like MTBF, reliability, lifetime value (ok --- I'll stop). I've purchased my fair share of Sun gear -- back in 1999 there really were few other choices. But I've also watched with amazement the inexorable decline of Sun. Maybe Clayton Christensen has it right -- innovators are incapable of catching the next wave of innovation. The height of their success (maybe 1999... READ MORE

Why Is Everyone Illiterate?

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-26T08:50:16-08:00

How many times per day do you hear (in the work environment): 1) Flagrant malaprops, 2) Confused and erroneous mispronunciations, 3) Bad grammar, 4) Incorrect usage. What is going on? I realize that as technologists we're not the most language-savvy people out there. I also realize that offense is in the ear of the beholder (i.e. most people notice other people's offenses first). But I think language skills are degenerating at a rapid pace. Now before you say "This doesn't matter!", listen to a few examples that I've heard in the halls of corporate America: "That issue is mute." --... READ MORE

CIOs Should Be Technologists

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-07T09:24:27-08:00

How many times have you heard this: "I read that book -- technology is not strategic to corporations anymore. We should just spend less". and "CIO should be good generalists -- and not technologists." The book that people refer to is the really the glorified article (now book) by Nicholas Carr entitled "IT Doesn't Matter". Like a lot of books that people quote, most people haven't read it, but purport to understand (and proclaim) the central thesis.... READ MORE

Outlaw Caller ID!

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-06T17:03:50-08:00

In another misguided attempt to stop some dubious behavior, the House of Representatives is trying to outlaw caller ID spoofing. This is another example of legislation that will not achieve the desired outcome (i.e. getting the baddies to stop using spoofing techniques in their social engineering games), and could possibly hurt unsuspecting companies. Why? It is a trivial task to change your caller id these days to be any arbitrary value that you want. With the advent of widespread VOIP providers that actually let you do this explicitly, even the script kiddies can do this. Those savvier folks can either... READ MORE

Why I Don't Hate Microsoft -- And Why You Shouldn't Either

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-04T06:55:08-08:00

I find it constantly amazing that when, in certain circles (and blogs) you say something innocuous (and patently evident) like: It is unfortunate to see this form of corporate melt-down. Microsoft, more than most/any other technology company has done more to democratize PC technology. I think that when the story is written, Bill and Steve did too good a job at winning, and were left without real competitors too long. You hear things like: You have to be kidding. bill gates has done more to delay, crush and ruin good companies and competition. i am glad that microsoft will soon... READ MORE

The Beginning of the End

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-04-03T13:22:46-08:00

You've heard this many places. Microsoft is in a bit of trouble. If you think that you've heard this before -- and that you can't count out a business with such strong financials, I suggest you revisit a bit of recent history. The demise and re-birth of IBM. For those of us competing with IBM in the mid to late '80's, IBM was the prototypical 900lb gorilla. They could do nothing wrong, their products pervaded the business marketplace, and to sell our Vaxes into an account, we had to basically hide it from IT management. Just 5 years later, they... READ MORE

I Hate Users

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-03-16T08:41:01-08:00

Has this interaction ever happened to you: User: "We want to start billing the customers by ..... (completely new way of billing, timing, etc.) IT Pro: "That shouldn't be too hard -- write down what you want it to do, and we'll whip up a timetable." ...1 Week Passes... User: "We're billing the new way starting today." IT Pro: "WTF? Where are the requirements?" User: "If you had built it right the first time, it probably could handle what we want to do today." And so on. Sound familiar? It's as if the user/product manager/end consumer/sponsor/whatever and the IT Pro... READ MORE

The Latest Hype Machine - Web 2.0

Paul T. Ryan — 2006-03-14T16:56:39-08:00

The Gartner Group has attempted to describe and quantify the technology 'hype cycle' -- a quite funny, yet all too realistic description of how new technologies are triggered, oversold, crash, then come home to roost (i.e. become a productive part of the technology toolkit). Gartner has some great material on this -- worth the read. Unfortunately, every time I see things like the crazy hyperbole surrounding the Web 2.0, I break out in a rash -- has everyone forgotten the hype of the late '90s? Apparently not. The crap that I see now being flogged as 'new' is astounding. Sites... READ MORE