Entries in the Category "General IT"
Googles, Monopolies, and the Internet
It has been suggested that Google is abusing it's "silent monopoly" of ad-words . Ok, back up. All of these claims need to be substantiated and explained. So let's give it the old inductive reasoning workout (as all good conspiracies require) and see what we think. Does Google illegaly utilize it's high traffic search engine to give itself a competitive edge in other fields?
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What makes Gmail great
The other day in class, a discussion cropped up regarding Gmail and why someone would bother switching to Gmail. Obviously, with the importance of email these days, it is about as easy to switch addresses as it is to switch phone numbers. You have to tell everyone, invariably, you'll forget a couple of people and hearts will be broken. Not only that, but you have to acquaint yourself with a new user interface as well as sorting out contacts lists, external clients, etc. So what makes Gmail so great? Although I brought up a few relevant points during the discussion, there are many more that have come to my attention and I would like to point these out.
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"Social Responsibility"
To preface this entry, I must add a disclaimer. I am neither hardened, nor arrogant. I give everyone fair consideration before I pass my judgment upon them. I do my best to avoid stereotypes and prejudices. So while many will disagree with what I have to say, I will be forging an argument based upon controversial, yet important social biases. These theories have been largely spelled out by an author by the name of Ayn Rand. Though I have not yet finished her (arguably) greatest work, Atlas Shrugged. These are the foundation for an opinion that, while more extreme than mine, give the best counterpoints to alturism in favor of rational self-interest and what she calls "the virtue of greed."
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Macs
I understand that there needs to be competition, but let me please say that Macintoshes are not the be-all, end-all solution that some people think they are. I will first cite their ad campaign. The idea that a Mac or a PC is "better" at some things is absurd, as it is really only the software that affects what a computer is used for. Next is the idea that Macs are somehow invulnerable to viruses. This is simply an absurd claim. The truth is, Macs hold such a small market, hackers do not care enough to spend time creating viruses for such a small user base, as their code will proliferate on a larger scale if they design it for a PC. As exemplified recently, Mac security flaws exist.
ERP and You
After perusing a delightful play, written by our very own Michel Avital, I got to thinking about my own experiences with SAP. As mentioned previously, I worked over the summer in the automotive department of Nordson Corp. based in Amherst here in Ohio. Of course, Nordson is a fairly large company with several other branches in places such as Georgia, Alabama, and even Germany and China. At the level Nordson Corp. is performing, there is no room for outdated inventories, inaccessible information, or any sort of blind management of these "value chains."
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Dot-Com Bubbles
By now everyone has heard of the "Dot-com" bubble. Though most people only have limited knowledge of what this means, even less people are aware of the growing trend that some people have called the second Dot-Com crash. Interestingly enough, after such a terrible failure just 6 years ago, venture capitalist companies such as YouTube and MySpace are raking in huge amounts of cash annually. Original predictions after the NASDAQ crash following the abysmal performance of many of these internet start up companies placed the venture capitalist firms at half their current value. However, surveys show that VC's are actually rising in the corporate world. The question that hangs in my mind is: What is the problem?