Decade Review

As we come to the end of the decade that's been called the "aughts”, technology has come along leaps and bounds and we are using it in unthinkable ways from 10 years ago. Here’s a list of what I view the best, worst and the goodbye technologies of the past 10 years.

Best technologies

1. Blackberries. Notice a worst technology as well
2. Web X
3. Remote Desktop
4. 1 Phone / iPod. “1000 songs in my back pocket”
5. VOIP - AKA Skype . Now call anywhere for free.
6. IM, yes been around since the 90’s with ICQ (where are they!!!!!!)
7. GPS- car. No excuse for getting lost on the way to a meeting.
8. VM forwarding email. A wonderful feature.
9. Cloud computing. Saleforce, Windows Live
10. Ajax. Making web forms so much of a richer experience.

Of course: Google News, Social Networking, and YouTube. YouTube. Launched in early 2005, YouTube has changed the way we communicate. The video-sharing Web site has given us a new way of reaching each other, not to mention shortcuts to product launches, virtual adverts and togetherness. Favorite technical

Some technology just didn’t do it for me.

1. SOAP: The communication software that didn’t speak well. CORBA is a failed protocol stack.
2. Scrum project management technology. Consultants made a lot of money on this one.
3. Browsers for the TV
4. Ribbon Interface on Office
5. Blackberries
6. Bus ticket vending machines at Port Authority bus terminal. Completely useless user interface.
7. TV’s in elevators. Total waste of technology
8. Roaming profiles in the browser
9. Bluetooth Virtual Keyboard. Looks good, but doesn’t really work well.
10. SUV’s. Not technology, but in NYC please.


Goodbye technologies
1. The pager
2. Channels in the MS explorer browser. Similar to bookmarks, but not sure on their purpose.
3. Sony Mini disk player. I had one of these
4. MS Millennium - Worst O/S released by MS.
5. Answering machine in the house
6. Novell GroupWise
7. WordPerfect, Lotus 123, Lotus Freelance graphics
8. Napster. The original iTunes store
9. Pam Pilot.
10. The fax machine…Becoming very rare these days.


Next decade

1. Cloud computing- The talk of the town
2. Finger recognition on your computer login
3. Web cams on your PC
4. Increased mobile power. Workflow, decent streaming video
5. Faster internet connections. Would be nice to be on a web x and VIOP at the same time without sounding like you are underwater.
6. Twitter. Perhaps reaching a critical mass. Can your company function without twitter

LIC after the snow

Mid Town Tunnel

I wonder when people are going to start working from home?

Rights Management Services

The Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) client is included with the Windows Vista, the Windows 7, the Windows Server 2008, and the Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems.

There is some info with regards to the Windows 7 feature here:

Limits of web based InfoPath forms

A few things it’s worth knowing:

-Problematic with Firefox and Safari- Views, field sizes
-Can’t do multi dynamic look ups on menus
-No JavaScript
-Poor Ajax support
-No anonymous access submitting.


Best used in an intranet environment.

Web X- Driving adoption to keep the promise of Enterprise Social Computing -

Enterprise Social Computing promises:
• A more transparent, more connected organization
• Increased Employee Engagement
• Better and lower cost talent management
• Practical Social Learning/Knowledge Management
• A dynamic innovation culture

Can SharePoint really deliver this?

If you add nGage from OI Software, we think it can.

And you can deploy it today as a native extension to your MOSS installation: it even automatically inherits your existing styles and themes. And you get a simple upgrade to the 2010 version whenever you’re ready.

MOSS comes out of the box with some good social/Web 2.0 features. SharePoint 2010 even more so. And while nGage supplements these, what makes it really interesting is the way you can use it to drive to the Tipping Point and beyond.This is a great opportunity to tune in to some latest thinking around Social Computing – and practical strategies for making it work for your organization.

For details click here

InfoPath forms on the cheap….Not really.

I was speaking to a client who has MS Office professional rolled out to its organization and this Office version has the InfoPath client deployed. They were strongly under the impression that they didn’t need the SharePoint Enterprise license, because the forms part had been paid for with their Office purchase.

This is not correct, as once the form is submitted to the server, the SharePoint Enterprise bit needs to take action and capture the submitted form.

Oh the joys of MS licensing.

The true power of SharePoint Designer for workflows. Free webinar

Now SharePoint designer is free, it’s the perfect time to utilize MOSS’s workflow functionality with SharePoint Designer.

Make this an opportunity to build an RIO for SharePoint in 2010

- Workflow – Why do it with SharePoint
- Note: There is no such thing is a simple workflow
- Why use SharePoint designer for workflows?
- Ideal workflows In SharePoint designer
- 5 challenges of SharePoint Designer based workflows
- Where SharePoint designer reaches its workflow limits and the SharePoint alternatives

Click here for more details.

Interesting post on Ray Ozzie.

Link - Why has Ray Ozzie failed at Microsoft?

Ray Ozzie, the creator of ground-breaking software such as Lotus Notes and Groove, has been anything but a hit at Microsoft. In fact, going by what Microsoft's chief software architect has been able to accomplish at the company, you'd have to say his tenure has been a bust. Most surprising of all is that pre-Microsoft, his greatest accomplishments were all about networking and collaboration, and that's where Microsoft continues to be beaten by the competition.

A few things haven't gone in Ray's favor. Vista wasn’t quite there for the corporate world and Windows mobile is also not there yet. Both of these products were in the works before Ray arrived on the scene, but these are major market offering.

This article is not accurate:

1. The Groove product. The name has gone away. It’s now part of SharePoint.
2. Collaboration. Err….. there’s a product called SharePoint. Microsoft’s fasting selling product.
3. Bing. Now reversing years of little search engine market share.

Some of what the article is saying, is reflected in the share price.