😎 Apple Flashback 2001: Dell Fire Hazard

“I’m a PC, and I’m on Fire!”— Snail promotes Intel, Justin Long promotes Mac, er, Windows…  “Unpredictable Mac”, Explored the difference between Macs and PCs back when it mattered…

“Hey, Dell just recalled 200 THOUSAND plus batteries from their Wintel laptops because of overheating. There is at least one known case of a battery causing a fire. This is the SECOND major recall of batteries from BELEAGUERED DELL COMPUTER. Did you hear anything about it? Did Wall Street jump all over them? Is the press drooling for Dell’s downfall??

And That’s The Difference.”

— from “Know The Difference” UnpredictableMac Issue #17 May 04, 2001
“It’s a new millennium.”

Forecast CLOUDY For IT Jobs and Vendors

Wake up and smell the drought. IT infrastructure jobs fast evaporating…

via The Morning Download: Cloud’s Impact on Traditional IT Vendors Looks Increasingly Serious, JPMorgan Chase Says – The CIO Report – WSJ

“41.6% of corporate workloads at big companies are expected to be running in the public cloud within the next five years, up from 16.2% today.”

Hey, this is no happy blog post. Techwite wants to help, Techwite wants to be positive. And Techwite also wants to speak the truth. Sometimes that means taking a look at what is happening and discussing it. If that’s not for you, skip this. I’ll have a Tip soon about iCloud Calendars. Otherwise, if you have more information or comments about this post, join in.—TW 

Make no mistake, moving to “the cloud” is part of a trend to shift as much of corporate IT as possible into a commodity subscription service, like electricity.  Billed monthly by volume used, managed offsite, no local server upgrades or software updates, maintained by somebody else. The WSJ article referenced here concerns itself chiefly with the effect on the investment world of mega-cloud vendors Microsoft and Amazon on their smaller rivals Oracle and IBM. But from a human standpoint, your local IT, your local data center, your local administrator, your local Help Desk, THEY (and if you are one of these people, I am talking about you)—ARE ALL GOING AWAY.

“Hybrid Cloud” and “Middleman” Hosting is a stepping stone. You’re company isn’t putting everything in the Cloud? Not yet? Accenture, IBM, Dell—somebody like that—can take care of your local IT administration requirements! They’ll manage your relationship with Microsoft, and for now you can tell everyone you are “going to Office 365” although technically, you’re not. (That would be using Microsoft totally as your host for Office…)

Your IT Infrastructure Director may optimistically tell you, “Don’t worry, we’ll need someone to engage in ‘vendor management‘, someone who understands Infrastructure…, and heck, if you get on well with them, maybe you can work for the hosting vendor!”

If you know your stuff, you can probably point out that your “hosting vendor” is missing the boat with Microsoft Exchange backups, mobile security, a proprietary and non-standard archive solution that “locks you in”, and inefficient mail routing. But how long will that save your job if you are seen as a bump in the road to “the full Cloud”? And will that endear you to your potential new employer? Remember, the CIO wants his IT Infrastructure to be as easy to manage and replace as an iPad.

Meanwhile, the data center/hosting company is getting squeezed on both ends and trying to survive a similar change. How long can they compete with their big brother—and former mentor? Does anyone need a middle man?? Your Account Manager’s boss is telling him, “Don’t worry, we’ll probably get absorbed by Microsoft. And either way, you can probably work for them!”

We are seeing a massive consolidation and centralization of data and processing, and elimination of jobs. In addition to the stripping of jobs as the infrastructure ascends to the cloud, much of the work that was outsourced to cheaper labor sources will soon be automated—think robots and “chatbots“. There are going to be fewer and fewer jobs in IT Infrastructure. (Coincidentally,  last week the Verizon strike provided an example of this shift:  The Verizon Strike Signals a Larger Economic Battle.)

What about the people? The overall trend is clear for companies, especially large companies, and service organizations. But what about at the individual level? The level of the gal or guy in IT today? IT is the “service economy” equivalent of the Detroit factory job in the manufacturing economy of 20 years ago. This is just the beginning. Clearly there will be some jobs in hands-on management of Cloud services, such as AWS, and there is still time and opportunity for corporations and small businesses to hang onto that shred of control. As for other opportunities in IT? Infrastructure is going to shrink drastically or disappear altogether. That leaves software development. Web development, mobile apps, databases. The skills will be needed and they are constantly churning, so those who can stay on top of the latest development trends will likely stay employed.

Many of these trends are going to affect the rest of the economy as well. The Uberization of driving jobs will soon shift to autonomous cars and robot assisted shipping. Even the old saw about finding a job “flipping burgers” will not hold true for much longer. Where will people find work? That I would like to know.

“…we have to make sure that we have the kinds of policies here at home where we provide people with the skills they need to get the jobs that are available in the economy…”
—US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, interview with Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace

Yes, Jack, we need to be sure that people are trained up for those jobs. But what are those jobs? And where are they? Where are they?

— Techwite

Why You Can’t Trust You’re Getting the Best Deal Online – WSJ

Why You Can’t Trust You’re Getting the Best Deal Online – WSJ.

Macintosh Users! Beware of Orbitz!!
(But if you use an iPhone, you might get a deal)

This article is about a study that concludes pricing is definitely different on web sites for a variety of reasons. Such as people on iOS devices getting lower prices, non-members getting higher prices, and so on. The article states that in 2012 Orbitz (online travel, no link provided deliberately) stopped “discriminating” (by giving Macintosh users higher prices for hotels) after experimenting with this for about a month, and there was no current evidence of this practice.

Wrong.

And then—oh help me please, I should have known better— I read the Comments, naively thinking there might be some value there. I forgot this was the Murdochian Wall Street Journal, with presumably throngs of Murdochian readers writing their mostly off-topic comments. Such as (and pardon me, I’m not going to directly quote all of these, because I will not read them again!):

1. Everybody prices things differently for different customers. Who said the Internet was supposed to be “fair”?
2. If it’s not illegal, how can it be wrong?
3. Thomas Jefferson never guaranteed anyone the lowest price.
4. You must be a “Socialist” because your opinion is clearly not the same as mine. (I love it when conservative whack-jobs drop the “S-Bomb”. Guys, I’m okay with socialism.)
5. And then obviously racial references to Obama, Nike Jordan’s, and stupid denials that these are not racial comments. Puh-lease.

What do ANY of those comments have to do with the article? Pretty much, none, zero, nothing.

So, Yes, Virginia, when Orbitz, the travel web site, debuted in 2000, there was talk that it was going to offer the best prices because it was created by five of the six major airlines, and had special “favored nation” access to the lowest ticket rates. (Supposedly.) That was the impression. You were getting the lowest prices—or at least a pretty good shot at the lowest prices.

And that’s why it annoys me when I try to get a ticket on a flight that my colleague in the next cube over is booking on his DELL Windows PC, and on my Macintosh the same flight at the same price is impossible to find!! It’s just not there!! All my options are more expensive. And I’m logged in as an Orbitz MEMBER. I should get the best prices right? I logged out, I tried to get the flight on my Macintosh as a non-member. No dice.

Finally  I walked next door, opened a session on his DELL Windows PC, as a non-member of Orbitz, and…flight and price available. To me that means that Orbitz STILL (this happened in 2014) discriminates in some price-oriented way against Macintosh users, whether members or not. Because we have more money? Because we are willing to spend more money on a better computer? Because we are too creative and artistic to realize we are being gouged?

Too bad. I used to like Orbitz. Nowadays I might try Orbitz, but I always check another travel site, or the site of the airline itself. And if you want the best price, or the most flexibility in selecting a flight, I suggest you do the same.

This is Starbucks Dude

Okay, I admit it, I call Starbucks “my other office”, and I sit here with my iPad or MacBook Pro and check my email and read and write. In fact, right now, everybody who has a seat here has some device in front of them. Most of us tolerate a colleague taking the occasional phone call, within reason, and we get annoyed with people who are loud and long on their calls. We might even put up with a YouTube video, if it’s short, and funny, and the guy keeps the volume down—but if someone starts watching BBC or CNN battle scenes from anywhere, I’m going to ask them to use their headphones, or turn it WAY down.

Some things are just not acceptable. Starbucks is a place of diversity and tolerance, and frankly, with all the banging of dishes and water running and coffee grinding and steam streaming, it is a place of noise. Noise and tolerance. Once in a rare while someone pushes this concept a bit, like the guy with the “card table laptop” in one of my other posts, but usually, usually, nobody really goes over the top. Until today.

There’s a guy with a BIG Dell laptop, attached to an external monitor – and no, I don’t mean one of those super portable USB connected external flat panels. Visualize this on a little round wooden Starbucks table. I’m talkin’ about a DELL desktop monitor with a stand. 20″ diagonal. How did he even get it in here?! He’s eating up TWO power outlets at once. Oh, did I forget to mention the EXTERNAL keyboard AND mouse?? Is it Bluetooth? I didn’t notice. What’s next? A laser printer??

This is a Starbucks dude. Starbucks!!

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