http://www.infoworld.com/columnists/robert.html Lead With Knowledge, from InfoWorld.com en-us Copyright (C) 2007 InfoWorld Media Group, Inc. Wed, 10 Oct 2007 04:01:10 PDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Kathy_Badertscher@InfoWorld.com webmaster@InfoWorld.com 40 http://images.infoworld.com/img/img_hdshot_82x74_Robert.gif http://www.infoworld.com/columnists/robert.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/29/14OPcringely_1.html As you surely have surmised by now, this is the last Notes From the Field that will ever bleed ink. But that doesn’t mean I’ll be slinking off into the sunset with a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red under one arm and a redhead on the other. Cringeville is merely getting a new ZIP code in the blogosphere. Look for the same bad puns and snarky commentary in tasty snack-sized pieces starting next week on InfoWorld.com. Thu, 29 Mar 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/29/14OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/22/13OPcringely_1.html If you can’t beat ’em, bribe ’em. That’s Microsoft’s newest tactic for promoting Windows Live Search, whose share of the market is declining despite a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign and the best efforts of the sultry Ms. Dewey. The Redmond Recidivists are offering enterprise customers $2 to $10 worth of Microsoft swag per seat to ditch their Google and Yahoo toolbars and go “Live” in IE7. Meanwhile, Steve Ballmer has criticized Google because it hasn’t “reinvented itself” enough. So, to recap: Making a product people use because it actually works is bad business, but arm-twisting, trash talking, and bribery are the keys to long-term success. Glad we cleared that up. Thu, 22 Mar 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/22/13OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/15/12OPcringely_1.html AMD says Intel loves the delete key a little too much. Several hundred e-mails from top Intel insiders have gone missing due to “inadvertent mistakes,” which, the company assures us, have nothing to do with AMD's antitrust suit against it. Sounds like Intel is stealing — I mean, inadvertently borrowing — a page from Microsoft, which mislaid 35 weeks' worth of e-mails after being sued by Burst.com in 2002. Intel spokesficials told The Wall Street Journal “there is no evidence … any relevant e-mails or documents have been lost.” Isn’t evidence supposed to disappear when you destroy it? Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/15/12OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/08/11OPcringely_1.html Some Cringesters are reporting a Y2K-esque experience trying to update their Outlook calendars to deal with the March 11 daylight-saving time switcheroo. Microsoft has a novella-length knowledge base article detailing the precise steps needed to fix the problem -- but if you don’t apply them in the right order and at the right moment, you’ll time shift your entire calendar by one hour. More proof that if you ask Microsoft the time, it will tell you how to break a watch. Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/08/11OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/01/10OPcringely_1.html Vista looks better than it sounds for unhappy Dell users who thought they bought Creative Audigy sound cards with their new laptops. When they upgraded to Vista, users discovered they’d really purchased Audigy software, which wasn’t compatible with the new OS. Users have been giving both Dell and Creative an earful about it on their support forums. Dell says it’s now shipping Vista-friendly versions of the Audigy software, but legacy customers may be out of luck. Even then, some gamers may not get the aural satisfaction they’re used to, thanks to changes in how Vista handles audio. Get a new OS and your old stuff no longer works. Sounds awfully familiar. Thu, 01 Mar 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/01/10OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/22/09OPcringely_1.html Apparently Dell is too big for even Michael D. to run by himself. So the company has created the Digg-like Dell Idea Storm, where would-be CEOs can offer their 2 cents on how to run the show. At press time, more than 800 ideas had been submitted, with the most popular being: 1) preload less crapware, 2) offer more open source software, and 3) no more support calls with “Billie Jo from Bangalore,” please. The worst suggestion? Having Michael Dell deliver his PCs in person, kind of like a Domino’s pizza. And if the PC crashes or blows up within the first 30 minutes, it’s free. Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/22/09OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/15/08OPcringely_1.html The Cupertino crew may have settled its differences with the Fab Four, but apparently not with the Redmond horde. Apple has warned iTunes fans to avoid Vista, and vice versa, if they value their music collections or the iPods they rode in on. A new, more Vista-friendly version of iTunes should be available in a few weeks. By then, rumor has it, iTunes may be offering the Apple Corps song catalog for download. Maybe Steve Jobs really is the fifth Beatle. Thu, 15 Feb 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/15/08OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/08/07OPcringely_1.html If being out of touch with reality is a requirement for holding high office, Bill Gates must be running for president. In a recent interview with Newsweek, Gates said, “Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. … I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine.” According to US-CERT, some 812 Windows vulnerabilities were discovered in 2005 alone -- an average of one per month … for 67 years. (Figures for 2006 aren’t available yet.) However, there’s no truth to the rumor that Microsoft employees have been instructed to speak in whispers, so they don’t accidentally hack Vista via its speech recognition technology. Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/08/07OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/01/06OPcringely_1.html Consumers have barely smudged the shrink-wrap on Vista, but snafus are already starting to appear. For example, just last week Intuit warned users of QuickBooks 2006 that their software may be “adversely affected” when running under Vista — so if they’re planning to upgrade their OS, they need to pony up for QB ’07, as well. Apparently the whole Vista thing has taken Intuit by surprise. On the hardware front, utilities vendor RadarSync has created a free download site (radarsync.com/vista) for Vista users scrambling to find compatible device drivers. The good news? In a Microsoft-sponsored study, IDC predicts Vista will create 157,000 new jobs and $70 billion in revenue this year alone. No word on how many of those jobs will go to people hired to clean up the mess. Thu, 01 Feb 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/02/01/06OPcringely_1.html http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/redirect?source=rss&url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/25/05OPcringely_1.html “The ‘wow’ starts now.” That’s the marketing slogan of Windows Vista, which will be unleashed upon on a skeptical public in a few short days. For once I think the Microsoft sloganeers have it right. The only question is whether consumers will say “Wow, they finally made a version of Windows that works,” or “Wow, I can’t believe this could have possibly taken five years.” Thu, 25 Jan 2007 03:00:00 PST cringe@infoworld.com,letters@infoworld.com (Robert X. Cringely®)http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/01/25/05OPcringely_1.html