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There is a lot more to the world of information technology than technical data and financial considerations. Computing and communications technology have quite an impact on us all, at every level. And the world kindly or unkindly reciprocates.
Computer folk are pretty smart and surprisingly thoughtful. They know that once they've done the basic stuff that's in their job descriptions, they can often do more. They can shape the systems they develop so they contribute more to the work and sometimes even the lives of others. This is the case in many settings: the labs, factories, and institutions where computers and software are developed; the corporate glass houses where the largest systems are housed; the more modest facilities where small and medium business houses its computers, information technology executives, programmers, and technicians; and the galaxy of end user venues, in business and even at home.
There is a place for ethical and aesthetic thought in every aspect of computing, and that's what this section is about. We may approach serious issues with a light touch, but we haven't found anything about computing that can't benefit from a bit of joy or a sprinkling of levity. Or another look from another perspective.
June 2010MARKET CAP AND PROPELLOR BEANIES Wall Street puts a high price on ingenuity
June 2010MICROCLIENTS: THIN ENOUGH? RICH ENOUGH? Inside some business laptops are embedded thin clients costing $50
May 2010HOT DEALS AND COOL SERVER NURSERIES These days, even corporate buyers are coupon cutters
April 2010WHEN ICARUS IS BLISS Apple is flying high and, perhaps, tempting fate
April 2010WHEN PRICE/PERFORMANCE OUTRUNS ELASTICITY Can IBM cut prices fast enough to spur demand?
March 2010THE TEAHAD PILOT, THE SYCOPHANT SENATOR, AND IBM Unintended consequences of greed and corruption
March 2010IT'S i OR DIE FOR POWER IN THE MIDRANGE IBM's server chips may be outgrowing customers needs and budgets
February 2010THE LOTUS REPOSITION Lotus is getting better but selection and installation issues are huge
February 2010ONE-TRICK PONY, BUT WHAT A TRICK! Windows 7 is taking off but not yet winning on the corporate desktop
January 2010ORWELL'S FLAT A smarter plantet may be too clever by half
January 2010IF TREES WERE FREE WOULD THE WEB BE? Net neutrality is under threat
November 2009THE FOX IN IBM'S STORAGE HENHOUSE IBM buys an unpronounceable storage company
November 2009MASHUP SMACKDOWN What do you get when you mix one web with another?
October 2009OY, CLOUDY US! Big Blue gives its special touch to cloud computing services
October 2009CIO, GET OUT OF THAT GLASS HOUSE And IBM study shows corporate politics can trump technical prowess
September 2009BIG BLUE'S SUN STRATEGY GAMBLE: IBM WITHOUT I IBM tries to pick off nervous Sun customers
August 2009TERMS AND CONDITIONS Users may be satisfied with their installed client systems but vendors hope not
July 2009AIMING FOR THE CLOUDS In the cloud, IBM bumps into formidable rivals
June 2009PLAYING FOR KEEPS IN PEORIA It's hard to trust the security software companies
May 2009SOMETIMES YOU EAT THE BEAR, SOMETIMES YOU EAT ITS PORRIDGE Netbooks beat the bear market
April 2009THE AGE OF ACQUIRE US Here comes (and goes) the Sun
February 2009BITING THE HANDOUT IBM, Google and Microsoft could be bailout beneficiaries
February 2009THAT'LL TEACH 'EM After years of truancy, IBM is very much back in school
January 2009SHOES FOR CHEESES Computing, like other technologies, thrives on disruption
January 2009GOOGLE'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH IBM'S OFFSPRING Big Blue and Big Search hold hands in the cloud
December 2008POTLATCH SEASON A culture lacking a Kwakiutl soul can fruitlessly destroy its wealth
December 2008HOW BIG BLUE SEES LITTLE YOU IBM conducts extensive studies of midmarket CEOs
November 2008SOULS OF OLD MACHINES Emulated computers and emulated books ought to be friends
October 2008HOME DEEP OWE Economic tremors could reshape the landscape of computing
September 2008A BP BATTLE SHEDS LIGHT ON IBM MARKETING Tough on dealers, tough on users, too
August 2008NEWTONIAN ECONOMICS Business analysts are only three centuries behind, but learning
August 2008FOR SOME CUSTOMERS, THE MAINFRAME IS GREEN More work often means more efficiency
August 2008UNISYS: CRUNCH FOR THE LAST OF THE BUNCH Persistent mainframer turns to Sun hardware
July 2008MISSION POSSIBLE Software technology has run to excess and needs to to get back to basics
July 2008IBM v PSI: THE OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS BUT THE PATIENT DIED Unplugged compatible
June 2008IPHONE HOME The future might be more about pocket clients than thin or thick ones
May 2008SAYING NO NO NO Computing usually accentuates the positive, but not right now
May 2008IBM V PSI: WHEN COASTS COLLIDE PSI says its California home lets it trump some IBM claims
April 2008BEARS' TURNS The glass house cannot be sealed again economic pressure
April 2008THE DB2 HERESY For some big iron shops DB2 might not be the only suitable DBMS
March 2008PLANE'S PEEKING Computing's leaders and wannabees try to guess the future
March 2008BANKING ON IBM IBM hopes its leasing deals for the z10 are irresistible
February 2008RECOVERING LOST PROPHETS New ideas are stirring up the disk array business
February 2008THINKING INSIDE THE BOX IBM spotlights virtualization and specialty engines in the z10
January 2008MICROSOFT TO IBM: TOLERATE PSI OR QUIT EUROPE Redmond backs Platform Solutions
December 2007MOTHERBOARDING IBM is trying to consolidate its server hardware
November 2007IT'S YOUR GAUL Don't argue about fat versus thin clients; try them out
October 2007WIDER WIDER EVERYWHERE From TV screens to computer displays, there's a phi in your future
October 2007MAINFRAMES GO POWER WITH z6 Big Iron becomes kin to a Unix box (on steriods)
September 2007SYMPHONY FOR THE DEVIL Is this an Office they can't refuse?
September 2007HOSING z/OS.e AND OTHER WITHDRAWALS IBM thinks out its software
August 2007LEVERAGE IBM has shown it understands financial leverage very well, but that was then
August 2007SHARE NOT ALIKE Litigation has not made PSI shy at SHARE meetings
July 2007CLASSICAL ARCHITECTURE IBM might not be building 'em like it used to
July 2007THREE-DIGIT Z BOXES HEAD FOR HISTORY Secondhand z boxes become impractical
June 2007TO AVATAR AND AVATAR NOT A Dutch avatar company helps IBM avoid taxes
June 2007VSE MAY HAVE A BRIGHT PAST AHEAD An old Multiprise 2000 can be the best choice
May 2007MISSING INACTION IBM could, if it wished, get out of the hardware business
May 2007THE PIZZA DISCONNECTION Mainframe users haven't rebelled; Domino's franchisees have
April 2007HEARTS AND MINDS Free Software offers software developers a social philosophy
April 2007IBM REPLIES TO PLATFORM: NO MORE COMPATIBLES If it looks like our duck, duck
March 2007THE CHINA SPIN DRONE Stock markets sneeze; server markets could catch pneumonia
March 2007FLEX-ES AND PWD: CAN THEY BEND? ARE THEY BROKEN? The road to Splitsville
February 2007PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS Some milestones are old; these are new
February 2007IBM V PLATFORM SOLUTIONS: ESTOPPEL, OLD SHOW KEY Court becomes den of equity
January 2007BETWEEN Y O U AND I Apple's iPhone sends wireless telephony a wakeup call
January 2007VSE BECOMES AN INSTRUMENT OF STRATEGY z/VSE 4 is more than an OS upgrade
December 2006YOU SAY EMULATE, WE SAY LITIGATE IBM hauls Platform Solutions into court
November 2006GREETINGS SEASON There's lots more holiday spam than holiday ham
November 2006IBM'S LAST, BEST SHOT AT THE BIG IRON CLIENT Windows of opportunity
October 2006STAY THE RECOURSE SOA looks like an old wheeze in new battles
October 2006IBM AND FLEX-ES AT AN IMPASSE Resellers post martyrdom emails
September 2006BLOWING UP BUDDHA Statues and limitations
September 2006A JOINT ASSAULT ON THE MAINFRAME HARDWARE MARKET They're back
August 2006FREQUENT DENIERS' CLUB With friends like this . . .
August 2006LOOKING FOR MR GOODCODE Searching the searchers
July 2006FOR SOME, ENTRY z9 BC ENTRY MODELS ARE CHEAP Big iron, small price
June 2006BIG INDIANS, LITTLE INDIANS High tech should look for tipis in its tea leaves
June 2006IT'S MIPS AGAIN, FOR HARDWARE PRICING The M word returns to IBM's vocabulary
May 2006A SECOND CHANCE FOR THE z800 Why not? It was too young to die, anyway.
April 2006PATENT DEPENDING The curious collision of free trade and monopoly
April 2006INFLECTION POINTIBM may be wearing out the patience of its VSE base
March 2006LINCOLN TO OPEN SQL DBMS vendors might lose their bases
March 2006A LOAD OF POLLUX IBM readies its last mainframe with unique CPU chips
February 2006HELLO COST DENIAL Costs and confusion are tripping up mobile telephony
February 2006GETTING A GRIP ON ZIIP A database coprocessor enriches the z9
January 2006VIRTUAL'S IMPATIENCE Computers break loose from grim, confining reality
January 2006HERCULES, SON OF Z'S Open source mimicry of mainframes from 360 to z9
December 2005PLENTY OF NEWTON Imagine that! There's another browser war
December 2005MORE POWER TO YOU, UNFORTUNATELY Electric billing and cooling the invisible MIPS
November 2005HASTA LA VISTA, BUDGET Windows Vista means termination for small PCs
November 2005BEAN COUNTING Waiting for Platform Solutions' other shoe to drop
October 2005OMISSION ACCOMPLISHED It's the blind leading the Times
September 2005NEW MOTH With rising power costs, PCs may have to become more PC
August 2005THE GRINCHY CODE On a mainframe, "free" software is a linuxury
July 2005LIVE GATES For Microsoft's Bill Gates, charity begins and ends at home
June 2005IF IT WALKS LIKE SUDOKU It's not puzzling that Sudoku is a hit in the computer trade
May 2005COLOPHON WHILE IT LASTS Digital documents may not survive the way written ones do
April 2005THE PRINCESS AND IP VoIP might be the Ugly Duckling . . . or the Emperor's New Suit
March 2005HP SAUCE Hewlett-Packard, looking for a new leader, is missing obvious candidates
February 2005DARNED COYOTE Cosomological questions are only a little tricker than computing issues
January 2005TECHNICAL FOWL The new year arrives for IBM and its new best friends in China
December 2004THE DRY FISH AFFAIR A new school of thought in wireless networking
November 2004VOW TIPPING Pension plans, including IBM's, are not what they used to be
October 2004VULTURE CULTURE Sometimes to move ahead you also need to look back
September 2004SELL PHONES How a few intrepid manufacturers peddle 600 million mobile phones a year
August 20040110 NIGHTS AND A NIGHT Computer marketing is the same old wonderful story
July 2004TO HIVE AND HIVE NOT Software development teams are structured to keep things buzzing
June 2004PANDA TO THE MASSES Open Source changes the nature of computing's ecology
May 2004FLEA CIRCUITS Semiconductors keep getting smaller, but it's still hard to beat the heat
April 2004MUSHING THROUGH GORGES A dogged determination to preserve legacies
March 2004BONE APPETITE Many technology vendors and possibly a few engineers are cannibals
February 2004A LION IN THE SAND The next, best thing might be more of the last good thing
November 2003POST MORTEM Email is an example of higher technology and lower standards
October 2003SCRIPT KITTIES DDOS attacks are not the pride of the Internet
September 2003GRAVITY'S DRAIN BOWL A power outage reminds us to appreciate our infrastructure
August 2003FICKLE FLINGERS OF FAT Vendors throw their weight around with benchmark tests
July 2003NOVEL IDEAS Of course intellectual property rights are confusing; they're suppose to be
June 2003BATTLE OF ALL MUDDERS That's what makes horse racing
May 2003FROM CREDO TO GRIEF The code: nothing personal, strictly business
April 2003OH MY DARWIN: INCLEMENT TIMES Computers are smarter than dodos but that's not enough
March 2003CALCULATED RISKS Defying the logic of beancounters for incalculable rewards
February 2003WHEN THE SAINTS GO MARCHING IN A patron saint for the Internet
October 2002THE GUI LAG ARCHIPELAGO Linux poses deadly challenges to IBM's legacy business
September 2002RADIO DECIDENDI Wireless networks, torpedos and the beautiful Hedy Lamarr
August 2002OOTAY EBAY ORWAY OTNAY OOTAY EBAY IBM presses iSeries users to upgrade
July 2002CANUTE, ROCK ME IBM battens down its hatches and tries to ride out a storm
June 2002GIBBET AND SOLOMON IBM talks about building an iSeries nation
May 2002COTTON BLATHER The standards lesson has to be learned again and again
April 2002HIERONYMUS BOSH Will customers care if a mainframe has Power chips inside?
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