I may very well be biased, but it seems to me that U.S. representatives from either the House or the Senate are usually only singled out by party when it's an (R) next to their names. I do believe Mr. Rogers is a (D)emocrat. Why spare him the distinction?
We must consider this in context with ALL other efforts being proposed by the administration - chiefly the "Einstein" program announced on Tuesday. Einstein Program Disclosed as US Cyber Shield
Yes, the very cool things that can be done with VoIP have yet to be explored, but there is a reason that price is the main focus of the vendors at this stage. That's the market entry strategy. SOMETHING has to drive widespread adoption.
I've been providing IT management & strategy consulting to companies for years, and no matter which aspect of VoIP I chose to really push to help a company move forward, when I really needed them to move on the issue it was cost savings that got the deal done. Phone systems in business environments for so many years have been major headaches - combined with absolutely predatory contracts and equipment lease structures that made it a serious point of pain for a company to switch vendors.
So in the end, I could parade feature after feature after feature and future potential application integration - and they would all be received well. But then the discussion would invariably center on the pain of changing the system, the hardware, getting out of existing lease and service contracts and training staff on the new system and the discussion would bog down...until I brought out the savings figures. For a small to midsized company, saving $100,000/year is a really big deal, and the one that got them to pull the trigger.
Only then can you push to get them to use features that will make a long term difference.
Yesterday I wasted 2 hours trying to fax, FAX! a document necessary to get my small business a check from a major corporation.
I haven't had a long distance account on any land-line for 3 years now. Online communication is practically free, and the pre-paid phone cards you can get form Sam's or Costco are rechargable and drastically cheaper, not to mention that I'm on my mobile phone 99% of the time anyway - what long distance?
I don't have a modem in my computer, which is over 2 years old, because I've been on DSL for at least that long.
I have an e-fax account, but just the free version because for some reason it seems that about once every 9 or 10 months someone wants to fax me something. I never, NEVER have the need or desire to actually send enough faxes to justify the $12/month fee for that part of the E-Fax service.
Yet here it is, 2005, and a major corporation's accounts payable department told me that they couldn't accept a scanned and e-mailed version of a signed document, it had to be faxed. (Or delivered, but who wants to wait when you want paid before the holidays.)
So I've gotta take with a HUGE grain of salt anyone telling me that anything is going to kill a particular technology. Only time will do that.
I love TechDirt but...
I may very well be biased, but it seems to me that U.S. representatives from either the House or the Senate are usually only singled out by party when it's an (R) next to their names. I do believe Mr. Rogers is a (D)emocrat. Why spare him the distinction?
vigilance
We must consider this in context with ALL other efforts being proposed by the administration - chiefly the "Einstein" program announced on Tuesday. Einstein Program Disclosed as US Cyber Shield
That scares the crap out of me.
As long as the images isn't goatse...
Market Entry
Yes, the very cool things that can be done with VoIP have yet to be explored, but there is a reason that price is the main focus of the vendors at this stage. That's the market entry strategy. SOMETHING has to drive widespread adoption.
I've been providing IT management & strategy consulting to companies for years, and no matter which aspect of VoIP I chose to really push to help a company move forward, when I really needed them to move on the issue it was cost savings that got the deal done. Phone systems in business environments for so many years have been major headaches - combined with absolutely predatory contracts and equipment lease structures that made it a serious point of pain for a company to switch vendors.
So in the end, I could parade feature after feature after feature and future potential application integration - and they would all be received well. But then the discussion would invariably center on the pain of changing the system, the hardware, getting out of existing lease and service contracts and training staff on the new system and the discussion would bog down...until I brought out the savings figures. For a small to midsized company, saving $100,000/year is a really big deal, and the one that got them to pull the trigger.
Only then can you push to get them to use features that will make a long term difference.
Other potential messages
"If you shake it more than three times, you're playing with it."
"Look down if you want, but I don't think that's going to help your self esteem any. Do you?"
"Don't eat the big white mint!"
Are any of the "killed" technologies actually dead
Yesterday I wasted 2 hours trying to fax, FAX! a document necessary to get my small business a check from a major corporation.
I haven't had a long distance account on any land-line for 3 years now. Online communication is practically free, and the pre-paid phone cards you can get form Sam's or Costco are rechargable and drastically cheaper, not to mention that I'm on my mobile phone 99% of the time anyway - what long distance?
I don't have a modem in my computer, which is over 2 years old, because I've been on DSL for at least that long.
I have an e-fax account, but just the free version because for some reason it seems that about once every 9 or 10 months someone wants to fax me something. I never, NEVER have the need or desire to actually send enough faxes to justify the $12/month fee for that part of the E-Fax service.
Yet here it is, 2005, and a major corporation's accounts payable department told me that they couldn't accept a scanned and e-mailed version of a signed document, it had to be faxed. (Or delivered, but who wants to wait when you want paid before the holidays.)
So I've gotta take with a HUGE grain of salt anyone telling me that anything is going to kill a particular technology. Only time will do that.
Geek is a wide genre
Don't forget the tribute raps like the Lords of the Rhymes.