Oracle

Trying to figure out what tech trend (necessity) to buy is one of the biggest challenges people face today. Finding fads is easy…just look in the rearview mirror!

Or, for people who know us, when we believe something is sound, logical, that it's gotta' win…they bet on the other horse! Picking the winners from the losers is even more difficult for the boss who has to invest his company's time/money, his reputation. In the early days of the computer/communications/consumer industry, it was easy. Directions came from engineers. What did "ordinary folks" know about the mysteries of technology? They stumbled through the installation/user's guide.

But the smart folks sometimes came up "a little" short:

• Tom Watson of IBM said there was probably only a market for four or five mainframe computers worldwide. They sold millions and are still used as the backbone of organizations and governments. The industry is now having a hard time finding talent to manage/maintain the hummers.
• Ken Olson, the founder of DEC (Digital Equipment), said the microcomputer was a fad, a toy.
• Larry Ellison, Oracle, dismissed the cloud as vaporware. And while companies, individuals struggle to define it, figure out how to use it/make it safe, he's now got the biggest, baddest cloud in town.

You get the idea.Read more

Admit it. You missed Steve opening WWDC (Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference). You missed him walking out at the end of Phil Schiller's keynote where Steve walks from behind the curtain and says , "One more thing!"

No Show – Despite all of the wild speculation, Steve Jobs didn't show up at WWDC and according to his earlier statements plans to be back at 1 Infinity Circle late this month. Oh yes, the team put on a very good event focusing on business, not personalities.

There was no colored water to dazzle folks. No one sat down on the chair, whipped off the shoes and socks, held them in the air and said "today we're unveiling iSox." And five million people ran to the Apple store scooping up pairs at $50 per. There was no rush to roll-out matching laces, iSox cases, a dizzying array of toenail colors mixed. You had to focus on the announcements rather than the man. Maybe – just maybe – the PC/CE/communications industry has passed thru another stage of growth, dare we say maturation?

The business world goes through phases and the technologies industry has gone from techie gee whiz stuff to fashion statements. The business and consumer industry today changes fast. It changes more frequently than skirt length.Read more