Milestone: Can we Antitrust Microsoft?

No matter what one studies at GSPIA (Graduate School of Public & International Affairs), at the University of Pittsburgh, proficiency in policy analysis is necessary. When referring to governance, as it relates to public and international affairs, policy synthesis and analysis are essential.

So, I was naturally drawn to G. David Garson’s chapter on Regulation and Taxation Issues. Regulation implies guidelines. Guidelines are found in policies. The policy of interest in this chapter is the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. This law (policy) states that it is illegal for corporations to engage in monopolistic conduct, come to price-fixing agreements, or otherwise act in restraint of trade. This is a policy that would seem to have been made for IT companies, despite the fact it was made decades before any significant IT company was formed. There would seem to be natural tendency of IT companies to become monopolies in the course of the development of technology. In the pursuit of the most efficient and effective technology, one looks to design the technology that eliminates the need for additional technology or the use of a substitute technology.

Garson lists IBM and Microsoft as the primary targets of the Antitrust Act. My focus will be on Microsoft. Microsoft was sued by the government as well as 20 states in 1998. It should also be noted that a parallel lawsuit would be filed by the European Union; it would eventually be settled. The domestic lawsuit was advocated by competitors of Microsoft who publish their own operating systems. The lawsuit was a response to  Microsoft’s decision to bundle Internet Explorer (IE) with their Windows operating system.  Considering that it is estimated that 90% of PC’s are equipped with Windows operating system, competition would have been effectively eliminated. Hence, a monopoly would have been created. Microsoft would claim that their bundling was innovative rather than anticompetitive.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson would rule against Microsoft and order that the company be broken into two separate companies. Microsoft would appeal the ruling and win. However, Microsoft would have to make many concessions that would allow the competition to be able to function on a Widows platform.

Let’s fast forward to the anticipated release of Vista, the new operating system from Microsoft. There has been an official complaint filed by the European Union. The claim is that Microsoft violated the settlement that was made in 2004. It would appear that there are those who believe that Microsoft is attempting the unprecedented move of monopolizing the Internet. The markup language in Vista (XAML) is believed to be the replacement for HTML which, of course, is an industry standard used for publishing material online. This replacement would make the world dependent on this new operating system in order to utilize the Internet. Again this would be unprecedented dominance. Microsoft declined comment on the claims and complaints.

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Nugget: Will Anything Remain Untouched?

InfoTech continues to reach ever-increasing heights and questionable areas.  I’m  definitely an advocate for the advancement of InfoTech. It connects people globally. This connection creates a global community. InfoTech is, without a doubt, a tool for understanding and uniting people with common interests.

As excited as I am to hear about advancements in technology, I was surprised when Autonet Mobile announced the development of Wi-Fi for automobiles. This service will initially be available to Avis customers. According to a New York Times  article, the announcement of the agreement with Avis could be made as soon as this week. Motorists will actually be issued a notebook device to access the Internet. This notebook will plug directly into the car’s power source.

For many professionals, this is a huge announcement and one that will allow them and an assistant to review a powerpoint before an important meeting, type up notes for a speech to be given, check email for important messages before giving a presentation as well as many other Internet-related tasks. I’m not sure if I’m as excited as these business professionals. The problem is not the creativity involved or utility of this advancement but rather it’s the potential social effect on the users. Ideally one would have an assistant or friend in the car browsing the Internet while another is driving. However, in a world where careers hinge on making deadlines, it is highly likely that someone will attempt to drive and check email or complete a powerpoint. My concern is that technology of this nature will actually endanger people who are in a high stress job situation.

The development and subsequent utilization of technology is absolutely necessary for the advancement of society. However, technology does not develop human lives it facilitates tasks that will ultmately make life easier. In other words, we cannot rely on technology to resolve issues that are social in nature…we as a society must solve those issues.

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Milestone: How Does It Do All Those Wonderful Things?

Many of us have thought about the inner workings and operations of computers. Some of us have even marveled aloud at the feats of our computers. Then the reality of algorithms, encoding and many other mathematical terms hits like a sledgehammer. I’m a social worker so the prospect of learning the mathematical equations associated with the operation of computers is not very appealing. However, wouldn’t it make sense to have a basic understanding of how your computer and relevant technology work? With this basic understanding, one could possibly discern the root of an issue with the computer. Fluency serves this purpose; fluency doesn’t make you an InfoTech geek but it allows you to hold an intelligent conversation about technology with a geek.

If you’re like me, I thought the computer (hardware) was pretty much all you needed to really run a computer. I knew that some software was necessary for specialized tasks but for the most part the computer handled the interaction between the software and the hardware. I was very wrong. Essentially, computers are dependent on software for even the most basic tasks such as starting up. There is software that acts as the intermediary between the hardware of a computer and any other software other than a web browser. That software is the operating system (OS). Snyder considers the three most popular to be Windows, MacOSX, and Unix which has several variations.

The OS has become a crucial part of the computer in that the efficiency of the OS effects the ability of the computer to perform correctly or in some cases, timely. Snyder doesn’t consider any OS to be superior. While all of the OS’s mentioned have their respective technological prowess, they all have bugs that prevent maximization of efficiency for the computer.

It should be noted that despite the problems, OS’s are the key to the development of software and hardware. OS’s facilitate software’s interaction with hardware and it also allows the software to perform it’s designated task.

The knowledge in this blog by no means makes me a geek. However, my level of fluency could potentially effect the way a computer user looks at the selection and installation of newer versions of OS’s. I continually check the blogs to look for bugs and weaknesses in the OS that I’m currently using. I also check Microsoft, monthly, for OS updates.

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Nugget: Person of the Year

One of my favorite magazines is Time. Nowadays with graduate school, job, and parental duties, it’s hard to keep up with the current issue of my favorite periodical…especially since they come out every week.

Earlier this week, while picking up a friend at the airport, the latest issue of caught my attention. It was Time’s annual issue dedicated to the person of the year. I’m a big fan of Time’s “Person of the Year” issue. I don’t always agree with the selection (i.e. George W. Bush, 2004) but the articles are usually excellent and make for good conversation. The current “Person of the Year” issue is no different. There wasn’t an individual on the cover but rather a piece of reflective Mylar. The message was simple, yet profound. We, the people of the world, are collectively the person of the year.

There were many votes for candidates who definitely deserved consideration: Al Gore, the YouTube guys (i.e. Chad Hurley & Steve Chen), and Donald Rumsfeld. I would have a hard time seeing Rumsfeld as the “Person of the Year” but to each his own.

Time is so very effective at picking a relevant candidate for “Person of the Year” if not an accurate one because they study the events that have had the greatest impact over the past year. Those events lead them to the individual who might be the “Person of the Year”. Many times that individual will be the one who stood out as a major factor in the way the masses interpreted the events that were occurring or had occurred. Or in the case of the latest “Person of the Year” – us – the individual/group is a major factor in the development of some issue or event.

Time considers us to be the “Person of the Year” because of our contribution to the development of the Information Age. Information Technology is the key to the Information Age because it is the primary facilitator of communication, which is the essence of the Information Age. Without the advanced ability to transmit information quickly and efficiently via communication the Information Age would be nonexistent.  The advanced ability to transmit information is found in Information Technology.

Credit should be given to the great minds who have developed innovative InfoTech (e.g. myspace,YouTube, BeBo). However, would these websites have reached the level of popularity that they now enjoy without the creative input of the web users? Time would say, “no”. What makes these sites great is not only the owners but the creativity and vision of the users. So we are, collectively the “Person of the Year” because we have contributed heavily to the development of the Information Age, which is ongoing.

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Nugget: Bloggers become Assets

Blogs have allowed those of us who have access to a computer, and a fair amount of InfoTech fluency, to express their opinions on a wide range of topics. Blogs have gone from what many considered to be a fad to an important source of information that has captured the attention of web users. Before his death, Peter Jennings, considered to be one of the best television journalist ever, usually checked the blogs that were related to the stories he was broadcasting. He recognized that blogs can be a legitimate and credible source of information. He also recognized that blogs can be a way to gauge public opinion.

Jennings was not the only web user who became fascinated with blogs. Web users in general have become enamored with blogs. Regardless of the actual reasoning, many more web users are reading blogs.

But the reasoning is an area of interest to many who find the escalated viewings of blogs an enigma. One of the more obvious reasons for increasing blog viewing is the increased level of expertise among bloggers. In other words, some of these guys actually know what they’re talking about. So, now there are electronic editorials by credible authors in a forum that wasn’t always considered credible. However, the presence of these credible authors lends credibility to blog spaces.

This increased inspection of blog spaces has led some corporations to utilize the appeal for advertising purposes. Microsoft was, once again, the center of controversy. Microsoft had given away, to random bloggers, laptops which were “pre-loaded with Windows Vista and AMD Turion.” This was obviously a ploy by Microsoft to curry favor among the more prominent bloggers in order to maximize knowledge of their new OS. This was seen by many in the Technology world as a blatant attempt at bribery.

In the advertising world, word of mouth is an excellent means of free advertising but it’s limitation lies in the number of people an individual chooses to contact or actually can contact. Whereas a blogger whose blog is normally viewed by thousands everyday is a much more appealing medium for word of mouth advertising.

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Milestone: Searching for Information

Those of us with access to the Internet realize that we are connected to an information repository unlike any in known history. With what seems like a limitless supply of information that can be both relevant and irrelevant as well as accurate and spurious, finding valid information can be daunting.

Snyder makes a reasonable suggestion, in Chapter 5, of seeking information from the library. The library, as indicated by Snyder, has historically been the place where information was stored and subsequently sought. There is information in the library that can be considered spurious. However, with the checks and balances that are in place by publishing companies, as well the ability by the researcher to compare and contrast information from various sources it is highly unlikely that someone (researcher) would be a victim of fallacious information.

Most libraries have online components (websites) that allow the researcher to gather the necessary information in his/her home via the Internet.  This website is usually peppered with links that lead to a particular topic or department of interest for the researcher.

What I realized as a student at Pitt is that there are times in my research that I never really have to leave the Pitt library website to collect additional information. The only time I actually have to leave the website is when the information that I’m looking for hasn’t been digitized. Even in that scenario, the website tells me exactly where I’ll be able to find a hard copy of the desired information. Pitt will also order the information if necessary. Every student at Pitt also has access to books at the four other campuses of the University of Pittsburgh: Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville.

Pitt is also a member of the Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium Inc., (PALCI) which allows the students at Pitt access to more than 50 academic libraries in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia. Locally the PALCI members include Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities. PALCI gives Pitt students an incredible amount of resources for research. So, it is evident that no Pitt student has to leave the library website for research.

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Milestone: Haptic Technology

Snyder gives us a glimpse in Chapter 11 of what will eventually be a huge asset to this society, haptic technology. Haptic technology is understood by looking at the title of the chapter; Light, Sound, Magic – Representing Multimedia Digitally.

Haptic technology is a digital representation of multimedia. The difference is that a haptic device is not simply a speaker or screen but a device that allows the user to have sensory interaction with the multimedia in question. The devices allow for a simulated physical presence in the multimedia/virtual environment.

One of the more common and inexpensive haptic devices is the joystick. Now, I am not referring to the joysticks of the older video consoles (i.e. Atari, Intellivision, etc.). I am speaking of the latest greatest additions to the world of home video game consoles. X-Box 360, Playstation 3, and Wii are the latest installments of home video games. All have haptic devices for joysticks. The Wii, by Nintendo, is thought to utilize the most advanced haptic device if not the most enhanced graphics. This joystick/controller of the Wii can “detect motion and rotation in three dimensions.” This three-dimensional interaction allows for an unparalleled virtual experience.

Haptic devices, although entertaining, can be used for purposes other than entertainment. Training is another popular use for haptic devices. Haptic devices are more realistic training tools for highly specialized job fields such as airline pilots and EMT personnel. There is also a haptic device in development for surgeons. It would allow surgeons to practice high-risk procedures or procedures that they haven’t done. So, the importance of these devices can increase exponentially in that these professions are related to saving lives or keeping people safe.

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Nugget: Ivy-League Brilliance or Common Sense

When perusing various periodicals in search of relevant and interesting information to share, I often come upon universitys’ websites that have great information posted. I normally consider any notable educational institution credible and therefore worthy of inclusion in my world-famous blogs. However, when I think about ivy-league websites, I consider them to be the standard by which every other university should be held.  So, I typically take what these academicians state over just about anyone other than God.  And it would seem on occasion that they (academicians) tend to challenge even what He says!

My ivy-league website of choice would be Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge. It offers great insight on management, government, non-profit, information technology, etc. I should begin by clarifying that these guys are intelligent…but are they that much better than the professors at public universities? Are their students that much better than we are? I would say no. We can talk about work ethic, motivation, inspiration, and a whole host of qualitities that have nothing to do with superior intelligence – unless you consider the person who doesn’t have those qualities stupid – but none of that would indicate intellectual superiority.

Upon further investigation, I found that alot of these articles and papers weren’t groundbreaking. They were merely sobering. The information in these papers and articles was a reminder to all of us potential scholars that efficiency can be found in simplicity.

In their article, Building an IT Governance Committee, Richard Nolan and Warren McFarlan, both Harvard professors, talk about how IT governance is often a task that falls to the board of directors in the business world.  This poses a problem in that it is very likely that you won’t have anyone who has an Info-Tech, Computer Science or other relevant background.  Because of the importance of IT with regard to improved output it is necessary to have a committee that will handle just IT issues as it relates to the company.

Nolan and McFarlan state implicitly that this governance board needs to have as much autonomy as possible. “Chairmanship is also critical.” For companies that are struggling or in need of some type of support, an IT expert should be the chairman. Again not rocket science but a simple fact that has eluded many executives. Nolan and McFarlan go on to list some necessary qualities for this chairman.  None of the qualities is surprising or specific: tough-minded, business savvy, formerly employed with a major corporation in a similar capacity. Not to belittle the accomplishment of these great men but many people could have written a very similar paper. Yet, the fact remains that no one did.

This paper puts IT for the private sector in perspective for me.  Despite the fact that in contemporary times technology and the implementation of it has become a necessity for success and longevity, many executives are still not placing the necessary emphasis on governance of this area. Hence the paper on the Harvard Business School website.

Definitely a Nugget: Spam Too

In my previous blog “Maybe Not a Nugget…”, I spoke of spam not so much as the unsolicited email but as the mystery meat that I despised as a youth. I truly do recognize spam as unsolicited email but I, as do most people, have reference points in my mind for terms, smells, objects, etc with which I am familiar. Internet spam is every bit as irritating in my “in-box” as it was on my plate 20 years ago.

During my tirade on the evils of the mystery meat/unsolicited email known as spam, I didn’t really think about how pervasive this phenomenon (spam) has become. I only addressed the two areas that are most familiar to me, meat and email. But Bruce Schneier’s article reminds you and I that spam is not just an Internet or digestive problem but a social and IT issue.

Spam is not just filling up our in-boxes but also being sent to us over the phone, through snail mail, instant messages, and cellphone text messages. Apparently, not even our blogs are safe from the invasion of this irritant.

So, what’s the content of spam? What could be so important that thousands, sometimes millions of people need to be bombarded with this information? Mass advertisement is for the most part the answer to both questions.

Mass advertising seems to be the tactic of choice for many companies. The goal would seem to be to persuade as many consumers as possible to purchase a particular product or service. So, why Internet spam as opposed to all the other mediums for spam? Spam is extremely cheap if not effective.

So, the benefits/costs are apparent with regard to the company; “for each email, the company pays a cost and receives a benefit.” However, what is often forgotten are the costs to the consumer. Schneier states that spam costs companies “millions in Internet capacity, clogs up infrastructure, requires people and products to deal with it and wastes employees’ time wading through whatever spam makes it into their in-boxes.”

There have been several solutions that have been proposed, with some currently in use. Whitelists and blacklists are the first two preventive measures mentioned by Schneier. Whitelists are lists of email addresses that a recipient is willing to receive emails from. Blacklists are lists of emails that a recipient is not willing to receive emails from. He also makes mention of addressing spam prevention at the network level. Some of the major email providers now have filters in place that prevent spam from being sent by an owner of a address in their respective systems. There is also talk of legislation that would make spamming illegal and much more costly.

Spamming is a problem that should be addressed immediately. The problem of spam is one that was made lucid by an article in the New York Times that reported that spam “has doubled in the past year and now accounts for 90% of all email messages.”

Maybe Not a Nugget but Definitely Worth Your Time.

If you’re in my age range – for now let’s just say 30-35 – it’s not likely that the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear spam is “unsolicited email”. I can’t speak for most but as a child when I heard spam I cringed because I knew that the pungent odor and indecipherable taste of the mystery meat known as spam would be on my plate soon. Quite honestly that’s what I still think about when I hear the term spam today; an undesirable meat the origin of which is unknown to most. Of course with a minimum amount of research, you would find that spam is composed of pork shoulders, ham and seasoning. Not exactly a culinary delight.

That could definitely be said about Internet spam of today. It is often spotted immediately and it is without question undesirable. The origin of spam is sometimes not known unless the email is opened, which could cause additional problems…ever heard of Pandora’s Box? I respect what Snyder said in the text about the term spam being derived from a Monty Python skit that depicted vikings yelling “spam” in order to drown out the background conversations in a restaurant. It sounds funny but again we know that “spam” is not a part of any known Nordic language so of course the person who wrote that skit used spam as a reference to that which is unwanted and “impedes legitimate communication.” That could be analogous to the spam that I ate as a child impeding my legitimate digestion process.