Re: [ba-ohs-talk] Learning Groove
John Maloney wrote: (01)
> Murray,
>
> As is the case so many times in matters such as this thread, we are in
> violent agreement! (02)
It doesn't seem that we're in very much agreement, looking back over
what you have written. Not much at all. Part of Hamel's "Co-opt
and Neutralize" idea? (03)
> My goal is to make observations. My opinion is different.
>
> One opinion is that it doesn't make sense 'to work around' prevailing
> methods as if they are defective. Pursue Open Systems in a mature,
> deliberate and logical manner. It sounds like you've taken Scott-san's
> playful interaction with Bill-san way too seriously. (04)
I'm quite aware of the polarity of Scott McNealy's both playful and
serious rant against Bill and the Microsoft Empire. And while I
certainly have a sense of humour, I also take very seriously the
effects of the monopoly on the free interchange and longevity of
information. This, for example, is especially true in communities
that don't have large budgets to hire consultants to maintain their
historical content. The Tibetan Government in Exile (in McLeod Ganj,
India) have stored a great deal of their content in what is Microsoft-
proprietary formats. Their word processor files are in Word, their
Web browsing solution (in Tibetan) relies on MSIE, and so as these
solutions get older and the formats are no longer supported (which
is the case with *most* of the their older Word for Macintosh files),
the Tibetan people lose the ability to read their own documents, the
remains of the their history in exile. I can provide many examples,
from eastern European to northern California native tribes. We can
jest about this but to those losing access to their history it's a
pretty serious matter. (05)
No, I think my philosophy is very much to "work around" the
prevailing methods insofar that I'm able to affect acceptance of
open standards ideas, and assist their adoption. (06)
> I am a pioneer of Open Systems, having led InterBusiness Networking at HP in
> the early 80s. Back then, DEC was the 800 pound gorilla. We built an HP
> AdvanceNet onramp to Vax. We were scoffed and derided -- and right. (07)
If you are so much a believer in Open Systems, why do you now
continue to promote the exact opposite, ie., working within and
promoting the proprietary? Lost your religion? It seems hard to
understand how anyone can promote proprietary technologies hostile
to open systems adoption like Groove or .NET and maintain that
you are "pursuing open systems in a mature, deliberate and logical
manner." This sounds very much the like the pragmatism of a prison
inmate telling someone how they're "working well with the guards." (08)
> Finally, my main concern is that you would dismiss a very promising suite of
> breakthrough innovations based on its alignment with a firm that you
> dislike. I don't think that is constructive or responsible. (09)
I have no dislike whatsover, having had no familiarity with the
company until I went and browsed its offerings following the posts
here. I'm merely reacting to what seems to be a complete lack of
regard for any users not using their preferred OS, and with the
budgets they've had it's inexcusable. I know of shoestring companies
who do better to support a wide array of users. I can even understand
Groove ignoring the linux market (though they are ignoring perhaps
the most technologically-savvy people in doing so), but ignoring the
growing number of Macintosh users is simply bad business. (010)
> Anyway, here is a paper that may help you and others in our quest.
[...] (011)
> How to Start an Insurrection, by Gary Hamel
>
> Ready to build a grassroots movement in your organization? As you've
> probably already guessed-there's no secret handshake. But the pioneers
> of corporate activism offer some guiding principles you can use to blaze
> your own trail. (012)
[...]
> ***Co-opt and Neutralize
> To change your company, you are going to have to learn to co-opt at
> least some of the aristocracy into your revolutionary cause. To do so,
> your campaign must disarm, not demean-and it must be waged according to
> these vital principles: *create win-win propositions for the top brass;
[...] (013)
I'm guessing you think that engineering-types have never read this
type of marketing stuff. Many who've had long careers have been
subjected to this many, many times, and it's never to me seemed like
any kind of received wisdom, it just makes me happy I don't work in
marketing. (014)
Murray (015)
......................................................................
Murray Altheim <mailto:m.altheim @ open.ac.uk>
Knowledge Media Institute
The Open University, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK7 6AA, UK (016)
In the evening
The rice leaves in the garden
Rustle in the autumn wind
That blows through my reed hut. -- Minamoto no Tsunenobu (017)