I’m not a big fan of higher educaiton, actually I think it’s counter productive for some people. I’ve been arguing for a long time that a determined and eager person can get a better education on their own. Thankfully once in a while I come across some gems that prove my point entirely, thou in a backward sort of way. Case in point is Preston Gralla and Computer World. It doesn’t surprise me anymore that Computer World has become an equivalent of yellow press (double pun intended) of computer industry, letting more and more trashy publications on it’s pages .But how this guy was able to become an “expert” in his field and publish more than 35 books, is beyond understanding.
An expert gives an objective view. He gives his own view. Morarji Desai
Indian Politician
Well this author personifies this quote. Just check out this article: “Why Microsoft should release Internet Explorer for Linux” First of all he has no idea what he is talking about. What Linux user in their right mind will use IE, as their browser of choice. They do only when they develop to test websites and they either find a Windows machine to do it or they run some sort of VM ( i.e. Xen) or emulators such as Wine. If you could find 10 Linux users that would willingly and happily switch over from Firefox or Conqueror or such to IE ( which I deeply doubt), would it still matter enough for Microsoft to invest $$$$ to do this? Microsoft actually tried to convert Mac users (much more receptive audience I should say) , but eventually gave up after version 5.5 as the investment required – didn’t pay off. Anyways this is a business / financial argument that could be made, that there is absolutely no reason to write this article in the first place. But that aside – they chose the worst possible “expert” for the job. Take a look at this, and I quote:
Releasing a Linux-based version of Windows may also help with Microsoft’s plans to release Web-based versions of Office, including ad-sponsored and low-cost versions.
I wonder if it makes sense at least to him? I can’t even comment on this. These are just two examples of the quality of the expert opinion that a “respected author of more than 35 books including ‘How the Internet Works,’ ‘Windows XP Hacks,’ and ‘Windows Vista in a Nutshell.’ ” , offers to the reading public.
What bothers me the most about this article, is that from my personal experience I know that a lot of CIOs read this magazine and articles like that. If it didn’t make front page of digg, I would never find out about it, but some people read this junk religiously. And then we wondering who and how makes stupid decisions that admins and developers have to deal with. Or users that think they are “internet experts” after reading books like that.
Why is it essential to know you subject matter, at least sometimes.
I’m not a big fan of higher educaiton, actually I think it’s counter productive for some people. I’ve been arguing for a long time that a determined and eager person can get a better education on their own. Thankfully once in a while I come across some gems that prove my point entirely, thou in a backward sort of way. Case in point is Preston Gralla and Computer World. It doesn’t surprise me anymore that Computer World has become an equivalent of yellow press (double pun intended) of computer industry, letting more and more trashy publications on it’s pages .But how this guy was able to become an “expert” in his field and publish more than 35 books, is beyond understanding.
Well this author personifies this quote. Just check out this article: “Why Microsoft should release Internet Explorer for Linux” First of all he has no idea what he is talking about. What Linux user in their right mind will use IE, as their browser of choice. They do only when they develop to test websites and they either find a Windows machine to do it or they run some sort of VM ( i.e. Xen) or emulators such as Wine. If you could find 10 Linux users that would willingly and happily switch over from Firefox or Conqueror or such to IE ( which I deeply doubt), would it still matter enough for Microsoft to invest $$$$ to do this? Microsoft actually tried to convert Mac users (much more receptive audience I should say) , but eventually gave up after version 5.5 as the investment required – didn’t pay off. Anyways this is a business / financial argument that could be made, that there is absolutely no reason to write this article in the first place. But that aside – they chose the worst possible “expert” for the job. Take a look at this, and I quote:
I wonder if it makes sense at least to him? I can’t even comment on this. These are just two examples of the quality of the expert opinion that a “respected author of more than 35 books including ‘How the Internet Works,’ ‘Windows XP Hacks,’ and ‘Windows Vista in a Nutshell.’ ” , offers to the reading public.
What bothers me the most about this article, is that from my personal experience I know that a lot of CIOs read this magazine and articles like that. If it didn’t make front page of digg, I would never find out about it, but some people read this junk religiously. And then we wondering who and how makes stupid decisions that admins and developers have to deal with. Or users that think they are “internet experts” after reading books like that.
Just my 2 cents.