Harbinger or anticlimax? [maybe a little OT]
Harbinger or anticlimax? [maybe a little OT]
- Subject: Harbinger or anticlimax? [maybe a little OT]
- From: Jeff LaMarche <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2003 23:58:45 -0500
Well, the hype for WWDC has begun. In addition to a new location, there
seems to be a new emphasis: the Enterprise.
<RANT>
Reading through the first few pages of the latest ADC e-mai. I felt a
sense of elation rising in me, but my better judgment quickly moved to
quash that feeling. I mean, is Apple really going to give up the
corporate kneepads and say "no" to Microsoft? Are Jobs & Co. finally
going to make a serious play for the Enterprise market?
I refuse to get my hopes up. Once bitten and all that. From what
they're saying to us developers, Apple looks serious about it. And
while WWDC is widely read like tea leaves for signs of the Mac world's
future, it certainly is not a 100% indicator and not all of Apple
corporate pushes have been successful (are any of you working on
OpenDoc projects at the moment, or working on Copland code?). Those
Apple ventures that push into the business realm have been even,
statistically, even less successful.
Now, I admittedly have an unusual perspective and may be overly
pessimistic about the whole state of affairs.
I have been using Apple computers since 1980, and Macs since 1985.
Though I've been programming nearly as long as I've been using
computers, I didn't pursue it professionally until a little over five
years go. As a matter of fact, in 1995, I passed the New York bar and
was all set to begin a life of legal practice until I had a few moments
of clarity and realized I didn't want to do (or be) that. A month after
passing the bar, I walked out of the Law office where I was working and
never turned back. To pay my bills, I turned to MacTemps, and began
using my Photoshop, graphic design, and photography skills to pay the
bills, which I did for the next several years (they were all long-term
hobbies of mine, not things I decided to pick up on a whim). The Mac
transitioned from being my hobby to being my life during the mid to
late nineties.
Then, during the dot-com boom, in a bizarre turn of events, I got
myself hired (after moving to California) to do computer programming
and troubleshooting for a company called PeopleSoft, which some of you
I'm sure realize does not produce any Macintosh software whatsoever.
The Mac went back to being my hobby (albeit, as serious of one as you
can have with a full-time job and children). Professionally, I started
developing my database, Java, and other "Enterprise" related computer
skills.
Meanwhile Apple bought NeXT, Rhapsody was released, and it looked like
Apple was all set to bring my two computer worlds together. And from a
purely technical standpoint, they did - OS X, even in early stages, was
a dream for me. Unix command-line, solid Java implementation, real
RDBMS systems, along with a user-friendly UI and high-quality consumer
apps - what more could a creative geek want?
Then, Apple decided to point their marketing gun squarely at the evil
opposite of me: the grandmother or uncle who wanted nothing to do with
a command-line and had no idea what a "unix" was, anyway. Then they
rubbed salt in that wound by telling Microsoft and the world that they
really weren't going after the Enterprise market... while releasing the
XServe, a new version of OS X Server, a new 100% Java version of
WebObjects, declaring a renewed commitment to open standards, and
announcing improved support for Sybase and Oracle databases,
I've since left PeopleSoft, and do mostly PeopleSoft-centric consulting
for a living. I'm something of an anomaly in that field, however, since
I walk onto the job armed with a PowerBook and spend a fair amount of
my personal time proselytizing and educating the ignorant about the Mac
and WebObjects and all things not-Microsoft (without being overtly
hostile or anti-Microsoft).
I dare not get my hopes up that Apple is truly about to (figuratively)
pop the little purple pill and head into the Enterprise's bedroom.
Oy. Apologies for the late Saturday night rant.
</RANT>
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