Sony Still Customer Hostile

Some people never learn, and many of those seem to work as executives at Sony. Once again, they perform a profoundly customer-hostile act. At least this one isn’t illegal, like their spyware rootkits that infected a half million computers

Hiring Successful Salespeople

I like it when people I interview for stories appreciate the resulting article and place it on their Web site. That means I understood their message and conveyed it clearly to readers.

Last fall I did a story on the SalesDrive Web site and book Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again. Christopher Croner, Ph.D., the coauthor, is a psychologist fascinated with the “drive” mindset shown by successful salespeople, and how to identify that drive during the interview process.

If I get in a position where I have to hire salespeople again, I’m using Croner’s online test for the top three candidates for each position. That costs money, but only once. A bad or mediocre salesperson costs you money every single day.

Business owners always feel their product or service is top notch. So why do so many of them hire bad salespeople? Doesn’t a great product deserve a great salesperson? I believe it does, and if you don’t believe that, read Croner’s book immediately.

Microsoft Gobbles Yahoo

My friend Kim asked me my opinion of Microsoft Gobbling Yahoo to help against Google. I’ll give a short answer, because the technical newspapers are full of long answers.

I predict Microsoft will turn Yahoo into the new AOL - bloated and irrelevant compared to what it was or could be. The combined companies will screw it up and lose market share faster to Google than either of them have separately.

Microsoft has the money, but not the brains, to outflank Google. Yahoo also lacked the brains to outflank Google.  Giving the executives of Yahoo more money won’t make them smarter. Giving the brains of Yahoo to Microsoft won’t make them smarter. How do these parts add up to more than Google? They won’t.

Someone will be smarter than Google before long. It just won’t be Microsoft or Yahoo, alone or together.

Culture vs. Process Update

My friend Michael Dortch, now an analyst with the Aberdeen Group, corrected my memory of his quote about culture versus process in his blog post here. I certainly could have mis-remembered, but we can all go to the videotape here if we want to check what he said exactly. And if you haven’t heard Michael speak, watching this presentation from the Altiris ManageFusion user conference in the spring of 2007 will introduce you to one of the smartest and funniest guys I know.

Google Gouges Customers

Here’s a cautionary tale for both sides of the disagreement. In case you haven’t heard, Google decided to stop their Download To Own / Download To Rent (DTO/DTR) video site. That’s OK, because companies stop selling products and close divisions all the time.

The pain point comes when you compare the name of the service, Download To Own, with the reality: you can only watch downloaded videos through the special Google Player. When the service stops next week, the player goes away. A good overview can be read in The Register.

Calling Out Linux and Novell

After reading about how poorly Linux is doing when Microsoft Vista left a giant hole in the market you can drive a truck full of Open Source software through, I blamed part of the problem on Novell. I told the Linux world “Do not let Novell carry your flag.” The quote comes in the fourth paragraph.

A site I didn’t know about, Boycott Novell, seemed to like that advice and called it their Quote of the Day. I also heard from some Novell people, who weren’t thrilled, but I stand by what I said. The history of Novell marketing reads like the Encyclopedia of Disaster, and they show little improvement that I can see.

Would I love Novell to buy a marketing clue? Absolutely. Holding my breath? Absolutely not.

PodTech:Dortch On Virtualization

Michael Dortch, an analyst for the Robert Frances Group, speaks at the Altiris ManageFusion07 conference on The Dark Side(s) of Virtualization. Wicked smart as well as wicked funny, Michael defies convention during this guerrilla video taping. If you’ve never met Michael Dortch or heard him speak, sit back and enjoy a level of honesty rarely heard in public. The presentation can be downloaded in PDF and PPT format.

Does Microsoft trust Access?

I read this story about Microsoft’s team tracking driver issues with Vista, and one line jumped out and I screamed. The Microsoft manager proudly said they track all driver issues in a 4,000 row spreadsheet. That’s the worst possible way to keep a large amount of supposedly important data. Does Microsoft not trust their own personal database, Access? Do they trust SQL Server? A 4,000 row spreadsheet is aggressively stupid.

PodTech:Security Trends Speech

Another clip from my keynote speech at the December 6th ITEC Conference in Portland, Ore., but this time I cover the entire security trends for 2007 and 2008. This video includes the “Beware the BSA” clip.

Twisted Pair Shout Out

If you haven’t listened to Keith Shaw and Jason Meserve’s Twisted Pair weekly audio podcast, you’re missing some fun. This week they talked about listener response to Keith’s rant after a Microsoft computer meltdown. Hey, guys, if you want e-mails for and against switching away from Microsoft to a Mac, I’ve got 47 from last summer you can have. There’s also strings of user comments on previous newsletters mentioning Macintosh or complaining about Microsoft (I do my fair share).