On 29/05/2010, at 1:57 AM, Buck wrote:
Kia ora, Simon!
TÄnÄ koe, Buck.
It makes one wonder how many IBM i workplaces actively discourage
developers from 'wasting time' on frivolities like the internet,
mailing
lists and trade publications. These things take away time from
coding,
after all.
I suspect your tongue is pressed firmly in your check but there are
many sites that have that attitude--not helped by workers using a
business internet connexion for non-business-related things (e.g.,
reading on-line newspapers, streaming audio, checking on their
Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other drivel du jour sites).
It's a bit like telephone use: Nowadays no-one thinks twice about
using the company phone to make appointments, chase up private
interests, or anything else. Companies often don't care about local
calls but will, obviously, put bars on toll calls. Compare that with
the early days when businesses provided telephones for business use
with strict guidelines as to their use. "You tell that to the kids
today and they won't believe you!"
Perhaps businesses will adjust to the apparent modern need to be in
touch with all 700 of your friends and perhaps those so-called friends
need to know whatever (in <= 140 characters) twaddle you're currently
up to? If using Twitter is called Tweeting and a Twitter message is
called a Tweet what are the users called? Tweeters? Twits? Twats?
Still, any competent IT technician should be able to place a case for
access to business-related web sites. A certain level of trust is then
incumbent upon them to not use the InterWeb for its true purpose which
is of course easy access to pornography. (I'll bet that word sets a
flurry among the various e-mail nanny filters--prohibited content,
proscribed word, much anguish and wringing of hands.)
It can be difficult to remember that a large number of IBM i
workplaces
are one man outfits, running S36EE. The i might not be connected to
the
internet (too dangerous) so applying what he's seen in a forum or
mailing list can be a chore.
I do forget about S36EE sites--but then I don't consider them to be
proper sites anyway. If they are still stuck in the S36EE after this
many years then neither management or IT staff want to move forward.
They're happy with what they've got and they will be forgotten and
left behind by IBM and the rest of the world.
In a less niche platform, as new people were to come on board, they
would bring their natural exposure to the internet with them, but how
many new IBM i programmers are there every year?
Judging by how infrequently RPG courses run down here then the answer
is nearly zero. Quite disappointing on many levels. Root cause is of
course the failure of IBM to properly promote the system and the root
cause of that is the system is simply too good at what it does. Since
it doesn't require much care and feeding its service revenue is
insufficient to keep a services organisation interested. Really good
for the customer though but then the customer would need to apply
independent thought and decide to use what's actually good for their
business rather than what some magazine/consultant/peer says is good.
Sufficient independent thought would result in an increase in sales
which in turn would cause greater investment in marketing and
education and thus the system would rise from the ashes instead of the
current "managed decline".
I'm going to make a point to forward at least one useful and
interesting
midrange.com email a week to my co-workers. None of whom subscribe,
although one does get mailings from one of the trade pubs.
That's probably a good idea but I wonder about the quality of those
who aren't interested enough to subscribe for themselves.
Regards,
Simon Coulter.
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