CIO UK Blogs: Entries for August 2009
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Martin Veitch
Martin started his IT journalism career at PC Week. He joined Ziff-Davis UK in 1992 and helped launch PC Direct, rising to become Deputy Editor before leaving to set up ZDNet News. He joined IT Week as Executive News Editor in 1998 and was appointed Editor in 1999. He joined CIO in March 2008, and his other published work includes appearances in The Wall Street Journal Europe, BBC News Online, CFO and The Guardian. He also speaks regularly at conferences.
CIO UK Podcasts
Two discussions you can't afford to miss
* Staff retention and succession plans
RESOURCE CENTRES
August 28, 2009
NOW! That's What I Call If Tech Firms Were Rock Bands 2
More whimsical nonsense for a Friday afternoon
It only seems a week since the bad acid flashback of If Tech Bands Were Rock Bands was published but since then seven days have passed,...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 27, 2009
Google books EPUB support -- and good luck to it
Google's support for the EPUB standard could prompt a happy ending for out-of-print books
The good ship carrying e-books is taking a while to sail into the mainstream but it may gain from a strong wind with Google's announcement that it...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 26, 2009
Jonathan Agnew and Twitter, the new, improved United Nations
Twittersphere moves at warp speed to bring peace to all
When the cricket commentator Jonathan Agnew was upset by an article in The Observer, he knew how to fix matters -- go to Twitter. Aggers, a...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 25, 2009
Apple can make us swallow tablet computers
Steve Jobs is saying nothing but Apple can change the market for tablet devices
Sometimes it seems that if Steve Jobs sneezed it would be news -- and, given their ghoulish fascination with his health, send analysts off to...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 24, 2009
Nokia's Booklet netbook should be sold like a mobile
Nokia could be successful in business if it learns from business phones
It's very early to say whether Nokia might make a success of its venture into PCs but the launch of the Booklet 3G netbook has got me thinking...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 21, 2009
If tech firms were rock bands
More fanciful comparisons for a Friday afternoon
Ever wondered what bands technology firms would be if they somehow transformed into groups of musicians? Me neither until today but ever since my...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 21, 2009
Oracle-Red Hat merger makes sense but price would be high
Larry Ellison could be ready to take another risk by buying Red Hat
Alfresco CTO, prolific commentator and Arsenal fan Matt Asay has posted an interesting Tweet suggesting that "Oracle [is] circling Red Hat...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 19, 2009
Screw Up and Iterate: The New Smartphone Mantra
If it doesn't work there'll be another smartphone along real soon now
For some time now I have been troubled by the idea that quality assurance has died a death in the handset business -- if indeed it ever...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 18, 2009
Larry Ellison is 65! Being a software CEO is no longer a young man's game
The average business software boss today is likely to be around about the 60 mark
I had the pleasure to talk for an hour to Jan Baan, the founder of ERP pioneer Baan and now business process management firm Cordys. One of his...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 17, 2009
Steve Jobs' code of silence is best for Apple (if not Bryan Appleyard)
Profile of Apple chief shows why Steve Jobs keeps his cards close to his chest
I'm a fan of the Sunday Times zeitgeist observer Bryan Appleyard but yesterday's article on Steve Jobs was not one of his best pieces and saw him...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 14, 2009
With Outlook on board, Apple Mac is back as an enterprise deployment candidate
Apple could yet complete a glorious return to business relevance
The news that the next version of Microsoft Office for Macintosh is to pack Outlook serves to firm up the hunch that the Mac is back as a...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 13, 2009
Microsoft-Nokia and Five Tech Alliances That Went South
Liaisons often prove dangerous for IT giants
I wrote yesterday that I was unconvinced by the Microsoft-Nokia (Mokia? Nokrosoft?) alliance. Both companies have smart people, vast...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 12, 2009
Microsoft-Nokia alliance: two wrongs don't make a right
Microsoft Office on a phone: like an ocean liner in a paddling pool
I'm unconvinced that the new alliance between Microsoft and Nokia will achieve in its obvious aim -- crushing BlackBerry. Microsoft has been...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 11, 2009
VMware buys SpringSource but can it blend in open source?
VMware-SpringSource needs to rise above integration blues
The news that VMware is to buy tools and application framework developer SpringSource is generating a fair amount of heat in that part of the...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 10, 2009
Justin Langer and the end of email for safe communications
Ashes email dossier shows dodginess of email
Having spent chunks of the past few days watching England's cricketers get back to normal by taking a good, old-fashioned thrashing, it's...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 07, 2009
How To Avoid Causing Death By PowerPoint
Lessons from lots of lost hours in front of PowerPoint
In the 20 years I've been doing this job, I've probably interviewed, on average, four people a day, so that's maybe 20,000 people in total....
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 06, 2009
ITV-Friends Reunited adds to desperate history of crossover mergers
ITV's sale of Friends Reunited adds to sense that covergence mergers tend not to work
It's easy enough to be wise after the event (as any fule journalist kno) but even when ITV said it was buying Friends Reunited back in 2005, there...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 05, 2009
Two ways for CIOs to save millions
Specialist consultants can stop madness and waste in contract talks
I had an interesting meeting this morning with Harry McDermott, the chief exec of a company called Hudson & Yorke, which provides consulting...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 04, 2009
CIO's guide to Soho for visitors
Things to do in London's Soho now it's cooled off
The recent fire in London's Soho saw no serious harm done to the flesh and blood of inhabitants, office workers, tourists and various others that...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 04, 2009
Going Google Apps might need some extra focus
Google's Apps marketing campaign is good but more is needed
It's good to see that Google is beginning to push the marketing boat out for its Apps suite, the nearest thing to a serious challenge Microsoft's...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
August 03, 2009
Australian cricketer shows Twitter is a loaded gun that goes with you everywhere
Phillip Hughes and Darren Bent Tweets show dangers of Twitter
When Australian opening batsman Phillip Hughes Tweeted his omission from the team to play England in the Third Test last week, all hell...
Posted by: Martin Veitch
About the author
Martin Veitch
Martin started his IT journalism career at PC Week. He joined Ziff-Davis UK in 1992 and helped launch PC Direct, rising to become Deputy Editor before leaving to set up ZDNet News. He joined IT Week as Executive News Editor in 1998 and was appointed Editor in 1999. He joined CIO in March 2008, and his other published work includes appearances in The Wall Street Journal Europe, BBC News Online, CFO and The Guardian. He also speaks regularly at conferences.
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