Submission + - Unchain the Office Computers! 3
theodp writes: "During a town hall meeting for State Dept. workers, Hillary Clinton was asked this question: 'Can you please let the staff use an alternative Web browser called Firefox?' The room erupted in cheers. But then an aide stepped in to explain that the free program was too expensive — 'it has to be administered, the patches have to be loaded.' Slate's Farhad Manjoo has had-it-up-to-here with this kind of IT tyranny, and argues that corporate IT should let us browse any way we want. 'The restrictions infantilize workers,' explains Manjoo. 'They foster resentment, reduce morale, lock people into inefficient routines, and, worst of all, they kill our incentives to work productively. In the information age, most companies' success depends entirely on the creativity and drive of their workers. IT restrictions are corrosive to that creativity — they keep everyone under the thumb of people who have no idea which tools we need to do our jobs but who are charged with deciding anyway.' Can he get an 'Amen', Brothers and Sisters?"