Yes, and the way to "objectively illustrate" that the "head of IT" doesn't have the skills is to let the CFO know that projects are "overly complex, don't function as needed, and are incredibly expensive."

Oh wait.

In my case, I was completely unfamiliar with Android, but installed BlueStacks to run it on my Win7 laptop. I found I prefer the Google Voice droid app over the web interface, G+, Yahoo mail, and some others. It eliminated some tabs I used to keep open in Firefox.

Why? Because too often designers provide unneeded functionality that impedes core usability. The nature of mobile applications and perceived (albeit nonexistent) limitations diminishes that. I can basically update a spreadsheet in less time with the Drive app than via docs.google.com. However when I need greater functionality obviously...

But the majority of the time I use basic functions. It's like back in the day when applications would have their core functions up front and center, and if you wanted to do rare special things you would access a deeper UI (later to become menus) to implement such things.

So my answer is it's convenient and life enhancing. :-)

Plenty have answered the horrible practical aspects of upgrades.

And have answered the lack of business sense in upgrading.

But the question also asked what happened to all the money saved on eliminating staff?

Businesses are asking that very same question. They had to pay to train staff to use computer systems. They had to buy new equipment. They had to hire people more trained than ever before, at a higher cost. They replaced filing cabinets with servers, the former requiring little energy, the latter requiring lotsa' energy costs plus specialized (read: expensive) staff to maintain. They were sold this bill of goods on the premise there'd be savings, but they were sold the concept by companies whose goal was to earn money from other companies spending. There are entire new departments dedicated solely to various aspects of this equipment.

Do you know how long the software lasts for a typewriter? Forever.

The problem is your business can't interact with any other without adopting an appropriate level of technology, which spawns requirements for additional tech, and other tech, and next thing you know you have a complete system, which is nothing more than a massive money drain required just to be in business. The real question is how can you stem the tide and cut the bleeding?

The company that reduces costs, lowers operating costs, while still providing an acceptable level of service to clients succeeds long term (assuming good marketing).

So tell me, exactly how will upgrading that newfangled "typewriter" help clients?

Yes, which actually used the Bernoulli Principle to "fly" the heads over the disk surface--150 MB floppy disks essentially! Far more novel than the successive Zip or Jaz drives, convenient/valuable though they also were (I still have one of the latter).

For the consumer, DRM simply makes it a product not worth investing in, because you don't own it, can't promote it to others, can't recoup any cost of, or donate to the library. As things change beyond your control (tech changes, company goes out of business, service is stopped), you lose it, despite having paid for it, without recompense.

For the producer, DRM simply makes it a product not competitive with others, costlier, with diminished promotion/word of mouth advertising (free), and without resale value.

For producers, DRM free products that are copied have been shown time and again to bring in more income.

I have a friend who is an author, she doesn't understand this either. Marketers do. This is a reason content producers need marketers, to increase their sales.

The ones who want DRM are the ones leeching off content producers, the publishers. They try to lock down content under their own purview, via exclusive contracts with content producers, and any other resource at their disposal. They claim their investment in infrastructure/resources warrants it. Content producers have to make their own decisions accordingly.

Once you understand people want to pay for things they value, and those who don't are not your market anyway, it all becomes much easier to accept/understand.

So do you purchase extra, separate garbage bags rather than re-using/re-purposing our included with purchase bags? If so, doesn't that increase waste/energy from production/expense/packaging for those containers/shipping?

The climate will keep changing regardless.

So, so true.

In my career in video editing and 3D animation (back in the day those were done in post production facilities, not the modern dismal amateur garbage you see on Youtube), most was done for marketing/PR purposes.

In house, you get people more intimately familiar with the product, but too tied to company politics and their vision is always marred by the principals of the company (IE, you, yes, you are your own worst enemy, especially if you are perfect).

If you hire a firm, you get a broader range of talent and experience as they have a team of people, rather than your few, it's also easier to change if need be. You get a comprehensive marketing plan/package. You do need to let them have their creative freedom and room to work FOR you, not under you, or according to your whims, or for YOU.

They'll have designers and contacts and resources beyond what you can do in house readily. If you grow enough to warrant it, you can bring that stuff in house in the future. For now, focus your business on what you know best, and hire a business that knows marketing best.

I can't think of any situation where an in house marketing team was able to accomplish more frankly. But there were several circumstances where out of house marketers were more efficient and effective (the former not being overly important in business, the latter being critical).

Yeah my first thought was keep a set of juggling balls handy and learn to juggle, then improve. (I remember an article years ago about a company that required employees juggle.)

Nope, as a landlord, I turned to Craiglist because nobody was responding to my $38 tiny four-line newspaper placement anymore.

Although admittedly, at the end of the year, I had saved hundreds in advertising costs (or put another way, not tax deducted hundreds in advertising costs). I also save wasted time in people calling asking what the standard abbreviations mean.

It's not hard for generally savvy users to ignore obvious scam adds.

The ones who bug me more are the real estate agents who essentially spam post. OK, you are being charged, but that doesn't give you the right to abuse the service.

Not only an indicator they cared about the message, but that they care about how they present themselves.

Does grooming matter? Does proper attire matter? Does body scent matter? Does posture matter? Does makeup matter?

In a world where more communication is text based rather than face-to-face, I'd suggest grammar matters even more.

(But please don't encourage those who don't value themselves to deceive.)

PS: Even in an MMO grammar and spelling matter, those who can't communicate effectively don't get invited for runs, don't interact as much with others, and don't make the same progress, as those who do, regardless of skill level, ability, and other attributes.

*snickers

First porn I saw? Elementary school (black and white photos)

Second naked pics? Library (color, woohoo!)

Third naked pics? Home

First information about hardcore sexual practices? Psychology section of school library.

It works best to guide our children, we instill values in them a far earlier age than most realize, then they make their own decisions. But if you decide to make them work around your efforts to thwart their curiosity, such sites can easily be included in the Hosts file provided above.

Ad blocking hosts file, I use it as an adult ;-) http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm

Don't censor anything else IMO, gaining knowledge is good, ignorance is bad.

I don't email directly anymore, I post on G+, recipients receive it in whatever means they favor, email, text notice, online, G+ account, whatever. If they don't have a google account, it goes to their email.

So yeah, email has become transparent to me. I receive next to no correspondence through it.

That is the beauty of improved technology, making my life easier. It's been so horrible since we've moved away from landline phones and two standard methods of contact became mail/phone/fax/mobile/voicemail/SMS/email/web contact form/Twitter and who knows through which of those you'd get a response.

I'm glad to return to the one stop shop.

Yeah, I read the complaints and was astounded that none of them related to the frame rate. Lighting? Edits not tight enough? Animated elements matting or other integration?

I loathe 24 fps, NTSC broadcast in 60 fields per second was nice, HDTV at 30 frames per second is a step backward AFAIC.

Note to anyone reviewing higher FPS, compare motion, particularly sweeping pans, not dialog. *rollseyes