Introducing How-To-Select Guides

Though I’ve been working on the How-To-Select Guides for many months now, I’ve never gotten around to blogging about them.  Well, it’s about time. For years my company1 Xtras, Inc. via Xtras.Net (and previously VBxtras), the leading reseller of components and tools for C#, VB.NET and VB6, has helped .NET and VB6 developers find and buy components and tools. Unfortunately …

Borland gets Tod Nielsen, former bigwig in the Microsoft developer divison

What goes around, comes around.  Microsoft steals Anders Hejlsberg as C# chief architect; Borland picks up former Microsoft developer divison honcho Tod Nielsen as CEO. Admittedly not an apples-for-apples comparison, i.e. development vs. marketing, but it is interesting none-the-less. Given his tenure at MS’ devdiv, I’d be surprised it Tod doesn’t do a good job of …

All your Base are belong to Google?

When I saw that Google Base just went live, my first thought was "All your base are belong to us."  I fear this might be ironic. After a quick Google I found I wasn’t the only one to have thought this.  

Simple technologies recombined, not technological breakthroughs, spur disruptive innovations

Yesterday when I blogged about simplicity I forgot to mention Clayton Christensen‘s take on simple technology. Clayton’s ground-breaking book was entitled "The Innovator’s Dilemma" and is a must-read for any developer who wants to understand the business dynamics between market incumbency and innovative uses of technology. From his extensive research Christensen states in The Innovator’s Dilemma …