The Sametime Game
Category Management
Years ago, I was an eager Novell Netware Engineer. NDS was rolling out, and the best Microsoft could do was something confusing called NT3.51. For me, it was puzzling because I could never quite see where the line was between server and workstation. I don't have those problems anymore.
But, at the time of Novell's crest I remember a prescient moment, when I thought Novell was taking their eyes off the competition and enjoying the adulation of the crowd just a little too much. I had gone to a seminar on the newest technology from Novell (anyone remember their visual programming IDE?) and was dismayed that the speakers spent a good deal of time entertaining the audience with a wire-frame tank game that pitted Novell forces against Microsoft. The game was a give away, and lots of those attending thought it was fun. I found it revealing.
The Novell technical sales staff were quite comfortable in generating high scores in the closed-world of their recreation, but not really paying attention to the competitive forces outside the computer screen. Within two years, the real-estate of their Novell offices had been summarily trimmed down. So, it's an odd feeling when I see there is a Sametime game. It's cool and all, but I'm not really comfortable with the entire zeitgeist. Do I really want to be promoting the game?
Or, maybe I'm just reliving a bitter memory when I couldn't score well in tank simulators.
Years ago, I was an eager Novell Netware Engineer. NDS was rolling out, and the best Microsoft could do was something confusing called NT3.51. For me, it was puzzling because I could never quite see where the line was between server and workstation. I don't have those problems anymore.
But, at the time of Novell's crest I remember a prescient moment, when I thought Novell was taking their eyes off the competition and enjoying the adulation of the crowd just a little too much. I had gone to a seminar on the newest technology from Novell (anyone remember their visual programming IDE?) and was dismayed that the speakers spent a good deal of time entertaining the audience with a wire-frame tank game that pitted Novell forces against Microsoft. The game was a give away, and lots of those attending thought it was fun. I found it revealing.
The Novell technical sales staff were quite comfortable in generating high scores in the closed-world of their recreation, but not really paying attention to the competitive forces outside the computer screen. Within two years, the real-estate of their Novell offices had been summarily trimmed down. So, it's an odd feeling when I see there is a Sametime game. It's cool and all, but I'm not really comfortable with the entire zeitgeist. Do I really want to be promoting the game?
Or, maybe I'm just reliving a bitter memory when I couldn't score well in tank simulators.
- 
