Eric Lundquist

Don’t call IBM a big company unable to react to the fast changing technology world. In the company’s latest quarter, the company proved to be the smartest kid on the technology block. Do call IBM smart for being sufficiently wise to take the big business-to-business trends of outsourcing, standard-driven software and system management as the […]

I’m on the Amtrak Acela heading from New York to Boston and while most of the passengers on the train are struggling to find an Internet connection, I don’t have that problem. A few months ago I got a review edge card from Sprint to try out. I’ll say right up front, this Sprint edge […]

Sometimes it seems like a stretch to connect the business-to-business world of corporate computing to the high-buzz-factor world of consumer electronics. At other times, like right now, it is amazing how much a corporate IT exec can learn from watching the high-tech hijinks in other spheres. Take the iPhone, please. There are not too many […]

Simplicity as a concept is appealing. If life were simple, you would deal with one vendor that could fix your problems, give you undivided attention, and make sure you are at the top of the list for upgrades and new beta products. But simplicity also has some major downsides. What happens when simplicity keeps you […]

Yes, a Googlemobile. And why not? Now that Google has rolled over Microsoft in creating online applications and has battered Yahoo into putting its CEO, Terry Semel, out to pasture while bringing back co-founder Jerry Yang, why not show that Google doesnt need to wait for Detroit to catch up in the automobile race? Why […]

Remember when computer users felt somewhat empowered? The idea was that your PC would put you on an even footing with those poor dolts still tending the mainframes. Well, events in the last couple of weeks sure make me feel once again that despite all that talk about user empowerment, the reality is that users […]

“You dont want to bet your systems on the lowest bidder.” Now thats good advice for anyone, whether youre trying to get the brakes fixed on your car or youre over-seeing development of a $25 million office complex. Providing the lowest-bidder comment was Cory Hilde-brand, CIO of BPG Properties, during a panel presentation on “networked […]

Dear graduating engineering and computer science majors: Congratulations on having completed your (four-, five- or seven-year college education) work in these exciting fields. While your friends were out getting degrees in sports marketing, private equity financing and massage therapy, you were in your dorm and at the library nights and weekends. While others studied the […]

Is there currently a renaissance in technology? That was the question I was asked to address first off at last weeks Ziff Davis CIO Summit conference. It turned out to be a timely question and one worth answering in this column as well as before an audience of CIOs. Asking if were now in a […]

Yikes, can all that gasoline Im pumping into my old Subaru really be approaching $4 per gallon? And why do gasoline prices always spike near the start of the summer driving season? Its enough to make you think those big oil companies are controlling supply to fatten their bottom lines. And its enough to make […]

Full employment is a concept that should make everyone happy, correct? Not exactly. In its latest—and much-anticipated—technology employment report, the American Electronics Association points to rising wages; to increasing numbers of high-tech jobs; and, in particular, to some professional categories where the unemployment rate is less than 2 percent, which basically constitutes full employment. First, […]

Selling software was once such an easy job. Since most of your costs were associated with creating your first copy of the software, you knew that if you had even a moderately successful product, you could make a lot of money, as every subsequent copy would cost only pennies but would be sold for dollars. […]