Give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for the rest of his life.
My read on Senior Editor Darryl K. Tafts story about Microsoft courting new developers is that the company may be putting a new spin on an old proverb: Give a man a Microsoft application and he uses it for the life of the application; give a man the Microsoft tools for developing applications and hes a Microsoft application user for life.
OK, maybe its not as catchy as the original, but, as Taft reports, Microsoft is now courting “developers” at all experience levels and on all platforms, including the most savvy—and, arguably, impressionable—of techies, kids.
I think this is a smart move on Microsofts part—one, because it gives people ownership and investment in Microsoft platforms ranging from the Xbox 360 to Office, and two, because if you provide it they will come: Budget-constrained businesses and schools will likely flock to Microsofts free teaching and development tools.
Elsewhere at eWEEK.com, eWEEK Labs Technical Analyst Andrew Garcia recommends that companies answer AsteriskNows call. Earlier versions of the open-source Asterisk VOIP (voice over IP) platform were relatively difficult to set up and manage, but the distros new Web GUI smooths out the rough edges and the path from testing to deployment. Check out Garcias review, as well as his slide show.
Speaking of slide shows, Jim Rapoza has named the top Web technologies of all time—including XML, HTML, SSL, PHP and even some things that arent best known by their acronyms—. A list of Jims picks starts on Page 38. And, speaking of Jim, he was recently named eWEEKs first chief technology analyst. He will be scouting out new and emerging technologies and providing recommendations on when and how eWEEK readers can most effectively leverage them. Congratulations, Jim.
What new technologies should be on Jim Rapozas and other eWEEK staffers radars? Let me know at debra_donston@ziffdavis.com.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis in programming environments and developer tools.