“What if the ‘wisdom of crowds’ turns out to be the ignorance of the masses? In fact, what if the Internet is a ‘really bad thing’ for the world and its population?”
- Internet Evolution founder Stephen Saunders who warns that by 2029 the Internet could be transformed to an “Outernet” surveillance network that observes users via sensors, probes, spyware, and cameras. (InformationWeek)
“They are cheerleaders for this platform and they’ll defend it to their death. As they leave, there’s no one else to take up that mantle.”
- Gartner vice president Dale Vecchio, discussing efforts by CA and IBM to keep younger workers interested in mainframe skills, including a CA program that encourages retiring workers to mentor younger ones. (Bloomberg Businessweek)
“It’s perhaps surprising that so many people seem to think that using the Internet as a tool for spying, or even as a weapon, is acceptable practice.”
- Sophos senior technology consultant Graham Cluley. In a Sophos survey of U.S. computer users, almost two-thirds said they think it’s acceptable for their country to spy on other nations by hacking or installing malware. Twenty-three percent said it was justifiable to do at “any time” — not just in times of war. (eSecurity Planet)
“We were equally jazzed about Google Wave internally, even though we weren’t quite sure how users would respond to this radically different kind of communication.”
- Urs Hölzle, a Google Fellow and senior vice president of operations, announcing the company’s decision to kill off the highly touted Google Wave, which was unveiled a little over a year ago. (Datamation)
“It’s not that I think the concept of the enterprise app store is bad per se. I’m more approaching this like, ‘Um, hello? We’ve been doing this since 1998. It’s called Web Interface.’ But I guess now that the Apple App Store is popular, we’re seeing the rebranding and growth in the enterprise.”
- Blogger Brian Madden questioning whether the enterprise app store concept is any different than other app delivery products. (BrianMadden.com)
We want your quotes. If you see an IT quote that catches your eye or tickles your funny bone, click here to send us a link using our feedback form. Submissions must be received before Noon Pacific time on Thursday.