Podcast Update

• Andrew Zolli, Z+ Partners, participated in an interview as part of Globeshakers with Tim Zak. During this interview, Andrew talks about the impact of demographic distribution changes on the world and domestic economy. This is a very interesting presentation that I would recommend. Unfortunately, I listened too long ago and didn't take notes so I can't state an specifics about the interview. But, I know I liked it.
• Anne Thomas Manes, APS Research Director for the Burton Group, talked about The Advent of Superplatforms. This information packed and insightful presentation is well worth listening to if you are an architect. Anne correctly notes that the major platform providers like Microsoft with .Net and IBM with WebSphere are including 100's of support applications with their suites. Thus, while the promise of web services, open source, and industry standards would lead you to think that a new world of plug and play is on the horizon, we may in fact, be seeing something entirely different emerge. I can't help but think this is sort of more of the same. That is, the IDE and infrastructure providers build in features that help lock you in to their solution (and their problems). I don't read this as good or bad. It is the nature of things. Anne also notes that Open Source is essentially an alternative choice. One that on a feature basis may not compete directly with the comprehensive suites of the commercial providers. My primary concern with implications of her analysis is that continuing notion of vendor lock-in at the platform level. But, her analysis definitely has merit and for many companies, the information she provides is surely of high interest and value. Thanks Anne for a very thought provoking presentation.