David Coursey

If Microsoft wanted to make me happy in 2005—which the company keeps telling me (and all its other customers) is a top priority—I have a very easy way they could do it: Make me a non-combatant. Like most of you, I am spending inordinate amounts of time and a fair amount of money (even with […]

Could a computerized system for monitoring and predicting tsunamis really have saved thousands of lives following the earthquake Sunday beneath the Indian Ocean? Id like to think so, but Im not so sure. Heres why: A few years ago, I was sitting in the emergency operations center of a coastal California county that shall remain […]

OK, I love technology and have spent a lot of money on it. My TiVo and XM Satellite Radio are among my prized possessions. That is, if you dont include my Canon Digital Rebel camera or the iPod whose earbuds sometimes follow me around almost like a tail. Did I mention the cool Treo 600 […]

The first thing to be said about the European Unions anti-Microsoft decision is that it hardly matters in the great scheme of things. Very little, if anything, is going to noticeably change as a result. And Microsoft appears to have been fully prepared for the adverse ruling. Microsoft doesnt generally outright lie to people, so […]

As you might have noticed, I am a proponent of anything that gives customers more control over how they spend their money. For example, I think customers should not make huge upfront payments for what amount to software science fair projects. Nor do I believe most companies need as much tricked-out custom software as vendors […]

Larry Ellison has been called many things, some of them not repeatable here. But this year hes being called something new: Hes The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. At least thats what folks at PeopleSoft must be thinking as they wonder whether to buy holiday presents or start printing resumes. Yes, they should have seen it […]

Am I the only person who wasnt knocked senseless by Googles announcement that it plans to put five major libraries online? To read the headlines, youd think Google was making an incredible amount of really useful information available for free. But as so often happens, the large print giveth and the small print taketh away. […]

Its always amazing to me the number of people at Microsoft who are working in a come-from-behind situation. To outsiders, its easy to focus on Microsofts big wins: operating systems and desktop applications. But inside Microsoft, its the new initiatives that take center stage, and this is where Microsoft as often as not has its […]

IBMs sale of its PC division to Lenovo may be a good deal for shareholders, but I dont see customers cheering. /zimages/3/28571.gifClick here to read more about IBMs sale of its PC division to Lenovo. In jettisoning the low-margin personal computer biz, IBM spruces up its balance sheet but also shows longtime customers they are […]

PalmSource, the mobile OS company, on Wednesday announced its acquisition of China MobileSoft, which it described as one of Chinas leading suppliers of operating systems and apps for cellular handsets. This is a stellar deal for PalmSource because it opens markets that the company had been unable to crack while reversing PalmSources potential for a […]