IBM Eye

Hehe … I suspect this isn’t legit - but it’s still good.

The Real Nano iPod!

IBM Labs in Zürich Switzerland announced today that they have created a nano sized iPod. “Made to illustrate the technology - the world’s smallest iPod is 11 micrometers long - about the size of a single cell - with a fully functioning Click Wheel.”

Check out the photo in the original post.

Ron van den Boogaard makes an amusing observation about some of IBM’s new adverts you see on the web IBM makes me smile

In dutch SOA means something quite different than “Service Oriented Architecture”. “Sexueel Overdraagbare Aandoeningen” stands for “Sexually transmitted Diseases”. I guess the “Enterprise Service Bus” is gonna take me to the clinic once the lady is done with me.

(see the advert included in Ron’s blog entry - it’s one of the WebSphere adverts with a lady in it wearing boxing gloves … hence the comment about going to the clinic afterwards - she’s going to beat you up … don’t ask me - ask marketing!).

In addition to TLAs, there are also terms in use in some of IBM’s products that always generate fits of hysterical laughter when mentioned in particular geographical locations. For example, ask someone from Australia about the “date picker” component found in many applications that use calendars and you are bound to get a snicker. This term is used in the Lotus Notes documentation. I’ll keep it clean and not elaborate here.

IBM marketing is the bane of every technical persons life within IBM - and the people who decide on the product names are unimaginative bores with no life. Sorry - but that’s the way we techies feel.

I mean, replacing the very popular and well known “Sametime” product with “IBM Lotus Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing” and the equally popular and well known “Quickplace” with “IBM Lotus Team Workplace” - only to succumb to incredible pressure from every corner of the Lotus globe about the injustice and change it back a couple of years later. What gives ?

So, Volker Weber started thinking - what would IBM call it if they started marketing sushi ? They’d call it Cold Dead Fish of course!

And, naturally there would be an SMB version …