Sonet Journal

A key issue with working in a small company with just a couple of staff is that a list of ‘To Do’s’ grows longer and longer. I am finding that all I seem to be doing is working. I keep promising myself I’ll sit and write a list and prioritize what I need to be doing, it never happens as something keeps coming up. I’ll give a good example from today.

I arrived in my studio at approx 7am this morning wanting to be their first to sit down and work out the advertising plan for Search and Go. I managed to get a good couple of hours in before the others showed up. At around 9′ish I had a 10 minutes spare, I thought I would grab a coffee and go for a short walk. NOPE… the phone started ringing with sales calls, I had someone from the Register trying to sell me advertising space, it took 10 minutes to get it through that they are better off doing it via email, as soon as that call ended another came from some guy who was putting on a conference in London, of course he never got to the damn point, he made the whole thing sound like he was doing me a favour, this took 38 minutes, he said that at this conference I would be expected to give a presentation then give an award and Bill Gates would be there and some other big wigs from Apple etc. I thought to myself this sounds good, nothing like a bit of exposure. I would also be able to sit at Bill Gates’ dinner table and be introduced and talk with him. Even better I told myself - thinking I could pitch funding for the Search and Go project. He then went on to tell me how my company was industry leaders in the mobile web development and SEO market and blah blah - I questioned him as I became curious as to find out what he did actually know about our services, it turned out to be nothing, he just read a bit of ad copy on our site and pitched me. He went through this whole motion of getting his pitch across appealing to my ego and appealing to us as a small business. This guy was a real jerk-off - I don’t mind it so much but when a person starts calling me and using BS to sell something I would rather it came out straight away. He then told me it would cost £2500 to be at this dinner presentation. I told him I don’t pay to talk to someone I would rather do it on my own merit. He was not dissuaded; I was forced to hang-up on him. 20 minutes after that call I had another one this time from someone trying to sell me used software another 10 minutes. All in all nearly an hour of wasted time, then sifting through tons of spam emails and sales pitch emails, then sifting and sorting through all the useless link request and having to sit and delete them, double check them, this takes time. I wonder how much valuable time is spent like this and has anyone done a census on how much money is lost each day because of spam mails and cold-calls? All in all I lost about two hours the entire day – which could have been spent doing more important things.

On the upside of this we have now got a Currency Converter live on Search and Go and in our opinion it beats any other one out there just for the design alone.

CNET Reported yesterday that Bill Gates the founder and driving force behind Microsoft is planning to step down in 2008 after years of leading Microsoft to the household and business brand it is today. Over 90% of the world’s computers run the Windows Operating system.
We all have different opinions about Bill Gates and if you read some of the ‘less friendly’ remarks on CNET you will no doubt believe he was disliked as much as he was loved (for want of a better word). What was interesting is that most of those who left the remarks probably wrote it on a Windows Operating system.

Here is our take on this: For many years we have built client’s websites and developed projects on the Windows platform. While Windows has not been perfect and remains this way, it still was used by the larger percentage of businesses, to this end we had to meet their needs. We can only look with awe at how Gates has driven this industry, yes his attitude is flawed, but show me the person who does not have flaws! Bill Gates just happened to be in the right place in history at the right time and had the right ideas. It’s true the behaviour of Microsoft has been one of creating a monopoly and squeezing the smaller business out of the market. To this end, we agree that Microsoft is guilty on all accounts of doing this and it has been a shame to see some great talent from these other businesses go to the wayside because of the monopolistic behaviour involved.
On the other hand, Microsoft has left a legacy whether we like it or not that will remain throughout history and their contribution to the world of PC’s whether positive or otherwise will be felt for many years to come.

In recent years we have seen more challenges to Microsoft’s dominance in the PC and Web market. In more recent times, challenges to Gates’ much vaunted Internet Explorer has marked and chipped away at the web browser arena. With browsers like Opera and Firefox playing roles. Firefox came at a time when the public were searching for an alternative to what Microsoft offered, which in our opinion shows that the dismay in the amount of security patching and the pricing of the Windows Operating system were beginning to show their strain on small businesses and consumers alike.
Bill Gates will leave at a time when Microsoft still sits as the world’s leader in the PC market. With the likes of Google aggressively going after a share of the web based market and prevailing in areas of the search industry it won’t be long until Google become a real threat and Microsoft gets left behind in this area, unless, the new Internet Explorer tied in with Windows Vista grabs it back. Nevertheless, it won’t happen under or more to the point won’t be on Gates’ watch.

Well, it’s the dawning of the end of an era. Whether we like it or not, Microsoft has been influential or forced us at some point or another to use their products and build around them. Maybe, this will change now as more of choice without consequences becomes available.

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Related Reading
Gates stepping down from full-time Microsoft role