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You said it--Classic industry quotes from 2001 By Nicole Bellamy & Cass Warneminde, ZDNet Australia December 20, 2001 URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/You-said-it-Classic-industry-quotes-from-2001/0,139023166,120262472,00.htm
OPINION: E-mail monitoring, Froggy's downfall, Nokia's phone faults, MS vs PCs for Kids, MS vs Linux - there were plenty of hot issues in 2001 and no shortage of good quotes to go along with them. ZDNet Australia has compiled the funniest, most ironic and sometimes downright ridiculous quotable quotes delivered by IT mouthpieces in 2001. CyberArmy declares war "We want to self-regulate the Internet so that the government doesn't come in and regulate it." --Marshall Yowler, CyberArmy, January, 2001.
Net community, CyberArmy, had rallied to take down Web sites that abused the Web, while attempting to promote the existence of "good hackers" over "script kiddies." Needless to say, these comments provoked the government, Netizens, hackers of all descriptions and the script kiddies into what became a ZDNet Australia Talkback war for the CyberArmy.
MS, Linux and innovation "I'd argue that a worldwide monopoly, enforced by business practices that a federal judge has found to be predatory and anti-competitive probably has more to do with killing innovation than anything the open source movement could ever do." --Matthew J. Szulik, Red Hat CEO, February, 2001.
Szulik responded publicly to the Microsoft claims that Linux was "enemy number 1" and that it "stifled innovation". The Microsoft vs Linux debate is one which has dominated the IT news this year and has provided much fodder for the press mill. Szulik's comments marked the beginning of an era as Linux responses moved from those of users in open forums, to vendors approaching the press.
Videogames, violence and society "Society has decided that guns are allowable...Programs that show people being tortured, shot, maimed, as acts of a brutal psycotic or a vengeful lover are also allowable."--Steve Wang, Micro Forte, VP, May, 2001.
Wang, as vice president of the Sydney studios of the Australian game developer Micro Forte, discussed where to place the blame for the Columbine High School massacre, in response to ZDNet Australia poll results. The poll showed that more than 75 percent of respondents believed that game companies should not be held legally responsible for the tragedy. Wang supported this belief, and placed the blame at society's feet.
One.Tel collapse "We are prepared to throw the One.Tel customers a lifeline -- but we need to talk to them about what arrangements suits them best."--Paul O'Sullivan, MD Optus mobiles, June, 2001.
O'Sullivan offered these words of comfort to One.Tel customers during the storm of One.Tel's collapse. One.Tel customers--whose contracts were taken over by Optus--were then hit with a raft of charges from the country's number 2 telco. Many of them won't be saying 'Yes" when time for contract-renewal comes around.
Telstra vs broadband users "I just find it funny that Telstra reckons we need more Broadband content (and is spending bucketloads of cash on it) in order to increase the uptake of cable and DSL, instead of simply making it more affordable and reliable. What a bunch of monkeys."--ZDNet Australia reader, June, 2001.
A typical reader response to Telstra's decision earlier this year to place restrictions on its broadband service despite billing it as an "unlimited" facility. Several other reader responses regarding Telstra's unpopular decision were unfit to publish in an open forum.
'AOL' e-mail hoax "The smart people had a good laugh, and the dumb people were scared as all get out." --Ray Owens, Joke-A-Day Webmaster, June, 2001.
Quote from Joke-a-Day site Webmaster, Ray Owens, referring to a story on his site which warned people of a virus named AOL.exe. Believing it to be a legitimate warning, many people deleted the AOL Internet program from their computers, and forwarded the warning to friends and colleagues. By the time it had cycled back to Owens, it had reached massive proportions, and the victims were certainly not amused.
Microsoft vs PCs for Kids "[Microsoft] missed their Kodak moment and decided to turn their back on the kids--they have to put up with the public outcry."--Theresa Bayes, PCs for Kids, June, 2001.
A massive public outcry did follow, centred around Microsoft's decision not to provide PCs for Kids--an Australian charity--with free licences for software. The charity, founded by Theresa and Colin Phillip Bayes, had became embrolied in a legal battle with software giant, Microsoft, over the installation of obsolete operating systems on recycled computers, that were then donated to underprivileged children. Public opinion supported the Bayes heavily, until October this year, when an arrest warrant was issued in Bayes' name, after he failed to appear in court over fraud-related offences. The offences were listed as obtaining property by deception.
Suffice it to say, Microsoft are no longer bearing the brunt of public disapproval in regards to this issue.
Microsoft vs Linux Part 1 "Microsoft's licensing scheme -- the tobacco in this case -- is both addictive and, in the end, extraordinarily limiting (think emphysema in a wheelchair). Under the standard Microsoft licensing scheme, you can't fix bugs (and there are plenty to fix), you can't make enhancements and you can't alter the OS to make your device perform better." --Matthew Harris, COO, Lineos, July, 2001.
Harris responded to earlier Microsoft comments that GPL was a 'cancer' by likening Microsoft to the tobacco industry that--in its heyday--claimed smoking was not a health hazard.
BSAA piracy truce "There was a significant spike in software sales during July...however, we didn't compel anyone to buy software."--Jim Macnamara, BSAA chairman, August, 2001.
BSAA chairman Jim Macnamara responds to criticism that the BSAA software truce--developed to decrease the amount of illegal software in Australia--was designed to increase sales for software vendors. Macnamara defended his position by stating that customers were allowed the choice of buying new software, or deleting the copies they had, and doing without. It was therefore just a happy coincidence that software vendors--including Symantec and Autodesk--reported record quarters off the back of the immunity offer.
ISP user monitoring "Hitler never had it this good...Bring on the Mind Police. Trotting out the old 'nothing to hide' argument just won't wash. I trust those who use these services are ready to stand up for their democratic rights--there are those in government that will push this line, if for no other reason than their own twisted power trips, as Hitlers' fanatics did."--ZDNet Australia reader, September, 2001.
ZDNet Australia reader, Gavin Cooper, made this comment in response to a poll querying the right of ISPs to monitor all user activity. This followed a parliamentary report by the Joint Committee on the National Crime Authority that recommended logs be kept on online user-activity. Needless to say, the punters responded with a barrage of criticism, believing this to be a sign of the government overstepping its bounds.
E-Store: victim of dot-com crash "I would have liked to advise you as to this earlier but we were working on alternatives which at this time have not eventuated. From the information I have, there does seem to be a good chance of resolving this with minimal loss to all involved."--Darren Silber, financial controller, E-Store, October, 2001.
A statement by E-Store financial controller, Darren Silber, during the sudden demise of E-Store. This statement was hotly contested by creditors who approached ZDNet Australia with information about substantial losses they had faced as a result of E-Store's slip into administration and the subsequent Deed of Company Arrangement, The DoCA was reported to offer creditors a limited return. Creditors currently await news of an alleged E-Store 'saviour'.
Microsoft vs Linux, Part 2 "XP is largely a non-event for Linux users. But presumably at some point they will stop saying Windows crashes all the time...They'll have to think of new gripes." --David Coursey, industry analyst, October, 2001.
Coursey puts forward his views on Microsoft and its push for higher reliability through the Windows XP release. Given the amount of XP-related reader talkback and post-launch complaints about crashes, it looks like the Linux community may have a little while yet before they need to come up with new gripes.
Broadband and Hanson "We believe that organisations such as Australia Post or Postal Agents in every town in Australia could act as agents that are not aligned to any Telco to facilitate broadband."--Pauline Hanson, One Nation leader, November, 2001.
Pauline Hanson unveils her party's grand solution to the problem of increasing broadband rollout in Australia. Where academics and a host of industry heavyweights have failed, she steps up and in true Hanson fashion, offers a simplistic answer to a complicated problem
Nokia mobile phone faults "The screen fault 'was' common, and was a running joke within the industry. We even joked about it at a big Nokia dealer launch at Crown [Casino]."--ZDNet Australia reader, November, 2001.
A ZDNet Australia reader comments upon the numerous complaints claiming Nokia phone faults. It appears all jokes have been abandoned now, as Nokia attempts to deny claims, while simultaneously dealing with published consumer complaints, the attention of the press, and meetings with the NSW Department of Fair Trading.
Telstra on "cloud cukoo" "I don't know which cloud cuckoo these two people are sitting on, because if you look around here at the grey hairs, the mums the dads - who depend on their shareholdings in Telstra - they've been sold down the drain."--Telstra shareholder, November, 2001.
A disgruntled Telstra shareholder made this statement at Telstra's recent AGM, referring to Telstra CEO Ziggy Switkowsky and Chairman Bob Mansfield, and the company's dwindling share price. The two executives had painted a rosy view of the present, and future, status of Telstra in the telco market.
Froggy vs the world? "We [Froggy] were contacted by Ozemail as a direct result of your article, as they assume we are broke and for sale and quote your Article as the reason for their contact."--John Karasmanis, consultant, December, 2001.
Froggy consultant John Karasmanis--well-known for placing the blame of Froggy's demise on others' shoulders--strikes out at ZDNet Australia for its coverage of the Froggy ISP saga. When Ozemail hastened to deny his claims, Karasmanis turned to other targets, this time the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) and Froggy founder, Karl Suleman.
Froggy vs the world? Part 2 "Once you take away the stupid things that Suleman bought, that have nothing to do with running an ISP, you are left with a company with a lot of potential, as long as we can convince ASIC to stay off our backs."--John Karasmanis, consultant, December, 2001.
Karasmanis strikes out against the 'executive purchases' made by Suleman, reported to have included two aircraft and a cruiser, while also attempting to head off the interest of ASIC, who were conducting a review of the company.
Domain names bloodbath "We play in an industry which is getting a very bad reputation because of the activities of companies." --Larry Bloch, CEO, NetRegistry, December, 2001.
Bloch made this statement, after forwarding alleged evidence of ongoing unethical behaviour by domain name competitors, Melbourne IT and Internet Name Group (ING), to Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). This has sparked a war of words within the domain name industry, that looks set to continue into 2002.
Telstra denial of denial of service "Denial of service (DoS) attacks were not recorded as the reason for the outages". --Stuart Gray, Telstra spokesman, December, 2001.
Telstra spokesman Stuart Gray, responding to claims that a spate of Telstra outages were the direct result of Denial of Service attacks that had hit Telstra through late November and early December. A few hours later, Gray recanted his statement and admitted DoS attacks were responsible for the outages. Gray also commented that Telstra technicians were "understanding the symptoms of DoS attacks better"--which can only be a good thing, given the number of attacks that have befallen the telco giant.
KGB of Internet age "This is like the KGB, but it's the KGB in the Internet age."--Cameron Murphy, president, NSW Council for Civil Liberties, December, 2001. Murphy responded to the government's endorsement of legislation that will allow unread e-mails to be accessed by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO). This legaslation comes at a time where the privacy vs security debate is gathering enormous momentum, following in the wake of the Sept 11 US attacks.
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