vonkoeller.de » Software

Software Doesn’t Work, Company Goes Bankrupt

Magnus — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:05:28 +0000

This is just a quick note to all those of you who subscribe to the “software is a commodity, so it doesn’t matter” idea. Sure, IT systems are as commonplace today as running water or electricity. But then again, imagine running your business without running water and electricity.

This seems to be pretty much what happened at American LaFrance, a maker of customized emergency vehicles. When American LaFrance was separated from its previous owner, Freightliner, they suddenly needed their own ERP system. Their decision: we’ll outsource this, let IBM take care of it. The consequence: IBM botched the project and ALF suddenly didn’t know how much inventory they still had, or what exactly it was that the customer did order. And in the end, this seems to have been one of the deciding factors that forced ALF to declare bankruptcy.

This should be a lesson to all those managers who see their IT infrastructure merely as a cost factor. They should learn that IT is a central part of their business and that quality matters, too — not just cost.

FlickrFaves Update

Magnus — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 14:46:37 +0000

Version 1.0-b3, the latest update to FlickrFaves, should fix some problems with stalling downloads. It also adds an automatic version check — you’ll never miss another update! Download it from here.

Enjoy! As always, with any problems, just email me!

FlickrFaves Update

Magnus — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:06:00 +0000

FlickrFaves was broken for a couple of weeks because of some changes Flickr did to its API. It’s fixed now in the newest version (1.0-b2) which you can download here.

Enjoy! As always, with any problems, just email me!

Software: FlickrFaves

Magnus — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 05:49:59 +0000

Do you use Flickr? Do you have lots of beautiful favorites marked? Want to use them as wallpapers on your computer? Then FlickrFaves is for you! It is a small, simple, cross-platform tool for downloading high-resolution versions of your Flickr favorites to your harddrive. Try it out, it’s real easy to use and, best of all, it’s free!

Download here!