Re: COBOL is Number One

On 5 Jun, 01:06, "Pete Dashwood" <dashw...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

The important thing here is that this will not be a scenario where a single
user sits at a single wortkstation and interacts with it (although that will
happen too), rather, it will be networked with policy decisions discussed
and agreed then picked up by smart software and on file for use whenever
someone in the organization is doing something in that area of operations.

We are already seeing things moving in this direction. Video conferencing is
used for policy discussions across companies and continents. The minutes and
conclusions reached are manually entered into policy and procedure manuals
and distributed throughout the organization. All of this can be automated,
with meetings automatically recorded and videoed. I see a time when the
"virtual assistant" will be present at meetings and will ensure that the
decisions made are distrubted into policy and that action points are
followed up. The Network empowers this.

Presumably, the virtual assistant will use the install-time default US
English dictionary supplied by M$ which can not be over-ridden buy the
European English dictionary until service pack two has been installed?

I suspect that the virtual assistant will have serious difficulties
defining the correct shade of red (I would always want Burgundy not
that dreadful Cadmuim Red) to be used and probably determining when a
meeting has actually raised an action point (and to whom it is to be
assigned).


It is also important to remember that this will be a new generation of
users, not like the past lot... :-).

At last! Intelligent users?


We are already seeing "computer literacy" filtering into the workplace
(sometimes to the chagrin of computer professionals, who are not happy at
seeing their empire eroded by spreadsheets and personal databases,
especially when the people doing the eroding are end users, and they are
very capable.

A friend (you know of him already from other posts) was not worried
about the users using spreadsheets but was more worried about the fact
that they deleted columns, relocated columns, inserted columns, used
the incorrect data format for the data being used and generally had
the power to mess up the feeds to his mainframe system. He was quite
happy that they had the ability to query spreadsheets but would have
prefered the structures of the spreadsheets to be in tablets of stone.


Yes. My point was that there is increasing computer literacy in the work
force. This has a major impact on the implementation of the solutions I have
been predicting here.

Increased computer literacy is not a bad thing. It works both ways.
They can understand why you can not do it now (although their use of
Basic has taught them that everything is a one line five minute
change) and they can understand how to better use a computer system to
improve the business.


In 20 years, I don't believe that will be the case. The organization will be
so empowered in terms of its IT that humans won't be needed (or able) to get
involved in the nitty gritty of how and where data is stored and accessed.

I like this idea. Networked databases (aren't they already here?).
What if I switch the server off when I go home (to save power)?

It will be taken as read that the data required to support a given process
will be available as and when needed, to the people who need it, in the form
they want it, instantly.

IBM must be rubbing there hands in glee at the thought of selling all
that Big Iron.


All of the IT "infrastrucure" will be carried out
by smart software; tools will monitor each other and Audit Agents will
patrol the network ensuring that unauthorized access is prevented and
transactions that depart from the norm are diaried and raised for human
attention if they exceed agreed bounds.

And who will configure/program those audit agents? I suppose they
could be allowed to monitor the system for a month and that would
define normality. But what about year end?


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