THE CODE ISSUE 3

Duda Owner IONOS • July 1, 2015

Here is another one of my favorite quotes from the special double issue of Bloomberg Businessweek on computer coding (Paul Ford, “The Code Issue”, 6/15/15–6/28/15, p. 26):

“ Years ago, when Microsoft was king, Steve Ballmer, sweating through his blue button-down, jumped up and down in front of a stadium full of people and chanted,

‘Developers!

Developers!

Developers!

Developers!’

He yelled until he was hoarse: ‘I love this company!’ Of course he did. If you can sell the software, if you can light up the screen, you’re selling infinitely reproducible nothings. The margins on nothing are great—until other people start selling even cheaper nothings or giving them away. Which is what happened, as free software-based systems such as Linux began to nibble, then devour, the server market, and free-to-use Web-based applications such as Google Apps began to serve as viable replacements for desktop software.

Expectations around software have changed over time. ”

LET'S BE CLEAR ABOUT SURCHARGING (THE 3% CONVERSATION)

By James Meadows • July 13, 2026
What every front desk professional should know about credit card surcharging

DEGREE OR NONDEGREE, THAT IS THE QUESTION

By James Meadows • September 7, 2025
Is a college degree still worth the investment? It depends of the path you craft.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: TAMING THE TIGER

By James Meadows • August 12, 2025
You need to give serious thought to taming the tiger before you are in its cage.

HOW I EMBRACED A 2020 LAYOFF TO CAPTURE A NEW LIFE SEASON

By James Meadows • June 8, 2025
My transparent reflection about my five-year post-layoff experience, how I navigated it, learned through it, and identified some wisdom that might inspire others.

GAME OF THRONES LEADERSHIP LESSONS

By James Meadows • June 29, 2024
The earliest days of this series present fundamentally significant leadership content.

FIDELITY TO SCIENCE

By James Meadows • August 22, 2023
What we should expect from fidelity to science.
Honesty, honest, honestly

A BETTER WORD THAN HONESTY

By James Meadows • August 9, 2023
We explore the overuse or inappropriate use of the words "honest," "honesty," and "honestly." Much of the overuse or inappropriate use of these words is in contexts that intrinsically message the audience that the speaker is not trustworthy. I call the overuse or inappropriate use of these words in this context HONESTY VALIDATORS because the speaker believes they validate the truth being spoken. We need a solution to this problem. My solution is to replace these honesty validators with CLARITY VALIDATORS. Instead of trying to be honest, try to be clear. Replacing "honest," "honesty," and "honestly," with "clear," "clarity," and "clearly," produces significantly more benefit to the speaker and to the audience.

WHEN THE ORIGINAL IS NOT THE BEST

By James Meadows • August 7, 2023
It's the real thing alright!

MY 30-YEAR PC SAGA

By James Meadows • May 30, 2023
Reflecting on 30 years as a PC user.

GRAVELY EXPENSIVE YET UNDENIABLY VALUABLE TRAINING LESSONS

By James Meadows • July 26, 2020
What the Boeing 737 Max crashes teach us about training, corporate culture, and communication.