Rid the world of "solutions"

its a bugbear of mine too:
http://www.redmonk.com/jgovernor/archives/000127.html

"Next time a vendor pitches you a "solution" ask yourself what are they afraid of? Is this science or an illusion of science? And if you choose this "organic IT solution" what are you missing out on? What nourishment? What experience? What set of skills that you can apply in other areas?

Beware solutions. Get to know your infrastructure better, and the herbs and spices and ingredients you have in the pantry. What are your existing assets? Do your developers have skills you aren't utilizing, PERL scripting or Apache tomcat say? Build your own Software Cookbook of skills, infrastructure, and perhaps even software componentry and you are taking some small steps towards service oriented architecture. "

Steve-

Technical shorthand is allowed because at some point people like, or have liked, it. It seems as though saturation is creeping in, though, even as a certain amount of technical vocabulary is accepted into transparency.

I've long been dissatisfied with exclusionary usage, though I do understand that at times shorthand is really useful when getting quickly to the point. Appropriateness depends entirely on the circumstances and the audience. Notice that design curricula are now starting to circumscribe more than math, physics, chemistry, and biology. That's in contrast to when I was in engineering graduate school not so long ago. Then, I took writing courses from the English department, which was, for me, taking a bit of a chance. I think that wouldn't be so much of a risk today, and to the extent these things are true, I bet there's better use of language in the technical community not far down the road.

Pete Z.

I am sure that you, as a well-traveled reader, are aware that _Private Eye_ in the U.K. runs regular lists of “solutions” neologisms. It all started after a reader wrote in to complain, and the list complements the satirical fortnightly's longstanding Warballs, Colemanballs, and Luvvies columns, among others.

Your point about the industry spending $10 billion dollars per year on advetising that befuddles potential customers is amazing. It shows how the tech companies and the ad agencies don't understand basic marketing principles.

Breaking The Chains

We need to reform Higher Education...
It holds the promise for the future..?
I've tried to access... interface... & confer...
w/reputedly... & allegedly... well educated people...
I must apologize in advance...
I... just don't see it...
It's extortion... we pay... & pay... & pay...
to share in a promise... that doesn't exist...
best evidence suggests... these institutions...
measure our stupidity
by the degree...

Those who can..? Do... Those who can't..? Teach...
& can't do that either...
It's the standard joke...
I have to defer to them...
so they can confer a degree upon me...
It should be the other way round...
Einstein was a poor student...
The Wright Bros... were bicycle makers...
from Dayton Ohio...
Thomas Alba Edison...
had a third gade education...
& the list goes on...

Great thinkers...
bolster the credability of these institutions...
not... the other way around...
If I was a degreed professional...?
These institutions... would lay claim...
for the victory...
of my insights...
I was denied... any real access...
I would be doing a grave dis-service...
If... I allowed that to happen..?

as for ringing endorsements..?
door... duh... door...
President Bush is a graduate of both...
Yale & Harvard...
If you went to these institutions..?
You could be president...
Is that a ringing endorsement..?
or glaring inditement..?

Don't you see...
My success... would shatter... these erroneous misconceptions...
It would... do even more than that...
It would open things up...
w/greater access & greater opportunity...
for everyone...
Why... am I so certain..?
I would'nt allow it to happen...
any other way...
@least not w/my endorsement...
I would rather die...
than betray... The Faith...
God has instilled in me...

Don't get me wrong...
I believe in higher education...
I'm just... not @all sure...
it even exists...

I'm a free thinker...
raised & nurtured in the loving embrace of...
A family...
full of... free thinkers...
I was raised to believe...
all things are possible...
cursed by adversity...
blessed by God...
I wouldn't have it any other way...
Adversity is the hand that shapes the clay...
God works...
in mysterious ways...

I'm no stranger... to constraint...
I've been a prisoner of constraint...
all my life...
Sure... I went to prison...
I could have done worse...
Honestly, I'd rather fight & die...
than capitulate...
& lose my soul... just because...
it's more convenient...

I've lived a celebate existance 46 yrs...
I can afford to be principled...
My older brothers... married young... & had children...
I... understand their constraint...
It's difficult... to feed your family...
on principles...
families could starve...
I... have suffered for principles...
others can't afford...

Our families have a vested interest...
in us...
We can't afford... to risk failure...
Isn't this a form of bondage..?
My earliest memories... reflect these facts...
I chose celebacy...
I couldn't afford to risk failure...
Everyone I love... & care about...
has a vested interest in me...

It's one thing to resign ourselves...
to desperation...
I refuse to take that risk...
I refuse to pass on... my desperation...
I chose instead... to condemn myself...
Desperation..?
Ends!!! here... now... w/me...

Seriosly, If I knew what intimacy was like..?
I couldn't go back...
I'd be trapped...
gratifying myself @the expense of others...
trying to avoid the pitfalls...
of birth control... & conception...
I chose abstinance...
I knew...
I could never abandon my offspring...

The act of pro-creation & conception
is a choice...
birth control & contraception...
have nothing to do w/it...
I have the upmost respect... for those...
who shoulder these obligations...
& absolutely no respect for those...
who do not...

I deserve respect...
I pay taxes...
I shoulder obligations...
I didn't even create...
If I did have children..?
I would kill anyone...
taking food from their mouths...
I would do anything & everything possible...
to provide for them...
or kill myself w/the effort...
Isn't that the choice...
we all make..?

Does anyone believe...
my choice to abstain... was an easy choice..?
What's the right choice..?
Having children..?
Are we prepared to face the obligation..?
I'm sorry...
paying for the obligations of others...
has made this a cost prohibitive choice...
for me...

Your children..? are!!! my... children...
making them... our... children...
I would brave hell & high water...
for them...
which is exactly what I've done...
all my life...
All I want...
Is the chance to do more...
Don't I deserve... haven't I...
earned that chance..?

Children...
are the only vested interest we all share...
our common ground
in the future...
It's the only investment...
we need to be concerned with...
We take care of the future...
& the future... takes care of itself...
am I right..?
The obstacles... I now face...
are the same obstacles... they will face...
in the future...
It looks... pretty grim...

There may not be a future..?
People living in the now...
is a reflection... of the facts...
You have to have a future...
before you can throw it away...
young & old alike...
people... are throwing away the future...
life w/no purpose... & no meaning...
is no life...
What kind of future is that..?

Despite the adversity of my life...
I'm not ready to make that concession...
just yet...
My present... & my past...
suck ass...
All I live for... is the future...
my chance to make a difference...
I have a profound belief in myself...
& the future...
Higher Power... Higher Purpose... Highest Spirits...
w/out these things..?
there is no future...

The thing that bothers me about "solutions" is that my job involves describing/figuring out what companies do. When they say they "provide solutions," I have no more idea of what they do than I did before I read the so-called "overview" of their business.

Mark...Perhaps...
You should seek help...