In Chapter 1, one of the most interesting topics that I thought was addressed was the concept of Lock-In. As someone who works in the technology field, this is something that I witness on a daily basis and can see how it can plague companies. One of the most evident examples is Microsoft Office running on Apple computers. For years, many people would steer away from using an Apple computers because of the lack of compatibility with MS Office. However, Microsoft release a Mac version of the product in 2004, 2008, and 2011. They are scheduled to release another updated version in 2014. However, I frequently encounter friends and colleagues who still believe that there is "no office for apple." Even if this was true, the iWork suite allows documents to be saved in the format of their equivalent in the office suite.
Another example is when we look at operating systems. Many business get stuck having to utilize Microsoft Windows because they run programs that are proprietary to Windows database structures, such as MySQL. It is also difficult to find professionals who have experience working with enterprise solutions produced by Apple that are the equivalents to their Microsoft counterpart. Many people believe that since Microsoft has been the popular thing, it is the best. However, after working in two different shops, one that utilized each, there are significant advantages to Apple products, but we are locked in to PCs for many softwares. Even in our current department, we are stuck running virtual machines.
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