Supposedly Microsoft is in favor of focus group testing, the better to evaluate new products and get public reaction. Yet you have to wonder how they continue to come up with curious, ill-thought solutions that seemingly defy logic. Take the ribbon toolbar. Microsoft wanted you to believe that toolbars containing icons that were context sensitive […]

Let’s start with Apple: We can assume that the recent executive changes at our favorite fruit company were the result of failures. iOS head Scott Forstall apparently got dumped for his Maps misfire, his refusal to sign the letter apologizing for the mapping defects, and perhaps for being  a jerk. John Browett was fired because […]

When outrageous businessman/personality Donald Trump finds someone unacceptable on his reality TV show, he gloats and announces with utter sarcasm, “You’re fired!” It is clear that Tim Cook, in putting his stamp on his tenure as CEO of Apple, has evidently taken that phrase to heart. Well, perhaps partly. In an unexpected move on Tuesday, it […]

I have a client who spent years preparing reports in Microsoft Word for local educational systems. He had devised a fairly sophisticated workflow that involved using a keyboard shortcut program to trigger such functions as application launching, opening a new page, and choosing the proper text format. Now before we go on, let me also […]