Computer Support Blog

Research and development is, arguably, one of the most exciting aspects of the tech sector.  Technology firms that have diverse interests invest quite a bit of money in research into emerging technologies or fantastic ideas and development of new products.  While a Chief Technology Officer of a firm that specializes exclusively in creating niche products through an extensive research and design department might seem like an incredible job that would satisfy the tinkerer’s urge so many engineers and scientists have, it is hardly a mindset that makes for running a company with the bottom line in mind.  Such companies require management that fosters such a creative CTO, while still focusing on business interests enough to keep the company profitable.  For Raytheon BBN Technologies, the parent company of radical gadget-maker Digital Force Technologies, the executive who effectively straddles the fence between economics and pure science is Ed Campbell. Read more »

In the course of a company’s stock, there is a natural movement; no goes constantly up.  It is perfectly natural for stock values to rise and fall based on any number of a multitude of factors.  Yet, within the last twenty years, there has been an unrealistic expectation that tech sector stocks will go homogenously upward, even though there is ample evidence to prove that the stock market, especially as it pertains to the tech sector, is far more volatile.  Perhaps no tech sector company offered stock with more expectations and more difficulty in recent memory than Facebook. Read more »

The dream story of the American worker is one where an individual with an aptitude for a skill can find work at a big company to earn a living.  Over years, with hard work and additional training/education, the dream of the worker is to someday take over management of the company they started at.  That dream comes true with increasingly less frequency as competition, mergers, and radical shifts in the marketplace have companies rising and falling faster than ever.  But one of the great success stories for the American dream came true recently when Virginia Rometty took the reins at IBM! Read more »

It is developer’s conference time!  Following on the heels of Apple’s Developer’s Conference and the All Things D D10 Conference, where guests from all across the tech sector and media spoke, Google’s annual I/O Conference will start on June 27 in San Francisco, California.  The three day conference is sold-out and is expected to include a slew of new product releases that should reach the marketplace by the end of the year.  Rumored products being announced at the I/O Conference this year include: Read more »

While there are many companies in the tech sector whose names and products are easily recognizable – Microsoft, Google, and Apple, for example – there are other companies whose names are frequently mentioned, but their product lines remain a mystery to the general population.  For example, many Americans would probably say they have heard of Oracle and know that it is a big business within the tech sector.  The population would be dramatically smaller, though, of Americans who could identify a specific product from Oracle.  In a similar fashion, “Quest” often appears on technology and business updates, but what the multibillion dollar company produces is unclear to many who do not have direct dealings with the company. Read more »

One does not have to look very hard at the managers of tech companies, small and large, to find a company that is run exclusively by men at the highest levels.  Apple Computers, the most profitable company on Earth, has only one woman on its Board of Directors and none of the executives at the Senior Vice President level or above are female!  In many ways, the tech sector remains a “boy’s club.”  Working very hard to change that is Shaherose Charania. Read more »

How would you feel if every time you made a telephone call, you had to listen to an advertisement?  What if, periodically, while you spoke on the telephone, your conversation was interrupted by advertisers trying to sell you on their products and services?  Would it be possible to feel anything but outrage if that sort of advertising not only occurred, but was based upon the topics of the private conversation you were having?  This sort of privacy violation seems utterly, almost indisputably, wrong when it comes to a hypothetical situation involving telecommunications, yet each and every day, Internet users accept that exact circumstance.  Why? Read more »

Today’s software companies face a number of challenges that software companies did not have, or were not as extreme, thirty years ago.  Now, in addition to increased competition, software companies face licensing issues, increased piracy, and more intense marketing campaigns to remain commercially successful.  That is why software companies need corporate leadership from an individual who truly understands the complexities of international economics.  Software manufacturer Avanquest has Roger Bloxberg! Read more »

A few years ago, it probably seemed like a silly idea to license from popular franchises in order to produce flash drives.  The Boston-based Mimoco, however, did just that and they had a pretty impressive success with their Star Wars line of character USB flash drives.  Science fiction geeks can now be joined by comic book geeks as Mimoco’s popular MIMOBOT line includes an extensive selection of characters from DC Comics! Read more »

California is the home to so many tech sector jobs that it is almost hard to believe that anywhere else in the country would have any tech jobs that needed filling!  Part of the reason so many start-ups and enduring tech sector businesses take root in California is because of the colleges.  Some of the world’s most renowned universities for science and technology are located in California: UCLA, Stanford, and the University of California at Berkeley, to name a few.  Many businesses work to recruit ambitious, technical-minded employees right out of college.  That is what happened with Alicia Chen. Read more »