Jim Lawrence
accessd at shaw.ca
Sun Mar 3 13:11:38 CST 2013
Hi William: That has been a very common refrain for years. Whether IE10 and subsequent releases be able to turn that trend around is anyone's guess. If I was Microsoft I would make my browser cross-platform... It is the only major browser that is not. Jim -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of William Benson Sent: Friday, March 01, 2013 1:17 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] AccessD never changes Overheard Best Buy Geek Squad rep today telling customer " the only thing I would Internet explorer for is to download Google Chrome. " On Mar 1, 2013 12:02 PM, "jack drawbridge" <jackandpat.d at gmail.com> wrote: > I guess it a sign of the times, and for those of us who have been around a > while, it does provide some humor. But this seems to be a growing trend on > many of the forums in which I participate. They have 6 tables, a bunch of > data,but no awareness of a project plan, a conceptual design, interaction > with the user, a high level data model (artist's concept of the new house > sort of thing"). The biggest concern is how to store a calculated value in > a table; followed by "What's a query?" It won't be for another month or so > till they ask about relationships and/or naming convention. > > I'm also on a list where some of the M$oft specialists are having > difficulty with Office365, Sharepoint and some options that were shown at > the recent Summit Conference. I mention this to show some of the issues > that I see in my limited scope. > My interpretation of these is that M$oft is selling/marketing some of the > Office "stuff" including Access to end users as a solution to database. > The "users"/"company management" see the ads for software and believe that > the software solves the business issue. The M$oft specialist are busy > promoting another new product/concept/approach -- too busy to listen to the > hard core users. The M$oft motto may be --We're selling sizzle not steak. > > It's confusing, just as we are questioning AccessD, M$oft is promoting > these tools to "users/management", but at the same time I'm seeing MVP's > asking (M$oft and AccessTeam) to put more emphasis on the capabilities of > ACCESS and be respectful of the installed base. I realize M$oft is a > business and must continue with products/services. But is it leaving > existing customers behind, mostly abandoned? Sure there are other products > - move to SQL Server, move to Sharepoint. > But move often means more dollars, more training, more software/hardware > purchases, conversion, change in processes - at a time when the economy > isn't great. I don't see anyone, other than M$oft, touting this latest > round of offerings. > > Maybe there is some humor in that, but I think for many of us, we've seen > at least one cycle of this merry-go-round, and we're unsure if we should > jump off now, or go for another ride. > > > On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 11:01 AM, Tina Norris Fields < > tinanfields at torchlake.com> wrote: > > > Jack, you made me laugh right out loud with this one: > > > > <snip> > > > > > > These users seem to feel that- now that they have the Access software, > the > > databases will just > > get generated.???? no concepts, no plans,... > > > > </snip > > > > I was teaching a Lotus 1-2-3 class in the summer of 1995 (DOS version), > > especially important for students who were enrolling in the college's > > accounting courses. As we began, I was offering examples of problems to > be > > easily solved using formulas in 1-2-3. Describing several Girl Scouts > with > > differing numbers of boxes of cookies to sell, I started making the > formula > > to calculate the total number of dollars each Girl Scout was responsible > > for, noting that it was a simple algebraic expression. From the back of > > the room came the outraged cry, "Algebra! Nobody told me I would need > > algebra for this!" Stunned, I asked the young lady why that would be a > > problem, for surely she had learned algebra in high school. No, she had > > not. Algebra was not required in her high school curriculum. Now, > > remember, this young lady intended to pursue an accounting degree. She > > needed to be able to craft formulas in a spreadsheet, and she had no > > knowledge of algebra. I asked her gently how she expected to proceed. > She > > declared that she expected the program to figure out how to set up the > > formulas, because that was what she understood its usefulness to be. I > > don't know how she expected to tell the program what the problem to be > > solved was, but it had never dawned on her that she had any > responsibility > > to think her way through the solution process. > > > > Thanks for the memory and the laugh - bittersweet though it is. > > > > T > > > > Tina Norris Fields > > tinanfields-at-torchlake-dot-**com > > 231-322-2787 > > > > > > On 2/21/2013 1:44 PM, jack drawbridge wrote: > > > >> And many of the forums from my view seem to have a large percentage of > new > >> users. Usually students doing assignments, or the self learning group > that > >> has never heard of normalization, relationships... They all seem to > >> Acc2010 or 2013, and most have installed the 64 bit version, and have > the > >> latest hardware. Their big issue is how to update a "cell", or how to > >> write > >> SQL. Most have never heard of a data model (or ERD). These users seem to > >> feel that- now that they have the Access software, the databases will > just > >> get generated.???? no concepts, no plans,... > >> Seems they are still teaching using Access n some schools, but none of > the > >> database/relational theory. Many have never heard of Normalization. I > >> had > >> one (British hair salon owner trying to deal with appointments, staff > >> availability and products) who accused me of "hijacking" his thread > >> because > >> I asked what his core business was and could he post a jpg of his tables > >> and relationships etc.. I asked about his core business and asked if he > >> should be running the salon/cutting hair etc, and should he be building > >> the > >> database or hire a contractor. He also said he didn't know what a data > >> model was and certainly had no need of one now and my questions weren't > >> helping him He needed to know how to write a query to add totals into > one > >> of his tables.. > >> > >> I think AccessD, and I have been a long time lurker/learner with few > >> posts, is far beyond these basics. When a discussion or issue is raised, > >> it > >> is usually meaningful, thought out and relevant. Perhaps we have mostly > >> beaten the variety of syntax issues, and 99 ways to skin the cat, and > >> there > >> are no longer the numerous, more mundane issues for resolution. > >> > >> I'm not sure what exactly would revamp/reface/re-energize AccessD. I > like > >> John's blog. Perhaps the Ruby on Rails or other topics as has been > >> suggested. However, I feel that may not get a broad take up. I'm > retired; > >> have been for 5 years, my Access is typically helping people on the > >> forums. > >> As has been pointed out, many here are 40+ (maybe 50+), with diverse > jobs. > >> And some have been forced to look for new opportunities to use their > >> skills.I don't see a lot of people jumping to Acc2013 or Sharepoint, > and I > >> personally have no real interest there. > >> > >> Any way, just a little rambling to feed the pot. > >> > >> jack > >> > >> > > -- > > AccessD mailing list > > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > > http://databaseadvisors.com/**mailman/listinfo/accessd< > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd> > > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.**com< > http://www.databaseadvisors.com> > > > -- > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com