Some of you may have noticed that I’m a bit of a technophile. I love the new and the shiny, the sleek and the powerful. I have an overwhelming belief that two year old computers should be heading towards the ash heap of history. And that sets the stage for what comes next…

One of the wonderful features of my work is the quasi-regular video-teleconference we have with various and sundry locations. We tried to host said VTC from our new office this afternoon. When I walked into the room 15 minutes before the great event was to start and all the lights were off, I had the first inkling that there could be a problem. When I went to find the IT people to set up the equipment and they weren’t around, I knew we had a problem.

When, 15 minutes after the meeting should have started, the IT tech is struggling mightily to get the equipment set up we should have known the better part of valor was to throw in the towel. And just when you think the day couldn’t get any more odd, the computer supposed to be running all of the telephone equipment boots up… and is running Windows 95.

Win 95 was a groundbreaking OS back in the day… way back. There have been 5 new versions of windows since then and I hate to estimate how many generations of new computers have come and gone in the last 12 years. I guess that’s why no one was really surprised when 20 minutes into a meeting that started 20 minutes late, the computer froze and dropped the connection.

It boggles my mind that anyone would try to conduct business with this kind of set up. Quite frankly it’s more than a little embarrassing. In the right hands technology is a beautiful thing. In the wrong hands it can be a dangerous thing. But when it’s 2007 and your communications infrastructure is running Windows 95, it’s just a paperweight.