Ray Ozzie. My Hero?
A funny thing happened last night. There I was sprawled over the sofa, minding my own business, dividing my time between the laptop and Silent Witness, when Karen pipes up:
"I've got something to say to you", she says.
This normally means the same as "We need to talk". Inside I'm thinking "Oh God, what have I done now!?" but simply ask what's on her mind.
"Ray... Ozzie... Clouds", she replies.
"Have you been watching the news?" I ask her.
Having watched this clip from BBC online earlier in the day I think I knew what she was talking about. Turns out she'd seen it on the TV and thought she'd try and impress me or, at least, feign an interest in whatever it is she thinks I do. What she didn't realise was who Ray Ozzie is or the relevance of what he's done in the past to my life now.
"Are you asking because you know he was the man who invented Lotus Notes?", I asked.
"No, I didn't know that. Is he your hero then?", she replied. To which I replied "Hmm, not really" and we left it at that. Karen still non-the-wiser as to exactly what I do.
It was funny as, when I'd been watching the interview earlier, I couldn't help but look at him and wonder how different my life would be had Lotus Notes not come about. But hey, that's fate for you and I'm not going to question whether my life would be better or worse. Fact is I'm happy where I am and shouldn't ever take that for granted.
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"I couldn't help but look at him and wonder how different my life would be had Lotus Notes not come about"
You would probably hit F5 instead of F9 for trying to refresh a page.
No such thing as fate Jakey boy - simply things that happen. You went into Lotus Notes, or whatever it that you do, because that is the manifestation of what 'happened'.
I still do press F5 Olivier and lock myself out all the time. Curse that Ozzie man!
Mark. I refuse to get philosophical with a man whose theory on life is that you're born with an allocation of words to say and, once you've said them all, you die. On which note I'll shut up.
All great philosphers have trial theories with which they experiment. I'm sure Aristotle or Socrates must have done something similar which was consigned to the dustbin.
I take it you've binned that concept then Mark!? Anyway, why are you even reading this. Don't you have pop to sell.
Aye, what is it with the sudden public awareness of Cloud Computing? Just the other day my partner heard it on the news and asked me what it was.
--Just checked the link: Ah, Microsoft trying to drum up support among consumers by mentioning buzzwords. Should've known.
It used to be that my wife would hardly talk about computers. Said they were boring. Now that she went to work for IBM and started using Notes every day our conversations about computers have expanded and made my life more enjoyable.
In fact she's using version 8 while I'm still on 7 so she's ahead of me on some things.
Definitely made my life better.
Peace,
Rob:-]
I actually met Ray Ozzie, when he was still with Iris. Back in the day when my company would send me to LotusSphere, we are talking almost 10 - 13 years ago... we were a Premium Business Partner and I was attending the Beakon Awards. After the event, I walked outside to hail a taxi to take me back to the hotel.
I was standing there minding my own business, when "the man" himself walks outside and stands next to me, to wait for a taxi as well. Just the two of us.
We chatted breifly, he asked who I was and I explained the company I was with and the size.. at the time we only had a total of 20 consultants or so. I remember him smiling and saying how he really enjoyed working for a small company like that.
Anyhow... I thought it was pretty cool at the time that a man in his position seemed so down to earth and would chat with a nobody like me. And yes, I still took the next cab.. I was next in line :)
When I told my boss the next day who I met, she freaked. Wanna talk heros... I think she worshiped the man and it's a good thing she wasn't with me, as she may have grabbed ahold of him and never let go.
What I always wonder.... what would Notes be like today had Mr. Ozzie stayed on with IBM? Better yet, what would Notes be like if IBM didn't decide to put all their efforts into selling WebSphere, but rather focused their efforts on growing the Notes business?
I've been doing Notes, almost exclusively for 10 years. My father worked in it for 7 years, before retiring in 2002. I enjoy it, and will keep doing it as much as I can, which looks like a long time from where I sit.
I still think Iris would have been better to take care of it, rather than it getting somewhat "lost" with "Big Blue".
I also wonder... did Notes use F5 to lock down the keyboard before or after internet browsers used it to refresh? Hmm...
"It hurts to be on the cutting edge."
Ozzie has choosen for the dark side of the force
Going back through history, does anyone know how "Lotus" was coined? About 13 years ago, I heard it was from Jim Manzi who practicesed, TM or Transcendital Meditation.
Can anyone verify?
I worked with Ray Ozzie for serveral years in the early 90's on the first few versions of what was then referred to as Lotus Notes. I was the QA Supervisor for the server aspects of the product at Lotus. His partners Tim, Len, and another guy that I cant remember were still employed as Iris employees. What a wonderful group of guys to work with! Does anyone know how I can get in touch with Ray for advice on a software endeavor that I am pursuing?