Monday, September 14, 2009

Outlook is the Industry Standard...or is it?

I try and I try yet still this line comes up.

Today it appeared to a few Twitter mates and I had a similar discussion with a financial organization.

So for the last time. Outlook is a client software. NOT a server.

Outlook is not an industry standard on this planet.

To be fair, nothing in IT is really an industry standard.

Although what SHOULD be an industry standard is the ability for a product to work on more than one monolithic Operating System.

Sadly, even the proponents of alternatives don't always have an option of their own.

So if one Google's "outlook is an industry standard" gets 6 hits(now 7).

Don't like that line, try this one: "outlook is the industry standard" only 3(now 4) hits.

Now try: "Lotus Notes is the industry standard" A whopping 13(now 14) references.

So the next time anyone lays that line on you, just remind them 200-400%+ more references to Lotus Notes being a standard exist than Outlook.

8 comments:

  1. No only does google show 6 comments but yours is right at the top! I am thinking about using that term as a PPC campaign :-) hehehe

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  2. How are you counting your hits? Here is what I got: Results 1 - 10 of about 1,150,000 for outlook is the industry standard. (0.38 seconds)

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  3. @charles - the searches are quoted phrases, e.g. "outlook is the industry standard" as opposed to outlook is the industry standard

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  4. Damn... Andrew beat me to it...

    Sadly, I am suffering a lack of sobriety at present. Two beers and eight (strong) whiskies will do that to even the best of people.

    (A group to which I do not pretend to belong.)

    Still, I shall try to respond in the cold harsh sober light of the morn...
    *hic*

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  5. OK, sober now (almost!) and have ranted on this theme here:
    http://www.not-so-rapid.com/philipstorry/s3blog/not-so-rapid.nsf/archive/2E90D451C981ED6A802576320041E6AC

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  6. Charles, you brought up a great point.

    In fact if you google "outlook is the industry standard" without quotes you do get indeed Results 1 - 20 of about 1,200,000.

    BUT if you do this search "notes is the industry standard" without quotes you do get Results 1 - 20 of about 11,300,000.

    Not an exact science and this of course could go either way depending on what you search.

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