EDITORIAL - Lights, camera, action ... oops
What a weird week. Apart from large chip vendors squaring off and playing footsie over the name and launch date of their latest turbo-charged silicon, we were assaulted by not one, but two, video nasties.
Who would have thought that car parks would play a role in the running of a large distributor? Northamber found itself on the wrong end of a fly-on-the-wall documentary about workers and how they get treated, and act, in the workplace. If Northamber thought the BBC series was going to be a media coup or a channel version of This is Your Life, the programme's name, Workers at War, should have a been a little hint.
Without going into too much detail, Northamber did not appear in the best light, due mainly to the comments of a few choice individuals and their unique ways of dealing with workplace conflict. We cannot confirm a direct link between the broadcasting of the series and a 10 per cent drop in the company's share price the following day, but it's obvious that the content did nothing but harm to the company's reputation.
On a wider note, this is the kind of coverage the channel doesn't need, especially since we are constantly hearing about a cleaner, friendlier, more professional channel. The Northamber piece indicated that certain bad channel traits have yet to be overcome and no doubt certain practices will be altered as a result of the programme. We somehow think it will be a cold day in hell before another channel player appears on TV - unless, of course, Carol Vorderman wants to redo some managing director's house.
The second - and slightly more wide-ranging video nasty - appeared as part of the US Department of Justice/Microsoft squabble. Incredibly, on the stand, Jim Allchin, senior vice president of Microsoft, opened his mouth really wide and then managed to jump in with both feet.
Microsoft had provided lots of video evidence of tests the company had run to show how Windows' performance suffered when Explorer was blocked by a program developed by government witness, Ed Felton. How surprising, then, when it became clear on video that Felton's program was not even being run and that the 'one' PC in the so-called 'seamless' demonstration was, in fact, numerous different PCs.
Allchin fluffed and argued the validity of the tests, despite the glaringly obvious. It was a bad day in court for the software giant that could have ended better if Judge Jackson hadn't addressed the court and said: 'It certainly casts doubt on the reliability - the entire reliability - of the video demonstration.'
Don't forget to tune in next week when PC Dealer will be reviewing those other channel video classics Margins from Outer Space and Psst ... Have I Got a Deal for You.
PC DEALER MEETS THE PLAYERS
Continuing our popular Face to Face series of interviews with top players in the channel, PC Dealer meets next week exclusively with Sandy Scott, the UK managing director of the world's largest distributor, Ingram Micro. In less than a year, Scott has radically altered the structure of Ingram and the way it does business. He talks in-depth about the challenges and opportunities for Ingram and the channel in 1999, especially with the increasing chances of a global recession on the horizon. The interview coincides with the revamped Ingram roadshow, Interface, which kicks off next week in Edinburgh. It will focus on offering resellers more briefings from industry figures on key technologies and trends.