Addicted to Email

Having just returned from Microsoft’s Tech Ed annual event in Barcelona, Spain in which developers from all over Europe meet to see Microsoft’s latest and greatest, I returned home this year a little disappointed.

In terms of acquiring new knowledge, there was plenty for everyone this year as always, though ridiculous as it seems, I can’t shake the feeling that MS are feeling the pinch as much as the rest of us.

On the first day we were treated to a cheese sandwich and salad in a brown paper bag for lunch – a far cry from the superb buffets of yesteryear while a constant police presence outside reminded us that this is not the lowest-crime area of Europe.

What did stand out for me was Internet Explorer 8 beta 2, which at first glance isn’t that special but which for the first time actually has some decent debugging tools built in and support for “web slices” – if that doesn’t mean anything to you – I recommend a quick Google on the subject.

At a talk on the forthcoming “Windows 7” the speaker asked the audience what features they would most like to see in Windows 7. I recall plenty of responses but they were all exactly the same – “speed”.

Of course, I only got to see part of the story because I’m one of those who made the mistake of bringing my work laptop with me. I should know better by now, we’ve just re-launched our website, a massive affair requiring reworking and re-wording of thousands of pages, a process that will continue for months, so it was inevitable that there were going to be at least some extra emails, mainly from staff with suggestions for improvement and questions about changes made.... but I’d not quite counted on the quantity I received (many hundreds) and so while others were learning the delights of CRM 4.0 or digging deep into SQL 2008 I spend my first day encouraging carpal tunnel syndrome, sitting in front of the laptop answering endless emails!

Increasingly everyone wants answers NOW and once you start, it’s hard to put the laptop down until the inbox is clear. Next year, I’m leaving the computer at home!