Now a bit of non-gratitude.

We have just been migrated across to the full corporate IT network of the multi-national entity that bought us. All I can say is, with email systems like this, no wonder communications are so poor.

No fault of the IT guys themselves, they were patient and did exactly what thyey were required to do by the constraints of their jobs and corporate IT policy. But let me say this:

Lotus notes sucks harder than an aeroplane toilet.

Over the years I've used a number of email clients. Bmail, eudora (nasty) various versions of communicator, various outlooks and expresses and thunderbird. Notes 6.5 is by some distance the worst that I've ever used, even less intuitive and cooperative than eudora, and behaves like some kind of windows 3.1 app.

Outlook 2003 was, by comparison, sophisticated, sleek, intuitive and actually helpful. It was designed with the users in mind (not just IT administration) and compared to notes, would offer a potential huge boost in productivity.

I have a number of other grumbles about the changes to our IT systems, but notes is by far and away the biggest. It is seriously awkard enough that I'd almost wish I could change jobs to be rid of it. Almost. I shall need to do some serious work on ergonomics too, as the new laptop has a widescreen running at 1440X900 (15" diagonal running at 19" monitor resolution) with fonts so tiny that I have to bend over it, and it's giving me neck ache after just a couple of hours. There is more to mobile computing than getting more and more onto smaller and smaller interfaces, and this has just gone beyond the limits of bearability. Strictly speaking not the company's fault at all, of course - they've actually 'bought' me a nice new laptop of 'standard' specification.

Internet usage through internet explorer 6 has an interesting 'retro' feel to it as well. Tabbed browsing, how I miss you - so far no way has been found to install Opera or Firefox. :-(

I'm also having to fight the temptation to hack and modify the corporate screensaver. It presents us with corporate platitudes encouraging us to 'do the right thing' etc, and is just crying out for all the gooey stuff to be replaced with amusing vulgarity. This stuff works in the US ONLY. In the rest of the world it can only have the opposite effect.

So Mr. corporate person (company name NOT mentioned) if you followed this from my web useage through the company network, I'd LOVE to help you create a corporate IT policy and system that encourages creativity and efficiency, rather than kills it as I fear this one does. There are some things more important than reducing cost of ownership models.

Lunchtime posting over.