04
Mon, Nov
1 New Articles

Lost Opportunities

Commentary
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

Economists often refer to "opportunity costs." What are opportunity costs? If you expend finite resources on project A, you will not be able use them to undertake other projects. The opportunity cost of project A is the value that you forgo by not being able to pursue the next best use of those resources.

The business section of my morning newspaper, The Globe and Mail, includes a page of news from The Wall Street Journal. I recently spotted a small blurb on that page that mentioned that a private company had just received $108 million in venture capital to help expand its anti-spyware software business.

How are these two things--opportunity costs and anti-spyware venture capital--related? Well, I got to thinking. Thinking was such a strain that I had to take a nap, but when I awoke I still had the same thought. If it weren't for the existence of spyware, anti-spyware software would provide absolutely no value whatsoever. In short, the existence of spyware forces us (society as a whole, not just you and me) to incur tremendous opportunity costs for something that would be utterly useless were it not for a bunch of people (and I use the term "people" loosely) determined to make exceptional pests of themselves.

Think about it. True, being investment dollars, that money likely would not have gone to a purely altruistic cause had the anti-spyware opportunity not existed, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't have been invested in something that might have produced significantly more value for society and, if the venture was successful, possibly also for the investors. That $108 million invested in anti-spyware software is $108 million not invested in a company searching for a cure for cancer or AIDS. It's $108 million that's not invested in a company creating better educational material for children. It's $108 million that's not invested in developing more safety devices for our cars. And, what really upsets me, not one penny of that $108 million is invested in my services. Then again, it's $108 million that's not invested in developing yet another extremely graphic and realistic video game that glorifies violence and desensitizes players to some of the most horrid carnage imaginable, so maybe it's not all that bad.

Of course, that $108 million is only the tip of the iceberg. That's just one company in a burgeoning sector, a sector that the software industry's 900-pound guerrilla, Microsoft, recently invested in. And it was just one round of venture capital funding. Who knows how much more capital the company already had and will get in the future. What's more, that's just anti-spyware software. Enormous investments have been made and will continue to be made in a whole host of other hardware and software solutions with the sole purpose of defending against the malfeasance or nuisance of others. Anti-spam software, anti-virus software, and firewalls come to mind.

I tried, in vain, to find an estimate of the total amount of money invested in R&D, marketing, distribution, and maintenance of these technologies. I couldn't find a number, but if that one little company got $108 million in just one round of financing for just anti-spyware software, then the total across the whole industry has to be in the billions. That's billions spent just to combat stuff that other people are foisting on us against our wishes. It sounds almost like an enormous protection racket, doesn't it?

It doesn't stop there. Your employer has to spend time and money to buy the countermeasures and install them on your work computer. Money spent on that software is money that your employer can't spend on one of the universe's most noble purposes, your salary. What's more, unless you really don't care what happens to it, you also have to buy this stuff for your home computer. Money spent on that is money that you can't spend on food, clothing, entertainment, travel, your children's education, or an ultra-cool radio-controlled model racing car with a 10-function remote control, multiple gears, neon underbody lighting, top speeds of up to 2,000 feet per minute.... But I'm getting a little carried away.

Then there are the hidden opportunity costs. Your computer and/or maybe a few upstream servers probably have firewall, anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-spyware software running continuously in the background. The cycles that they chew up are cycles that you cannot assign to other purposes. Even if you don't have any other productive applications that you want to run for your own purposes, you could contribute those cycles to noble projects such as the World Community Grid and SETI@home. These worthwhile endeavors send data out over the Internet to individuals' and businesses' computers, which then use excess cycles to process the data via a background program and/or a screensaver. The results are then sent back to the projects' central servers.

The current World Community Grid project is identifying the proteins that make up the Human Proteome, thereby helping scientists to build the understanding that they need to develop novel and effective treatments for diseases like cancer, HIV/AIDS, SARS, and malaria. SETI@home (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), run out of the University of California, Berkeley, analyzes data from the Arecibo radio telescope to search for patterns that might indicate a signal sent by intelligent extraterrestrial life. If you know of any other similar projects, please feel free to post information about them in the forum attached to this article.

We probably all have relatives, friends, business associates, or neighbors who have suffered horribly and possibly died from some of the diseases that the World Community Grid is trying to address, so you can easily see why I classify that as a noble cause. However, you might wonder why I put SETI@home in the same class. Well, when I get to thinking about the absolutely incredible waste involved in the battles of anti-virus software versus viruses, anti-spam versus spam, anti-spyware versus spyware, and firewalls versus intrusions, I can't help thinking of a line from a song in the old Monty Python movie The Meaning of Life:

"So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure,
How amazingly unlikely is your birth,
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!"

Joel Klebanoff is a consultant, a writer, and president of Klebanoff Associates, Inc., a Toronto, Canada-based marketing communications firm. Joel has 25 years experience working in IT, first as a programmer/analyst and then as a marketer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in computer science and an MBA, both from the University of Toronto. Contact Joel at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. He currently donates his computer's spare cycles to SETI@home, but he will probably switch to the World Community Grid when he finally gives up on the possibility of there being any intelligent life in the universe.

Joel Klebanoff

Joel Klebanoff is a consultant, writer, and formerly president of Klebanoff Associates, Inc., a Toronto-based marketing communications firm. He has 30 years' experience in various IT capacities and now specializes in writing articles, white papers, and case studies for IT vendors and publications across North America. Joel is also the author of BYTE-ing Satire, a compilation of a year's worth of his columns. He holds a BS in computer science and an MBA, both from the University of Toronto.


MC Press books written by Joel Klebanoff available now on the MC Press Bookstore.

BYTE-ing Satire BYTE-ing Satire
Find out the hilarious answer to the eternal question: "Is technology more hindrance than help?"
List Price $14.95

Now On Sale

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: