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A Developer's View

At the intersection between technology and economic policy, John Carroll brings years of experience as a software developer to bear on the latest issues affecting the technology industry.

John Carroll

<p>John Carroll has programmed in a wide variety of computing domains, including servers, client PCs, mobile phones and even mainframes. His current specialties are C#, .NET, Java, WIN32/COM and C++, and he has applied those skills in everything from distributed web-based systems to embedded devices. In his spare time, he enjoys the world of digital video, and served as director of photography and editor on a feature-length film produced in Limerick, Ireland, as well as a low-budget production filmed in Los Angeles that used Panavision digital cameras (the same ones used by George Lucas in the later Star Wars episodes).</p> <p>John worked in Microsoft's Mediaroom division from May, 2005 to May, 2008. He is co-founder of <a href="http://www.forgetmenotafrica.com">ForgetMeNot Software</a>, a creator of unified messaging software targeted at telecommunications providers, where he currently works as Director of Technology.

Latest Posts

Spreading the .NET surface area

Mary Jo Foley recently blew the lid off Longhorn's "Dirty Little Secret." Longhorn isn't going to be based on the .

May 30, 2005 by John Carroll in Developer

Will content companies avoid open source?

David Berlind recently described the Microsoft Windows Media Juggernaut as "unstoppable." I'm inclined to agree.

May 25, 2005 by John Carroll in Open Source

The Hollywoodization of gaming

E3, the annual gaming industry conference, was in Los Angeles last week, and many celebrated the coming evolution of gaming from its core target audience (mostly young and male) to a new audience encompassing more age groups and genders. Driving this will be the power provided by the new gaming consoles, which will enable whole new levels of realism in game play.

May 24, 2005 by John Carroll in CXO

Disclosure: The offer you can't refuse

Some of you may have noticed that I've started blogging for ZDNet. As of next Wednesday, I'll have my own blog section, so expect to see more of me.

May 19, 2005 by John Carroll in Microsoft

Is that an iPod phone in your pocket?

In response to my blog post asking whether handhelds with hard drives might start to give iPod (and other dedicated music players) a run for its money, one Talkbacker pointed out that iPod now includes a Calendar feature, showing that iPod can give as good as it gets and push back against incursion from handheld vendors.

May 15, 2005 by John Carroll in Apple

Monocultures and automobiles

Many have expressed concern about the use of networking technology in automobiles. Radio frequency identification chips (aka RFID chips) are common in the keychain "fobs" millions around the world use to open their cars.

May 12, 2005 by John Carroll in Security

Why open access won't fix our telecom mess

Continuing my previous post, the biggest problem I have with Thomas Bleha's prescription for fixing what ails American broadband is its requirement of open access. At first blush, that might seem a good idea.

May 11, 2005 by John Carroll in Telcos

The sorry state of American telecom

Thomas Bleha, recipient of an Abe Fellowship and a former Foreign Service officer in Japan for eight years, published an article in the May/June edition of Foreign Affairs where he warns America that its broadband and wireless technology failures could have high costs in the future due to lost opportunities for economic growth, increased productivity, and a better quality of life. (A recent News.

May 11, 2005 by John Carroll in Networking

When programmers change their tune

In past blog posts regarding the difficulties inherent in crossing programming domains (Unix to Windows, say), some claimed that programming is universal, and any decent programmer should be able to cross development boundaries as easily as crossing the street. If they can't then they are stupid and should be fired (someone did claim that).

May 9, 2005 by John Carroll in Windows

PalmOne--iPod killer?

I've had a HP PocketPC device for about a year and a half now, ever since I bought it at the 2003 Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles. It basically served as an expensive doorstop for about six months, as I lacked a Wi-Fi network, and handhelds are only marginally useful (at least for me) in the absence of a Wi-Fi network.

May 8, 2005 by John Carroll in Mobility

Why the third world won't save open source

The primary barrier to Linux growth is the cost of moving from a Windows ecosystem to a Linux ecosystem. Developing nations, however, have less existing IT infrastructure.

May 4, 2005 by John Carroll in Open Source

Why copy Microsoft?

In a previous blog entry, I talked about why I thought Microsoft wouldn't have trouble convincing Windows users to upgrade to Longhorn. As I also claimed that older versions of Windows are the biggest competitor to Longhorn, the Talkbacks started discussing Linux, believed by many to be a credible alternative to Windows.

May 2, 2005 by John Carroll in Enterprise Software

For Windows bug hunters, there's strength in numbers

Last week, I responded to some of James Coplien's remarks concerning what customers expect from their software. At the ACCU conference last month, Coplien also talked about the security advantages enjoyed by a distributed, independent development community:Security is a system concern--it is a complex system.

May 1, 2005 by John Carroll in Open Source

Ruling jeopardizes media copy protection

A French court has ruled against copy protection software on DVDs that prevented the plaintiff from copying a DVD of Mulholland Drive into a video tape for "personal use" (which is mildly amusing, as Mulholland Drive is exactly the kind of movie I'd expect would appeal to French tastes).

May 1, 2005 by John Carroll in Legal

Why you'll join the Longhorn evolution

Molly Wood, senior editor of CNET.com, recently asked why people would bother to upgrade to Longhorn when Avalon and Indigo will be available to WinXP/2003 users, and WinFS has been deferred entirely.

April 27, 2005 by John Carroll in Windows