I think radical architectural innovation comes in places where you least expect it, big or small. The relational data model is a fascinating one to me -- it was arguably a drastic alteration of the way data would be managed, and a major orientation switch towards "decision support" vs. just automating operations.
Here's a case where an IBMer invents it, IBM prototypes it with System R, but pipsqueak Oracle ran off with it, (and still retains the lead if you don't count mainframes. ;) Now Oracle is the behemoth. The sad part about this example cycle of innovation is that it took 10 years for a product to be released (from Codd's 1969 paper, to the release of Oracle V2 in 1979), another 5 years (1984) for read consistency to appear, and another 7 years for the products to be really large scale, with hot backups, and integrity (1992 with Oracle 7, Sybase, etc.). I remember having discussions with AS/400 RPG developers in 1997 about this "new idea" of referential integrity..... So I think there is definitely room in the market for novel solutions, but I think intertia is a combination of mixed motivations.. Yes, there's a status quo feeling among large vendors, but even broader, I think most people, even technologists, just don't like change, at all. Since large vendors have to cater to a larger base of people, they have to balance continunity with innovation -- not always an easy feat, especially when ego and "momuments to yesterday" are involved. Cheers Stu --- Steve Ross-Talbot <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What does seem to be the case is that they have a > fairly conventional > view of technology rather than > an innovative one. And innovation can be as much > about IT in support of > new business practices as > it can be about new technology. The combination of > the two is the sweet > spot that I hope we all aim > for. Delivering value is always and will always be > the key. It is a > question of making sure the consumers > are properly and fairly briefed as to what their > options really are. > That I would contend is something that > happens all too infrequently - but then I am a risk > taker. > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/service-orientated-architecture/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
