Comments on: Words matter

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:11:35 +0000

“What we have here is a failure to communicate”
– one of the best movie lines ever

It's interesting to see how one comment can balloon. I think there's a second lesson here.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:11:35 +0000

“What we have here is a failure to communicate”
– one of the best movie lines ever

It's interesting to see how one comment can balloon. I think there's a second lesson here.

By: Geoff

Geoff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:11:00 +0000

“What we have here is a failure to communicate”
– one of the best movie lines ever

It’s interesting to see how one comment can balloon. I think there’s a second lesson here.

By: benkepes

benkepes — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:56:35 +0000

I've used Xero across several business for a year or so – while I'll agree that it's slower in NZ than in the US, I'd not call it “dead slow”. Agreed however that Akamai should improve things for users with significant round trip distances to Rackspace's servers…

By: Dermott Renner

Dermott Renner — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:54:20 +0000

Ben, Dennis

My 2 cents worth.

I agree with Dennis that technology speak does muddle the communication and as I tell my staff "we are a communication company, not an IT company". If our customers do not understand what we write then we have failed.

Ben, stop being a Xero fan boy and understand what Dennis said and why he said. Technology alone will not do it for Xero. Xero is dead slow in NZ compared to in the US and hopefully the Akamai caching will deal to this issue which is a very real issue. If using an online accounting system increases your work day because it is slow then eventually this does not become a win-win for both parties involved.

A better way to write the article would have been to explain how this will speed up access. Now that will really get peoples attention.

PS. Dennis, how about increasing the vertical depth of your comments field slightly.

By: benkepes

benkepes — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:56:35 +0000

Dermott – you misunderstand why Dennis said what he did. He was questioning the financial viability of Xero in the event that they needed 4.5 servers per user. Nothing to do with speed at all. I wasn't being a fan boy at all, merely questioning Dennis' technical understanding…. I've used Xero across several business for a year or so – while I'll agree that it's slower in NZ than in the US, I'd not call it "dead slow". Agreed however that Akamai should improve things for users with significant round trip distances to Rackspace's servers…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:56:00 +0000

I’ve used Xero across several business for a year or so – while I’ll agree that it’s slower in NZ than in the US, I’d not call it “dead slow”. Agreed however that Akamai should improve things for users with significant round trip distances to Rackspace’s servers…

By: Dermott Renner

Dermott Renner — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:54:20 +0000

Ben, DennisMy 2 cents worth.I agree with Dennis that technology speak does muddle the communication and as I tell my staff "we are a communication company, not an IT company". If our customers do not understand what we write then we have failed.Ben, stop being a Xero fan boy and understand what Dennis said and why he said. Technology alone will not do it for Xero. Xero is dead slow in NZ compared to in the US and hopefully the Akamai caching will deal to this issue which is a very real issue. If using an online accounting system increases your work day because it is slow then eventually this does not become a win-win for both parties involved.A better way to write the article would have been to explain how this will speed up access. Now that will really get peoples attention.PS. Dennis, how about increasing the vertical depth of your comments field slightly.

By: Dermott Renner

Dermott Renner — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:54:00 +0000

Ben, Dennis

My 2 cents worth.

I agree with Dennis that technology speak does muddle the communication and as I tell my staff “we are a communication company, not an IT company”. If our customers do not understand what we write then we have failed.

Ben, stop being a Xero fan boy and understand what Dennis said and why he said. Technology alone will not do it for Xero. Xero is dead slow in NZ compared to in the US and hopefully the Akamai caching will deal to this issue which is a very real issue. If using an online accounting system increases your work day because it is slow then eventually this does not become a win-win for both parties involved.

A better way to write the article would have been to explain how this will speed up access. Now that will really get peoples attention.

PS. Dennis, how about increasing the vertical depth of your comments field slightly.

By: dahowlett

dahowlett — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:58:24 +0000

@ben: it was an ill conceived presentation that got my alarm bells ringing. Buyers don't care about these things unless it appears as a vendor validation issue. That was my initial reading though I accept there was more to be nuanced. I hope that's obvious from my observations. Your assumption I was joking didn't help. I was genuinely shocked at the responses from @rod and yourself. It got me to read again. I should not have to do that in order to understand the message.