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In this Issue:

• Google preps China exit
• TCO: New research finds Macs in the enterprise easier, cheaper to manage than Windows PCs
• Telstra fight for compensation over NBN rollout far from over
• NBN studies under wraps
• Quotes of the Day

Google preps China exit  

Google is reportedly set to close its Chinese search engine.

According to the Financial Times, Google is 99.9 percent sure it will close Google.cn. The writing was on the wall on Friday when the Chinese government said that Google has to follow local laws or face the consequences.

The FT portrayed a situation where both China and Google had hardened their positions. The news isn’t all that surprising. China wasn’t going to cave to Google or it would open a Pandora’s Box where other Web companies would stop censoring results. And Google boxed itself in with its stance two months ago.

In January, Google said that it was attacked from within China. From there, Google said that it would stop censoring its search results and has stuck to that position. ZDNet March 2010. more >>>

TCO: New research finds Macs in the enterprise easier, cheaper to manage than Windows PCs  

Shocking: A recent survey of enterprise IT managers that administer both PCs and Macs finds that Macs have a better TOC (total cost of ownership) than Windows boxes, and require less user training and help.

The respondents were given the option to select from a range of cost differences. Not only did the administrators across the board say that Macs were less expensive, in all but one category the majority of administrators who said Macs cost less said they were more than 20 percent less expensive to manage than PCs. Of those who asserted that PCs cost less, the majority always asserted that PCs were between 0 and 20 percent less expensive to manage than Macs.

The Enterprise Desktop Alliance survey took results from organizations that had 50 or more servers or over 100 Macs, what the organization said were enterprises, academic sites and government agencies.

The figures that pop out from the chart are those for the time spent troubleshooting problems (16 vs 65 percent, PC and Macs, respectively), dealing with help desk calls (16 vs 54 percent), training users (16 vs 48 percent) and managing system configs. (25 vs 50 percent). ZDNet March 2010. more >>>

Telstra fight for compensation over NBN rollout far from over  

TELSTRA has given its strongest indication yet that its negotiations with the government about the telco's participation in the $43 billion national broadband network are still a long way from being finalised.

In a statement issued to the Australian Securities Exchange today, Telstra said there was still significant disagreement about the financial compensation the telco should receive for shifting its network traffic on to the NBN.

“Currently there is a significant gap between Telstra and NBN Co on what each party considers to be an acceptable financial outcome and there are also a range of commercial matters that are yet to be agreed,” Telstra said.

“Telstra is discussing ways in which the gap can be bridged, recognising that the government has highlighted the national interest benefits of the NBN and reform of the telecommunications industry.”

AustralianIT Mar 2010. more >>>

NBN studies under wraps  

FOR the second time in two days the federal government has refused to provide the Senate with a study into the $43 billion national broadband network.

After steadfastly refusing to table the $25 million NBN implementation study yesterday the government has now declined to publicly release a preliminary study which is believed to give an early view of the key issues of the project.

Yesterday Communications Minister Stephen Conroy defended the government’s decision to not release the study, saying more time was needed to consider the 500-page report, which the government only received on March 5.

Last night Senator Conroy told ABC's Lateline that it was "not unreasonable" for the government to want to read, assess and consider the report and then make a decision about "when and if we release it".

But that defence is unlikely to hold up for the suppression of a preliminary implementation study which has been in the government’s possession since August last year. AustralianIT Mar 2010. more >>>

Quotes of the Day  

The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'. Larry Hardiman

If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular error. John Kenneth Galbraith (1908 - 2006)

If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist, it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing standard of nonconformity. Bill Vaughan

Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones. Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), Unpopular Essays (1950), "Outline of Intellectual Rubbish"

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