Here's a couple of links around the 25th anniversary of the Commodore 64 [1], [2].
I started out programming on the Commodore in junior high school in the early 80s. Those were the best times to be into computers and programming. The Commodore 64 was a great machine with sprite graphics, sound, and 38911 Basic Bytes free.
I had the Commodore dot matrix printer and easy script word processor that my sister used in university. At that time she was about the only one printing her essays. In word processing things like cut and paste were sensational advanced features.
I had a 150 baud modem which cost over $100. The 2400 baud Hayes modem sold for over $1000 at the time.
Commodore brilliantly made their joystick port compatible with the Atari 2600 so it was easy to get controllers from the Atari and use them for gaming. And we spent many hours playing games on the Commodore64. Some of the best were Mule, Archon, Summer Games, 7 Cities of Gold, and on field football.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Monday, December 03, 2007
A choice in the matter
We recently missed our quarterly targets and had to preannounce. As often happens after a miss there was a round of downsizing. I'm fortunate and happy that I got through it OK.
This round was different than other RIFs with this company and other companies I've worked for. The timing was such that the downsizing was done in the late stages of a big development project. As a result the affected individuals will be staying on for a while longer until the big project finishes. Historically during a downsizing people would kind of just disappear like Syme in 1984.
Another thing that was different was that in the reorganization some individuals were offered new roles in the company. However they had the choice to decline the new position and be laid off instead with the same severance and access to unemployment insurance as those who didn't have a choice.
Almost all of the people who had a choice chose to stay on. However two individuals chose to take the severance and leave. Those who chose to leave have some similarities. One guy said that if they tighten up their expenses a little bit then he will be cash flow neutral on his wife's salary. The other guy is married with no children and his wife has a good job.
The people who seem to have a bit of a financial backstop to afford being out of work for potentially a while have chosen to take the severance. I don't believe they have new jobs lined up, they are just going to take their time and explore new career opportunities.
If you can afford it then it makes sense to take the severance if you are at all on the fence about staying. It would suck to decline severance today and then leave voluntarily in say six months and get nothing. Also all things being equal they should be confident they will find a comparable job at comparable pay in a reasonable time. The local tech economy is pretty robust right now. With a financial backstop they can afford to "gamble" that they can find something else quickly and pocket the difference in severance.
This round was different than other RIFs with this company and other companies I've worked for. The timing was such that the downsizing was done in the late stages of a big development project. As a result the affected individuals will be staying on for a while longer until the big project finishes. Historically during a downsizing people would kind of just disappear like Syme in 1984.
Another thing that was different was that in the reorganization some individuals were offered new roles in the company. However they had the choice to decline the new position and be laid off instead with the same severance and access to unemployment insurance as those who didn't have a choice.
Almost all of the people who had a choice chose to stay on. However two individuals chose to take the severance and leave. Those who chose to leave have some similarities. One guy said that if they tighten up their expenses a little bit then he will be cash flow neutral on his wife's salary. The other guy is married with no children and his wife has a good job.
The people who seem to have a bit of a financial backstop to afford being out of work for potentially a while have chosen to take the severance. I don't believe they have new jobs lined up, they are just going to take their time and explore new career opportunities.
If you can afford it then it makes sense to take the severance if you are at all on the fence about staying. It would suck to decline severance today and then leave voluntarily in say six months and get nothing. Also all things being equal they should be confident they will find a comparable job at comparable pay in a reasonable time. The local tech economy is pretty robust right now. With a financial backstop they can afford to "gamble" that they can find something else quickly and pocket the difference in severance.
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