As a writer, Wes Herschberger is a pretty good IT guy. But what possessed him to couch two-thirds of his book, "When IT Hits The Fan," in a fictional account of computer derring-do at a Michigan manufacturer is anyone's guess.
He makes every novice's mistakes--flitting between third-person and omniscient points of view, padding with reams of useless detail and failing to deliver meaningful dialogue.
Even an author who spent the better part of his career in the tech business couldn't resist painting the most trite, stereotypical portrait of his IT admin character, Bill, right down to the rumpled clothes, messy hair and Star Trek ringtone.
The novella part of the book is a bore. And, by the way, the network in the story has a virus! The reader knows that by the third page of the prologue. So why suffer for 76 pages before anyone in Herschberger's world figures that out?
Herschberger redeems himself with a summary, where he spells out the impediments to profitable technology use, then urges readers to "find a trusted local company that can assess and fill your needs." If we can add a bit of our own advice: Save yourself some eye-rolling and start at page 130.
|
Five Companies That Dropped The Ball This Week For the week ending Feb. 10, CRN looks at five companies that were either asleep at the wheel or just didn't make good decisions. |
|
Five Companies That Came To Win This Week For the week ending Feb. 10, CRN looks at five companies that brought their 'A' game and made moves to beat out competitors |
|
10 Challenges That HP Wants Partners To Tackle Right Now CRN speaks with HP's business unit chiefs to get a sense of where they'd like partners to focus in the coming year, as well as how CEO Meg Whitman is making a difference. |
 More
Slide Shows |
