Letter to Steve Jobs

From Mikel King <mikel.king@ocsny.com>

Optimized Computer Solutions, INC.
39 West Fourteenth Street
Second Floor
New York, New York 10011
t: 212.727.2100
http://www.ocsny.com
February 3rd, 2006

Steve Jobs
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
t: 408.996.1010

Dear Mr. Jobs,

 I would like to take the opportunity to personally thank you for encouraging the kind of culture at your company that allows our local Apple Store to host user group meetings. On February 2nd, 2006 I attended my first meeting with the New York City BSD Users Group, more commonly referred to as simply NYCBUG at this location. What I expected was the typical LUG style meeting, and was however; surprised by the professional courteous environment that these IT Professionals portrayed. The experience was nothing short of astounding. For all intents and purposes, I could have been sitting in the classroom at Cisco or Novell learning about some new technology that they were launching.

 Our speaker Johnny Lam covered the basics of XEN, a server virtualization technology similar to VMware except that it is completely open source. The discussion lasted just over an hour and covered just the amount of technical details that I would have expected. He discussed both the advantages (i.e., reduced hardware, power, and management costs) and disadvantages (e.g., as in the larger initial hardware deployment, the performance degradation as well as, the addition of larger storage apparatus) of deploying a virtualization solution in an honest and frank manner. I thoroughly enjoy learning the ins and outs of the technology without having some one sell it too me.

 Additionally I was very pleased that the store offered an internet connection so that I could follow along with the web presentation on my PowerBook. The environment was clean and comfortable, with a feeling that promoted the open exchange of information. The gentlemen and women who were in attendance asked well thought out questions, and Mr. Lam did his absolute best to answer them.

 I stayed after to meet some of the users, and the various conversations have lead me to reconsider Apple server hardware in my enterprise as well as recommending it to my clients. In the past my experience with xserve hardware had been less than palatable. However, thanks to the positive attitude of these individuals and your company's involvement in the community, I shall keep your server and storage products on my radar.

Best regards,

Mikel King
Chief Information Officer
Optimized Computer Solutions, INC.