"Rice IT" must be spanish for "we don't have a clue"

Just got back from the Rice IT technology fair they have been hyping for two weeks. Supposedly lots of vendors ready to answer any question about how their product can help you. I just went to register to win an IPod, but decided to walk around and ask a few questions. Here is how my visit went:

The Rice IT Infrastructure booth:

Blair: "Are you guys planning on upgrading GRB hall to 100 Mbit?"

IT guy: "Yes, most definitely. If we get the money, the minimum anywhere on campus will be 100 Mbit, with most places at a Gig."

Blair: "Cool, when do you find out about funding?"

IT: "It goes up in front of the board at the end of the month. But our chances of funding are virtually nil."

Blair: "So when you said "yes, you would definitely be upgraded", you really meant "no, not at all"."

IT: "That is correct."

The Dell Booth:

Blair: "So I hear Dell now offers laptops with Suse."

Dell: "Soo-see?"

Blair: "You know, Linux?"

Dell: "oh Linux. Yeah, I don't know, i'm just here to answer questions, i don't know what all they sell."

The Apple Booth:

Apple guy: "Hey man, come look at this ibook, it has great graphics, good for watching DVD's and gaming."

Blair: "Does it ship with 10.2 or 10.3?"

Apple guy: "Ummmm, it has really good sound and you can play the piano with this cool little program."


Yeah, Rice IT and this whole fair are useless.