Software patents

Software patents evoke strong feelings, but then bullying is always unattractive.

The most recent storm has been started by a company called Blackboard. It has decided that it invented the Learning Management System in the mid-1990s, and been awarded a patent by the US Patent Office. Outraged competitors and academics point out that Learning Management Systems have been around for at least two decades before Blackboard existed, and even list examples of previous systems on Wikipedia.

Of course, people should be rewarded for original ideas, but they have to be significant inventions or discoveries. They also need to have been really invented by the person who wants the patent.

In the US lots of companies have claimed patents for things they simply did not invent, as well as for 'inventions' that are utterly trivial. They have then gone on to extort money from competitors with large, costly legal actions. Some of them have even gone on to win in the crazy world of US litigation.

Large companies are using software patents to intimidate smaller rivals, to remove them from the marketplace, or at least drain their resources. Blackboard have been accused by some, such as Stephen Downes, of doing just this.

However, not all of the bullies are big. Some companies have done nothing other than file a couple of patents. They have no products, no services, no income. The patent trolls, as they are called, prey on productive organizations by trying to extort money.

This is why so many people are against software patents in the European Union. They are a nice idea in theory, but in reality provide a ready framework for the worst types of characters to place those who work in harness.

Of course, no one knows for sure what will happen. The bad feeling towards Blackboard is intense, and this will probably harm the company in both the short and long term. There is a lot of support for the company being sued by Blackboard, Desire2Learn, see Michael Feldstein. I believe that the most likely outcome is that the Blackboard patent will rumble on and then die slowly as it is picked to pieces. More importantly, Blackboard has galvanized the academic community against software patents, and academics are a noisy lot.

Email and SMS

Over the years we have been asked about emailing results, and even about sending results to mobile phones using SMS. I always assumed that this was a request for a gimmick, but it turned out I was wrong.

In some jobs people have to be re certified — every so often they have to prove they can recall key facts, procedures, etc. If someone fails one of these re certifications then it can be an issue. Usually they will have to attend a short course, and for their manager this can be a bit of a problem — work has to be rescheduled and time made available for the course.

Managers want to know sooner rather than later, and often they are on the move. Hence, emailed results can make sense for some people. Even results delivered to a mobile phone can be a really useful feature if you are on the move and really need the information.

It's funny, but until you understand someone else's job it is difficult to appreciate that something that looks like a gimmick might really be very useful.

A responsive alternative to web browsers

Why deliver a test in a web browser? They are OK for some things, but not really ideal for exams. I think the reason is that they are already installed on almost every computer. Yet, it is a mistake to believe that there cannot be a better way of taking online exams.

We have had plans to develop our Question Tools Exam software so that it could talk to our servers and deliver exams and tests on line for quite some time. However, I only appreciated the real need while watching a user struggle with a browser-based test.

The person taking the test was not an experienced IT user, and soon closed the web browser by accident. This was OK, as I was there and explained that if he logged on again and started the test he would be put back to where he was — the server would reinsert his answers back into his test. Not all users are so fortunate, and some simply give up falsely believing that all of their work has been lost.

Once he resumed he began working through the remaining questions, with a forced pause as the company network slowly got the next page. It was surprising what an effect this had. It was a constant reminder than he was not in charge, the computer and the network determined his pace.

So this week we release a version of Question Tools Exam. It is presented as something that has secure, encrypted communication, and it can even use a web cam to take photos. However, I think its true value will be in the small things — the fact that the user does not have a long wait between screens; if the connection is lost it tries to sort it out in the background and let the user get on with the test. It cannot be closed during a test with just a single mouse click (unlike a web browser).

Of course, only time will tell. However, I suspect it will be adopted for its features, but really used because it quietly, reliably does the job. Time will tell.

Network Installation

One of the benefits for us of having a free edition of our editing software is that we get contact details, and we periodically email these users with information. However, no matter how you design your software there is always some situation where your design doesn't work.

Those tutors and teachers who like their students to use the editing software to create their own lessons and tests find installing on a network a real problem, because each installation requires a serial number. Entering a serial number and other details in a room of 50 or more machines is no joke.

So finally, we have got around to releasing a version that does not require a serial number for the Free Edition. It is only available on request, but it does at least mean that entering a serial number repeatedly should be a thing of the past for network administrators.

Do as I do (and not as I say)

Finally got around to publishing the Question Tools tutorials, and all 18Mb of them can be downloaded from here:

http://www.questiontools.com/downloadinstaller.html

I keep saying to whoever I meet that they should use the tutorials, and the online help, as well as the user guide. Often I get a response along the lines of 'Great, really useful', together with a genuine suggestion of surprise that there really were helpful, accurate, etc.

Of course, I'm not really being fair. I expect everyone to read all of our documentation and use our tutorials (which are rather good I have to say), but as soon as I am presented with a new piece of software I dive straight in without a second glance at anything marked 'essential information', 'read me', 'before you dive in without a moment of hesitation'.

I suppose it is a symptom of the terrible help that tells you nothing of use but sends you through circles of links -- the sort Microsoft used to be famed for.