Today I learned that when things break, the situation usually looks better the morning after. Or maybe five or six mornings, that is. A few issues persist with the imploded server at work. But I’m close. So close…

Monday marks the start of Cisco Boot Camp. The last time I sat in a classroom was for a vendor specific scripting class in mid 2000. About twelve months later demand for that technology waned, shriveled and eventually disappeared. Well, almost. In pockets — small and scattered though they are — it survived, but there is very little call for it in the market now. Certainly anyone hired with that tool kit brings much more to the table.

Note I did not disclose the actual technology. There’s a reason.

First, I don’t want to argue with any of the twenty-seven people still making a living off that product. They drank the Flavor-Aid; they liked the taste; the vendor said — still says — support is never going away. Right on, boss. Keep on dunking the cup back into the barrel. Attendance at training centers tell another story.

At the peak, students filled dozens of training facilities week after week for the classes. Now just two centers in the state offer courses for the product. And when they have takers, it’s once every six months. If that. See also: sunken ship. See also: missing life rafts.

But more importantly, there’s no need to name the product because its story ends the same as all the others. Evenutally the party ends, and it’s hello obsolence. Nothing personal, but that’s the tech cycle; it kills its darlings. Those who last in tech spot waves early, paddle towards — closer, never away from — them, and ride. And as the wave crests, they cast an eye out over the horizon for the next big breaker.