It’s the age-old adage of anything you can do I can do better. Carouse forums on almost any subject in existence and you will see that there are many ways of doing almost anything. Of course common sense tells us this on a consistent basis, but for some reason, most likely due to human fallacy, we still have a need to make others see the world in the same way that we see it. The IT field is no different in this respect.

In fact, due to the fact that there really are multiple ways of handling an issue we may be putting IT professionals in bare-knuckle boxing matches soon. Just look at some of the Apple –vs- PC arguments out there and you will see the results. They both do the same job, but people will kick and scream about how one is better than the other for this reason or that reason.

The simple fact is that it just comes down to personal preference. There is no right and wrong in a lot of the questions that we deal with, but only this person’s opinion versus that person’s opinion. The real question is not “What is the right way?” but “What is the right way for me?” In IT we have the Microsoft way, the Apple way, the Comp TIA way, etc.

But really the only time there is a “right” procedure to follow is when you are taking a certification test. This is not to say that companies don’t create their own standards. Take e-mail for instance, some places use Novell, others use exchange and some will use an Internet POP3 server. The closest that we have really gotten to a world standard is how we handle security.

Sometimes we actually find an answer by looking them up in Google, or other times we will look through blogs and public forums to find an answer to a question. Many times one single solution to the question will not solve the problem, but a combination of fixes will have to be used. And this is the caveat that most people use to base large public arguments on.

They will try one method that doesn’t fix a problem and instead of doing further research, they will simply flame the person that gave them “wrong” information. Not that this particular person was actually wrong but because the solution offered didn’t work, they are immediately discredited.

The point here is that we must be more tolerant of other people’s opinions. This includes respecting Apple, Linux, Blackberry, etc. as well as presenting other ideas on solutions to issues that others have. We in the IT industry do this on a constant basis by dealing with products and peripherals that we many times can’t stand, but we have to work with them because our clients use those products.

This is why we as professionals must take the time to learn as many products as we can. This allows us to carry a working knowledge of the products offered so that we can offer educated suggestions and support to our clients.

Finally, this time that we use figuring out and learning about new products is well spent. It allows us to tell our customers the best way to spend their money on technology and then how to support those clients when they need something done. We at Byte Ideas are definitely fans of Apple, but we carry a base knowledge of all devices.

We feel that it is important to the growth of our company as well as the growth of our client’s companies. We are as guilty at times as others, but we are doing our best to be more tolerant of different technologies and other people’s opinions. Are you discrediting potential game-changing technology in your home or business just because you don’t like the “brand”?