Look also at how Lotus's product range is encompassing many of these current ideas, too: Sametime, blog template, XPages, Connections, and so on, as well as the Foundations stuff which provides appliances for small companies. You run a Foundations server (which contains Notes), rather than a Notes server, for example.

My final thoughts
Thanks to Mick for those great comments. Now, let me wrap up with my own thoughts.

A number of years ago, I wrote a book called The Flexible Enterprise. It was all about how we can reinvent our companies, unlock our strengths, and prosper in a changing world. I'm now working on its sequel, The New Flexible Enterprise, which will also be about business change.

The nature of business has changed so much between the original publication of The Flexible Enterprise back in 1996 and today that The New Flexible Enterprise needs to be a much different story. We've not only seen the rise of the Internet, the fall of the dot-com boomers, but the rise of China as a startlingly competitive economic power, an increasing trend to outsource the IT skills we once thought all our own, and even newer forms of communication beyond email and Web pages.

As such, we must all change and grow, we must all respond to new market forces and competitive pressures. In that context, what Herardian said in his article is worth considering. In my professional opinion, Lotus Notes and Domino will be with us for quite some time, but IBM does have to continue to innovate, and so does your company, and so does mine.

But it's not all about the technology, the bits and bytes, the wires and the sprockets. Fundamentally, it's about people and I've never met a more warm-hearted group of people than Lotus professionals.

I now live near Orlando, so I wind up going to other professional events at the Dolphin Hotel throughout the year. It's not the same. When you walk into the Dolphin when Lotusphere is in session, you get a vibe, a warmth, a buzz that nothing else can produce.

Lotus people, not just the employees at Lotus, although they've always been very cool, but the people who work with Lotus products, have a special spirit. That spirit came together this past week to stand up for what they believe in and what they love.

And that's why this has been such an amazing week and such a fitting celebration for our 10th anniversary publishing DominoPower.

Here's to another ten years!

P.S. Since this has been about members of the community speaking out, I'd like to open up DominoPower to others who'd like us to publish commentary on the future of Lotus and IBM. However, after all the fuss this week, let's keep our stress levels down and limit any submissions to those that are constructive suggestions and recommendations for Lotus products and strategies, and please keep them well-meaning and good-hearted. If you've got something you'd like to submit for publication, send it to editor@dominopower.com.

For more than 20 years, David Gewirtz, the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone? and The Flexible Enterprise has analyzed current, historical, and emerging issues relating to technology, competitiveness, and policy. David is the Editor-in-Chief of the ZATZ magazines, is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism and Security Professionals, and can be reached via email at david@zatz.com.