Frank Buytendijk Blog

I recently visited a Jean Michel Jarre concert in Zurich. Yes, yes, I realize this shows my age, but I've been a fan since I was twelve. For those of you who don't know Jean Michel Jarre, he is the pioneer of electronic music, and an inspiration for many trance and techno dj's still today. Without Jarre, techno music would have been very different.

In this tour, Jarre played his successes ("Oxygene") from the 1970s, and used only his old analogue synthesizers, no modern equipment at all. He brought a 1920s theremin, a mellotron, various Moog modular synthesizers, and many more.

Click on this link to get an overview of the instruments he has been using. Fascinating. And here are a few pictures I took during the concert, to give you an idea.

Ok, call me pathetic, but it all of a sudden dawned on me, during the concert, is that there are a few important lessons to learn for us in IT.

First, the seeds of innovation can often be found way in the past. Take for instance the popularity of dashboards and scorecards. The best practices (and worst nightmares) have been very well documented in the 1980s already, during the days of the executive information systems. However, I see a lot of reinventing the wheel going on.

Further, software does not solves problems, people do. Implementing IT requires skill, craftmanship and passion. I would not be able to get the results Jarre gets playing his instruments. And it took him years of mastering them.

Lastly, we shouldn't overengineer things, trying to solve everything with complex IT solutions.. Jarre had only one projection screen, just a few lights, and a large mirror hanging above the stage so we could see what was going on behind the keyboard. Simple solution, maximum effect.

It was a great concert.

--frank