XplanaZine

I went to high school in the small town of Round Rock, just outside of Austin, Texas. Now, this wasn’t the Round Rock of Dell Computers and rich executives trying to escape the intensity of Austin. No, this was the sleepy Round Rock of five thousand citizens and a small high school where most of the student body was involved in the local 4H club. We were Round Rock before it was cool.

At the high school back then, most of us were from families that had deep roots in the area. The Hesters owned the local automotive repair shop and the Dairy Delight where we all ate lunch. The Berglands headed Palm Valley Lutheran Church where most of the traditional folk — many of German heritage — attended. The Robinsons owned the downtown grocery store that also served as power broker alley because that’s where everyone gathered in the morning to have a cup of coffee on the way to work.

We were small and intimate and there was lots of history. And, with so much history, it was easy to pick out certain patterns and see how they were destined to repeat themselves. For example, in Round Rock, as in most small towns, there was a percentage who loved life there and never wanted to leave. If you were part of that group, you paired up pretty early on with someone else from that group, started dating, and then got married shortly after graduation.

I remember one couple, Buster and Mary Lou, two juniors who had been together since eighth grade. It was obvious just by looking at them that their relationship was much more than something kids do in high school to kill time. The way they held hands, the things they said, and the way they interacted with each other’s families made it clear that they were destined to get married. And, sure enough, they tied the knot in August right after we graduated. I still remember going to my tenth-year reunion and seeing them along with their four kids. It was impossible to imagine them in any other way.

To tell you the truth, I had the same reaction yesterday when I read that BlackBoard was acquiring WebCT. I mean, if ever there was a marriage made in history, this has got to be it.

Like many people, I watched these two in the early days, when they were two hormone-driven adolescents who did most of their flirting by fighting. BlackBoard was structured and limited but it was easy to use. WebCT was open and powerful but it presented certain complexities and was favored by instructors in the hard sciences. BlackBoard touted improved communication features. WebCT jumped ahead with an equation editor. BlackBoard fought back with language support. WebCT threw SCORM to the wind.

BlackBoard tried to make WebCT jealous by hanging out with other suitors like PeropleSoft, while WebCT palyed the disinterested lover and a pushed grassroots campaign. It was always a case of “Oh yeah? Well watch what I can do!” A superficial gamesmanship while, underneath it all the laws of attraction burned hot and their romance became more and more palpable.

Last year, BlackBoard went public and everyone said the relationship was doomed. But it was just like the sweetheart that went off to college only to find she couldn’t make it so far away from her boyfriend. Eventually, just like we’ve known all along, these two lovers were bound to get hitched. They’ve been joined at the hip from the beginning and nothing that either of them did or said was ever able to separate them for any significant amount of time or distance.

The only real questions about these two are about how they’ll fare as an official couple, and what kind of neighbors will they make for the rest of us?

On the surface, I’d say it looks good for just about everybody.

• It’s good news for users because the eventual offspring of these two can have the strengths of each and leave behind the baggage of the parents;
• It’s good news for commercial LMS competitors and open source groups because it’s easier to focus on one main enemy rather than two. In addition, other groups can hope that the merger of BlackBoard and WebCT will means more complexity, deteriorating service, and a window of vulnerability.
• It’s good news for school administrators because it means one less RFP response to read and one less sales person to waste their time. Of course prices will go up in order to support the lager family size, but that’s the price of progress.

Naturally, there will likely be problems along the way. All couples have them. And we do have a fairly high rate of divorce in this country. But I wish the lovely couple well. And I also want to give them some wisdom that has been earned at the toughest school of all — the school of hard knocks.

• Check your ego at the door
• Always compliment the hair and shoes
• Don’t take anything for granted

Life is too short not to enjoy it.

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