ODBC — “Will it blend?”

Open Database Connectivity and “Relational always wins”

In a recent interview, Molham Aref of Relational.AI claimed that “Relational always wins”, intimating that of all the database paradigms that of the relational database always wins.

When I think about these things I tend to agree with Molham, but for reasons not discussed in the interview…that reason being a combination of Open Database Connectivity, business intelligence tools and an award winning viral marketing campaign…“Will it blend?”

Will it Blend?

If you aren’t aware of the Will it Blend? viral marketing campaign, you’re in for a shock of a lifetime, but also what I believe is a fundamental principal.

No matter how good your product and focused on its peculiarities, there may well be a common denominator against which it will be judged against other products and its peers…and for which you have no control over.

The Will it Blend? campaign was hugely successful and cemented the reputation of Blendtec’s blenders as tough and sturdy. Blendtec put products ranging from iPhones to glow sticks through its blenders in displays that shock the senses and drew attention away from the products’ individual reputations, shifting focus well and truly on Blendtec blenders.

To my mind, I found the campaign as distasteful as it was successful, but it left an indelible mark on me. A common denominator can be found as a benchmark for disparate products against which those products can be judged.

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) — “Does your database blend?”

The early days of the relational database were characterised by excitement over the relational technology and the query language operating over relational databases, Structured Query Language (SQL). What amazed me at the time was the degree…