POV essays · Leadership · Systems · Markets
Paper and ink.
Essays on systems: the databases that record the world, the organizations that pay for them, and the economies they run inside. Each one starts with something you can hold.
PAPER AND INK
GARY BORDEY · POV ESSAYS
LEADERSHIP26 MIN
SYSTEMS + DATA21 MIN
MARKETS29 MIN
PUBLISHED6
TOTAL READ76 MIN
Six in print
· · · CONTINUED · · ·
NO. 7IN DRAFT
NO. 8
More to come
Three subjects, one habit: sort the kind of thing before judging the case.
Published when ready, not on a schedule. The receipt keeps printing.
Technology leadership
What boards, buyers and CIOs owe the systems they depend on.
- Technology is not a toaster.The costliest mistake in technology investment starts with a metaphor. Why it persuades, why it fails, and what to use instead.13 min
- Who reads the label now?HTI-5 removed the federal requirement that certified EHRs explain their AI. The duty moved to the buyer, who should write it into the contract.Oct 2026 · 13 min
Systems and data
How facts get recorded, modeled and asked about.
- Say it once, or say it everywhere.Normalized and denormalized databases are not rival philosophies. They do two different jobs, and most arguments come from confusing them.10 min
- The star schema keeps outliving its obituaries.Dimensional modeling has survived three decades of predicted replacements because it was built around the way people ask questions.11 min
Markets and economics
Shocks, prices and policy, read as systems.
- The same cart, a bigger bill.Americans spent half a percent more in September and bought almost nothing extra. Why prices keep rising, and why the Fed's main tool fits poorly.Oct 2026 · 14 min
- A fracture, or just a jolt?A record $6.3 billion theft at Binance knocked bitcoin down about 4 percent. The useful question is what kind of thing happened.Oct 2026 · 15 min