A CEO with hotel chain A found himself having to spend a night in a

hotel from hotel chain B. Naturally, he was very curious as to what

kind of information systems they had, and resolved to keep an open eye

for competitive use of IT. As he approached the reception for first

time, the woman behind it smiled at him and said "Welcome back, Sir!"

Flabbergasted, he said "But...it is 12 years since I was here last! How

could you know that I have stayed here before, what kind of advanced

information systems do you have that can store and find the fact that I

was here 12 years ago?"

"Well, it is really very simple", she said. "When the doorman opened

the door to your cab, he asked if this was your first stay with us. You

answered no, and as you walked through the door, the doorman looked at

me through the window and touched his nose. That told me that you

should be welcomed back...."

Moral of the story: Information systems don't have to mean information