Re: The great Java showcase (re: 2nd historic mistake)

[ell@access1.digex.net (Ell)]

Jon S Anthony (jsa@alexandria.organon.com) wrote:
: In article <34059D8A.3F3B7FA4@brightwood.com> "Brett J. Stonier" <bretts@brightwood.com> writes:
: 
: > Now, how about an example of superior technology that won out?  Take the
: > Japanese car manufacturers of the 80s.  Did they attack the U.S. car
: > industry?  I'm not an expert on this, but I don't think they did.  They
: > made superior cars and sold them at a reasonable cost.  And they made a
: > huge dent in the U.S. car industry, knocking them off their throne of
: > dominance.  So, it seems to be possible to take the high road and still
: > win out.
 
: This is the _only_ way to win out in the end.  It may well be that
: this won't be sufficient, but anything else is a sure-fire elixer for
: absolute failure for the reasons you cite.

No it isn't.  You can win with an inferior product due to other factors.
The overwhelming evidence of which some refuse to accept.

: In this particular case
: you site, I happen to know that indeed there were no such attacks.

I can remember the Japanese automakers hitting the US ones hard in the
'70's and '80's on quality, and mileage.  I don't know how much this
helped them, but they did it.
 
: The main reason why this might not be enough is two fold:
: 
: 1) there needs to be "enough of a win"

Again, an inferior product can "win" due to factors other than the those
inherent in the products being compared.
 
: 2) the _customer_ needs to twig that there is such a win.

Often for the _customer_ to "twig" things, the customer's eyes and ears
need to be opened.  This the Japanese automakers did freely.

: By 2) I don't mean the _manufacturer_ (coder, whatever), but the "end
: user".

That is what I mean also.

Elliott
-- 
"The domain object model is the foundation of OOD."
"We should seek out proven optimal practices and use them."
See SW Modeller vs SW Pragmatist Central: http://www.access.digex.net/~ell