From: Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com>
Subject: Re: Ada GC (was Re: Ammo-zilla)
Date: 1999/11/12
Date: 1999-11-12T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <80hauu$q88$1@nnrp1.deja.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 3829D562.5F102A83@callnetuk.com
In article <3829D562.5F102A83@callnetuk.com>,
Nick Roberts <nickroberts@callnetuk.com> wrote:
> And, as a corollary, customers need to be educated into
> rejecting software with a 'bug' in it just as diligently as
> they would reject any other product with a defect.
Well, two points here.
One, to the extent that a bug reflects a difference between
the spec and the implementation, people are not that diligent,
and for good reason, insisting on defect free products would
increase their cost. Automobiles for instance virtually always
have delivery defects (See Consumer Reports, where it is quite
typical to see something like "this car was delivered in
excellent shape, there were only 17 defects, only one of them
significant").
Two, to the extent that a bug reflects something that people
don't like in the *design*, I think they are often more diligent
than for other products. You don't generally expect a car
maker to send you a new dashboard with the speedometer
positioned so you can see if it you are only 5'4" tall, but
in the software world, people expect this kind of
responsiveness. They don't always get it, but the expectations
that software can be improved in this way are greater than for
many other products.
At the same time, I think we all agree that the practice of
rushing things to market with entirely excessive numbers of
defects should be punished in the software area by consumer
rejection at least as energetically as for other fields.
The PC Junior was a bunch of junk, it rightly failed in the
marketplace.
By contrast, the decrepit version of DOS that Microsoft
delivered for use on the 286, which was incapable of taking
advantage of the 16 meg addressing and protected capabilities
of this chip was an abomination. But it succeeded in the
marketplace, despite the presence of a far superior product
from DR Research (Flex OS) that took full advantage of the
chip.
Why? Perhaps this has something to do with the stifling of
innovation that the recent finding of facts in the Microsoft
case describes in detail. Perhaps it is because consumers are
not educated to expect reasonable products in the software
area? WHo knows? But either way, it is indeed unacceptable.
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1999-11-12 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 92+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1999-10-23 0:00 Ammo-zilla Stanley R. Allen
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Aidan Skinner
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Matthew Heaney
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Aidan Skinner
1999-10-25 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Jean-Pierre Rosen
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Botton
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Charles Hixson
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Tucker Taft
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Brian Rogoff
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Brian Rogoff
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Brian Rogoff
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert A Duff
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Laurent Guerby
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Starner
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Larry Kilgallen
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Starner
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Botton
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla mike
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Botton
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Charles Hixson
1999-11-03 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Wes Groleau
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Geoff Bull
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Matthew Heaney
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Charles Hixson
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Tucker Taft
1999-10-30 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Lutz Donnerhacke
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Garbage colletion Lutz Donnerhacke
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Lutz Donnerhacke
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Lutz Donnerhacke
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-04 0:00 ` Didier Utheza
1999-11-04 0:00 ` David Starner
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Gnat IDE (was: Garbage colletion) Ted Dennison
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Garbage colletion Larry Kilgallen
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Starner
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ada and GC. Was: Ammo-zilla Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Tucker Taft
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Charles Hixson
1999-11-03 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-03 0:00 ` Charles Hixson
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert A Duff
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-01 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert A Duff
1999-11-02 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-03 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-03 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-11-04 0:00 ` Ada GC (was Re: Ammo-zilla) Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-06 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-06 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-06 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1999-11-06 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-09 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1999-11-10 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-11-10 0:00 ` Richard D Riehle
1999-11-10 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1999-11-10 0:00 ` Nick Roberts
1999-11-12 0:00 ` Robert Dewar [this message]
1999-11-12 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1999-11-12 0:00 ` Didier Utheza
1999-11-12 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1999-11-04 0:00 ` Ada GC (was Ammo-zilla) Nick Roberts
1999-11-04 0:00 ` Wes Groleau
1999-10-30 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Lutz Donnerhacke
1999-10-30 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Matthew Heaney
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Charles Hixson
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ada and GC (Was Re: Ammo-zilla) Vladimir Olensky
1999-10-29 0:00 ` David Botton
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Vladimir Olensky
1999-10-30 0:00 ` Samuel T. Harris
1999-10-30 0:00 ` David Botton
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert I. Eachus
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Matthew Heaney
1999-10-28 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla mitch
1999-10-29 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Matthew Heaney
1999-10-31 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla Robert Dewar
1999-10-24 0:00 ` Ammo-zilla David Botton
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