[CLUE-Tech] Business Misunderstand Computers (WAS: My Transition)

[Mike Staver]

Hey, that's a great analogy - do you care if I post it on my site,
www.fimble.com, with your name attached?

"Chris K. Chew" wrote:
> 
> This thread has gotten me thinking again that it is unfortunate that
> Businesses seem to forget all common sense whenever it comes to computers.
> They are as deer in Microsoft's headlights.  Let's say a business were
> selling wheels, and a company came to them and said:
> 
> "We sell axles that don't fit any existing standardized hub systems and
> never will.  Because of this, hubs must also be bought from us because
> nobody else sells hubs that fit our axles.  In fact, it is illegal for
> anybody else to design hubs that fit our axles.  You should expect a new
> axle version once every 1-2 years, and version upgrades will either be
> necessary or we will force you to upgrade by threatening to drop any
> licensing that you have with us.  With each version, you should expect to
> have to purchase new axles and hubs, and redesign your wheels to fit the new
> hub design.  Unfortunately, employees will generally have to relearn their
> processes with each new version because upgrades offer different (sometimes
> better) ways of doing things.  Disregard any third party testing that
> reports our axles break every three months, but we are quite sure that our
> axles are the strongest in world.  Oh, we also periodically release minor
> fixes to our current axle/hub version, so you will have to patch every axle
> and hub that you have built using that version.  Often times our patches
> themselves need patches, so you can expect to have to do this at least twice
> a month.  About half the time, it should be considered an emergency to apply
> the patches before anybody gets hurt.  We do not take responsibility for
> unsafe or otherwise vulnerable axles.  No we do not support and problems
> with previous axle/hub versions, so we recommend that be diligent in
> upgrading all axles and hubs."
> 
> If a company bought these axles and hubs, I certainly wouldn't expect them
> to be in business for very long.
> 
> Microsoft:  "Yes, we know that our company is operating illegally and
> disrespectfully, but we are also operating on the assumption that people are
> stupid and therefore cannot comprehend our industry well enough to indict us
> or even boycott our products enough to put us out of business."
> 
> So why do companies use Microsoft software, when Microsoft uses this very
> tactic to generate income?  It is absolutely astounding that things have
> gone this far in the computer industry.  Bill Gates recently sent his annual
> memo telling of "Trustworthy Computing".  If he actually gets away with
> maintaining the public's trust over the next few years, then I will have
> completely lost my remaining faith in humanity's ability to comprehend.
> Nevertheless, I still will not run my company like Bill Gates runs his.
> 
> Thanks for listening,
> 
> Chris
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: clue-tech-admin at clue.denver.co.us
> [mailto:clue-tech-admin at clue.denver.co.us]On Behalf Of Grant Johnson
> Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2002 12:47 PM
> To: clue-tech at clue.denver.co.us
> Subject: Re: [CLUE-Tech] My transition
> 
> Since there are only 2 of you, it may be easier just to move everything
> to open published standards.  This will prevent the current vendor
> lock-in and potential vendor extortion problems that you have.
> 
> No, vendor extortion is not too harsh.  If you have a solution that your
> business depends on, and it is available only from one vendor, that
> vendor can charge whatever they want.  This is always a danger with
> unpublished API's and unpublished file formats.
> 
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-- 

                                -Mike Staver
                                 staver at fimble.com
                                 mstaver at globaltaxnetwork.com
                                 http://www.fimble.com/staver