On 3/1/01 3:15 AM, "Peter Boisseau" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Paul, I fear you've missed my point. Everything you say is true *from within
> the computer community*, but of little relevance outside. For the millions
> of people who are not part of these and other forums, they have a right to
> expect software to function as well as any other product. My partner is a
> good example. She uses computing for its functionality - word-processing,
> spreadsheets and addressbook - period. She has no interest or time to
> involve herself further. Nor should she have to. Try telling her after a 14
> hour day in the city that she should seek out specialised help groups and
> log on to sites like MacFixit and she'll laugh in your face. This is true
> for many people. They either don't have the aptitude or lack the
> considerable time - the hours needed to keep abreast of these things. Just
> as I drive a car, but have not immersed myself in the finer details of its
> engine history, or own a telephone but couldn't tell you how it works.
> People expect - and have a right to expect, a certain degree of reliability,
> and it's a simple fact of life that the early release of most software
> consistently falls woefully short of these standards. (This is a general
> observation about the whole software industry and ethos, not just
> Microsoft).
Fair enough. We sure wouldn't want cars to be sold that way. It's probably a
facet of an industry that develops so amazingly fast. I can't remember the
exact figure, but I recently saw somewhere (here?) someone's calculation
that they just bought a hard disk about 100,000 times larger than one bought
20 years ago for the same price, or something like that. So if you're eager
to buy "the latest, best thing" - yes, you're right, it will often be flawed
and not ready. People "in the computer community", as you say, expect this,
but I guess we enjoy the excitement of being "up to the minute" and, truth
to tell, may even enjoy figuring out how to deal with the rough edges.
Ordinary people may be best off just sticking with "last year's model" on
principle - if they can still fund it for sale, of course. I do in fact know
many people who do indeed have that attitude - "what I've got works fine for
me, why should I upgrade and get all that hassle"?
--
Paul Berkowitz
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