On Sat, 30 Apr 2005, Jason Greenwood wrote:
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, reported a net profit of $US2.56 billion, or 23 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter ended March 31, compared with $US1.32 billion, or 12 cents a share, a year earlier.
[...] At first I hoped that such a technically unsound project would collapse but I soon realized it was doomed to success. Almost anything in software can be implemented, sold, and even used given enough determination. There is nothing a mere scientist can say that will stand against the flood of a hundred million dollars. But there is one quality that cannot be purchased in this way---and that is reliability. The price of reliability is the pursuit of the utmost simplicity. It is a price which the very rich find most hard to pay.
-- C.A.R. Hoare, "The Emperor's Old Clothes", Turing Award Lecture (1980)
John Carter Phone : (64)(3) 358 6639 Tait Electronics Fax : (64)(3) 359 4632 PO Box 1645 Christchurch Email : [EMAIL PROTECTED] New Zealand
"We are the Dyslexia of Borg. Your ass will be laminated. Futility is resistant."
