Here, here Tom! I could have not have stated it any better! I will never
understand the purpose of upgrading to the next version since it is
probably loaded with bugs anyway. I stated once before that I would wait
until the full release of windows 10 and reading of all the problems others
are having convinces me I made the right decision!
Aloha,
Alex
-----Original Message-----
From: Talk
[mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Tom Kingston via Talk
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2015 5:08 PM
To: Window-Eyes Discussion List
Subject: Re: Microsoft and accessibility
Well, Dave. When you cite an example such as your previous employer
you're opening a Pandora's box of an enormous gray zone. What the owner
of that company did was to the extreme. And it got him exactly what he
deserved.
But there's no avoiding bugs and inaccessibility when we're dealing with
new operating systems and browsers. And no matter how hard these
companies push their PR machines to show how cuddly and kind they are to
the blind and other disabled communities it's all just that. To a
multi-billion dollar company we are worthless. Absolutely worthless.
That is the hard reality in such a business world. Their jobs would all
be much easier without us. Our purchasing power is equivalent to adding
or subtracting pennies from the national reserves.
It's all about money, competition, and the market today. I'm astounded
to see how much customer service has plummeted in every industry, bar
none, over the last 20 - 30 years overall. And they're all very well
aware that if all their competitors do the same then we have no
recourse, particularly in this situation where we really only have two
choices: Microsoft or Apple. To me personally, I have one choice:
Microsoft. VoiceOver is great on my phone. But as much as Apple lovers
try to rave about it there's no doubt that if I were go to Apple for my
real computing it would be an enormous sacrifice. It has no flexibility
or script ability and you do everything one way: their way.
So I'm perfectly willing and have no problem with waiting for the kinks
to be ironed out in Windows 10. If any of the complainers can give me
one truly valid reason for their need to upgrade to Windows 10 the day
it came out I'll give them a million bucks. I've been in this game since
day one and have yet to see the perfect initial release of anything. If
I had an extra system kicking around to play with, sure, I'd install
Windows 10 simply out of curiosity. But I have no faith or expectation
in any new operating system.
Although with that having had been said, I will say that the rush to
market mentality has gotten significantly worse over the years. And
again it's all driven by the money and the market. Microsoft has never
been famous for their quality. But Apple has and look at them. Their
record breaking sales and profits continue to rise while their quality
falls. In recent years problems have been on the rise in their desktops
and laptops, iOS 9 is more or less a rewrite of iOS 8. And the upcoming
iPhone 6S has been structurally re-engineered to correct an inexcusable
unsafe product. And yet we still buy it all or install it. So we share
the blame.
The computer/internet evolution has created a world of addicts. And here
we sit whining about bad dope and will do it all over again the next
time around. So where's the incentive? There's no such thing in a
virtual monopoly. It's a high-tech form of slavery. That is unless you
want to go live in a cabin on Golden Pond, stoke your fire, hunt down
your meals and grow your crops, bathe in the brook, sit on the porch,
smoke your pipe, sip your herbal tea, and ponder the magnificence of the
universe. And to be honest, part of me wouldn't mind doing just that.
Life sure would be a lot easier. And be it that I do live on a lake and
am at the moment listening to the crickets chirp and the frogs croak,
maybe I'll take one of my guitars outside and see if I can improvise
along with them and reach a higher state of consciousness in concert
with the cosmos. (grin)
Tom
On 8/12/2015 8:17 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Hi tom,
I am too familiar with Owners pushing Software out the door too soon, to
get some badly needed cash flow to start coming into the cash box.
for years, I tested these New versions to be released to the customer
base, and so often I and the other guys would find bug after bug after
bug, and often these bugs were the embarrassing ones, the ones that
almost everyone would stumble into if they even used the program
slightly.
We would prioritized these bugs as to which ones we felt needed to be
fixed first second third etc. So often, the owner would look at this
list, and toss it aside. he had found some bug he thought would need to
be fix before his own mind felt good about releasing the new version.
this guy never spoke to the customers, never read their emails, and
rarely used his own program. Since he was the owner, everyone could
only offer their reports, and do what he said to do. Well, he is out of
business now, but he didn't need to be.
As someone posted earlier, 20 per cent of the bugs are going to affect
80 per cent of the users. I know there has to be a line drawn, and the
product has to be shipped. However, there also needs to be a line drawn
where all Bugs that rate a certain level of importance need to be fixed
before sending the program to paying customers.
I found it embarrassing to be on the Tech phones days after a new
release was shipped, and some guy is telling me about some glitch, that
we all knew about, and had reported, and is so obvious, and the guy is
asking, What kind of quality Control do you people have there?
Of course I couldn't tell him that a person who has no contact with
customers or his own program, made the decision to ship the program as
in its current form.
No, instead I had to sound Sorry but Helpful and attempt to figure a
working around until a fix could be delivered. and No Sir, I do not
know when that fix will be coming, but I am sure it won't be long.
So, let me ask those of you who work in the Software industry- Why not
take the time to polish the new product until those 20 per cent bugs are
gone? And why doesn't someone control Marketing so that marketing
doesn't tell the World about the newest and latest edition until there
really is a newest and latest edition that is ready for the public?
You hear about people going Postal at work. The only time I was
entertaining anything like going Postal was when marketing would be
telling the World about a product that had yet to exist, and was given
Release dates far too soon to be realistic.
Lord, I can't tell you how many times I wanted to go into Marketing and
not take any Prisoners! marketing painted us into so many corners,
and never thought anything was wrong with what they were doing.
So the Buggy product goes to market, too early. customers who value
their money, and are expecting top quality goods, get something less
than good, which tarnishes the reputation of that Company. Don't think
this is true? Go back over the last couple of weeks, and see how many
people tell the list to wait for the first Service pac, or until the
Dust settles etc. even just today, Windows 10, the one some of you
have right now, could easily be a Beta, there is that much to still be
fixed.
Can someone tell me, what benefit is there to the Company, to ship a
product that is not truly ready for market?
Wouldn't it be better to be a Company that had a solid reputation about
reliability and Stability, rather than getting their product to market a
month before the other guys.
I recall asking these kinds of questions to my Boss, and he just said,
Well, everyone else does the same thing.
I tell you, my head just about Exploded at that point! I had to laugh
and tell him that was a piss poor reason to go to market with a
unfinished program.
he and I always had an Avisarial relationship. As it turned out, he was
let go before I was. he left because he was getting caught up with, and
I was let go because too many times our Company chose to ship buggy
product, and people stopped buying it. Take care of the Customer and
they will take care of you. Something Marketing and Ownership never
believed, or understood.
Dave
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