James B. Byrne ([log in to unmask]) wrote:
: On 31 Jan 2002, at 18:26, [log in to unmask] wrote:
:
: > Too many managers would not know quality if they could see it.
: > Worse, I doubt we could even begin to agree on what quality
: > means in this context.
:
: The fundamental change is that like shoes, software has
: become 'disposable'.

As have employees.

: A disposable product just does not warrant the care and expense of
: careful manufacture.  Cost is the overriding consideration.

Some exceptions are systems where there could be a loss of life or
property; e.g.:

  o avionics
  o medical instruments
  o missile guidance

: Quality only has to meet a sufficient level to allow the product to
: reach its anticipated end of life without encountering a catastrophic
: failure in at least 95% of the units produced.

So much for "quality is free".

: This is ultimately the environmental change that doomed the
: HP3000 and will probably do in the AS400 at some point.

As well as VMS and NSK systems.

:The 'need' for rock-solid reliability is in the end one of perception.

No one counts the impact of the lack of reliability on the GDP.

: The closer one is to having to actual get things to work the
: greater the value of this characteristic.  However, the vast
: majority of computer users are as far from this point of view as
: they can get without leaving the known universe.
: Consequently reliability is not widely perceived as a valuable
: (read: worth the cost to acquire) attribute.

They're getting some clues from the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
of Wintel Cartel systems vs. other options.

: To be fair, it is difficult to communicate the value of such a
: concept to someone conditioned to turning their computer off
: in order to clear some transient condition.  The frame of
: reference needed to appreciate it is normally totally absent on
: the part of the listener.

That's one reason non-Wintel systems need to be advertised to the general
public, so they have some idea that reliable systems that can allow an
enterprise to survive a WTC attack are out there.

Other non-consumer items are advertised in the general media, such
as Boeing airliners, so why not computers whose uptime is measured
with a calendar, instead of a stopwatch ?

--Jerry Leslie     (my opinions are strictly my own)

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