Wirt wrote, adding some survey choices:

>
> I wouldn't back down so quickly. I think having seven levels
> is of some real
> value in better understanding the user's thoughts, although I
> would perhaps
> readjust the interpretation of the seven levels a bit to:
>
>      1 - mildly satisfied
>      2 - neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
>      3 - mildly dissatisfied
>      4 - really quite dissatisfied
>      5 - wildly dissatisfied
>      6 - so grumpy I yell at my wife daily now
>      7 - thinking about punching Winston in the nose
>
I swore I wouldn't start another one of these threads, but since Wirt did it
for me, I'll add my two cents.

Shortly after Wirt's post, in organizing some of my files, I came across a
piece of marketing literature from HP titled "what hp executives say about
the hp e3000". Perhaps you remember it? It quotes what Carly Fiorina, Ann
Livermore and Duane Zitzner had to say about the HP 3000 at HPWorld 2002, 14
months before Winston pulled the plug. It contains many great quotes to
delight MPE fans. For example, Ann Livermore says "We also know that the HP
e3000 is running mission critical applications in many of your businesses
today. In fact, over half of the top 25 of our Fortune 100 customers are
using the HP e3000 platform in mission critical environments."

Ironic that only 14 months after achieving our greatest success in getting
the HP 3000 recognized by upper HP management, Winston announces the
discontinuation of the HP 3000. But wait, it gets even more interesting. At
the end of the document is this: "Printed in the U.S.A. 05/01". That is
right, it was printed, and presumably distributed, only 6 months before
Winston delivered the death blow to the HP 3000.

Perhaps this is why Winston fell on his sword and proclaimed that the idea
and decision to kill the HP 3000 was his alone? And, perhaps this is why he
was rewarded with a position on the merger task force and a new position
within HP shortly after his announcement? I only wish I had the deep pockets
necessary to sue HP and at least get the true story out.

If you would like to reminisce, I've posted the document at
www.burke-consulting.com (just click on "hp execs & the HP e3000"). A
slightly different version (but with the same 05/01 printed date) is also
available on the Adager web site at
http://www.adager.com/LiteratureHTML/HpExecsAboutTheHP3000.html.

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* John Burke                                              *
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