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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mira.net.au!vic.news.telstra.net!act.news.telstra.net!psgrain!newsfeed.internetmci.com!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!sdd.hp.com!bone.think.com!blanket.mitre.org!sed.psrw.com!psinntp !psinntp!psinntp!psinntp!clothos.candle.com!phobos.candle.com!news From: rgoer@rgoer.candle.com (Ralph Goers) Newsgroups: alt.fan.bill-gates,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc,comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.org.team-os2,alt.destroy.microsoft,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Is Microsoft's Internet plan more about its love of power than about users? Date: 10 May 1996 04:42:17 GMT Organization: None to speak of Lines: 51 Message-ID: <4muhf9$giv@phobos.Candle.Com> References: <4mlpnf$d4p@sidhe.memra.com> <4mqq8o$6js@news.aros.net><4mlpnf$d4p@sidhe.memra.com> <4mqq8o$6js@news.aros.net> <4mrg49$pok@dfw-ixnews5.ix.netcom.com> Reply-To: rgoer@rgoer.candle.com NNTP-Posting-Host: rgoerrmt.candle.com X-Newsreader: NeoLogic News for OS/2 [version: 4.5 YO Beta] Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au alt.fan.bill-gates:22113 comp.os.ms-windows.nt.misc:105504 comp.os.ms-windows.win95.misc:136406 comp.os.os2.advocacy:200906 comp.sys.mac.advocacy:105365 comp.os.linux.advocacy:48824 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:19107 In message <4mrg49$pok@dfw-ixnews5.ix.netcom.com> - lirpa1@ix.netcom.com(Loof Lirpa)9 May 1996 01:00:57 GMT writes: :> :>In <4mqq8o$6js@news.aros.net> jbrush@aros.net writes: :>> :>>Same thing happens in computers. M$ has problems in their software, :>just like :>>all companies do. Problem is, M$ users don't get what they need cause :>BG :>>thinks they won't dare switch for fear of having to do something a :>little :>>differently, and history has shown that although he is a lousy :>software :>>developer, he is a good judge of his customers attitudes. :>> :>> :>> :>>John :> :>If what you said is true, then it makes Bill Gates' success all the :>more remarkable. If his software is so "lousy" and yet his office :>suite can control so much of the market, it must mean that there are a :>lot of dumb consumers and IS managers in this country. Did anybody :>ever said that one would never lose money by underestimating the :>intelligence of one's customers? :) Dumb is perhaps not the right word. Ignorant seems to fit better. Part of this ignorance is simply based on cost. It costs "real" money to learn something new so many simply choose to stick with whatever seems familiar. The problem with this mentality is that this also has a cost, but it is in "hidden" dollars. Many IS departments insist on standardizing on software because it makes it easier for THEM, not their users. My favorite examples deal with those letters one used to read in PC Magazine in the User to User section. How many times did someone write in with some elegant solution on how to get a .BAT file to do something useful. I always wanted to scream and say "Just go get REXX for DOS" - or better yet, get an OS with a REAL batch language built in (BTW - when IS Microsoft going to ship an OS with a real batch language built in?). These people probably spent a couple of hours figuring out how to do this stuff. Most of these things can be done in 5 minutes with REXX. So gee, do we spend real $ getting the tool that will get the job done, or do we let our employees waste hours trying to figure out how to make the inadequate tool do the job that must be done? Ralph My opinions are my own and are not necessarily those of my employer