Conference thebay::joyoflex

    Re .0:
    
    If a product solves a problem, it is a solution.
    
    
    				-- edp

There are no problems, there are only solutions.
It's just that some solutions are almost insurmountable!

    "Inside every problem is a gift.
     Inside every gift is a problem."
    

re .1:

Rarely does one product, by itself, "solve" anything.
The solution is in how the product is applied, often in conjunction with
other products and procedures.

(How often, when you go shopping, do you think of your purchases as
"solutions"?)

The particular "solution" mentioned in the base topic couldn't possibly
be an immediate solution to a problem except for the customer who a) already
had a Rainbow, and b) already had an Ethernet to connect it to, and c) already
had software that would use the card to communicate over the Ethernet.

I gather that "solution" became a trendy marketing term in DEC when we
realized that in many sales situations IBM actually was selling "solutions".
IBM did and does this not by coming to a customer and saying "this product
solves your problem", but rather by performing a kind of consulting role
for the customer.  They would make a quick analysis of some of the customer's
business problems, and propose modifications to the customer's ways of doing
business.  These modifications just happened to require the installation
of an IBM system for their implementation.

Bob

    Sure, but if the person who wanted the "NI solution" *meant* merely
    an Ethernet card, then that would simply be a naive definition of
    "NI solution." If "NI solution" were to denote the hardware, software,
    and necessary field support then that would be a reasonable thing
    to say. Incidentally, how do you know that the person meant "Ethernet
    card" when it said "NI solution"?
    
    	Jon

    To be charitable to the marketeers of the world:  If you sell somebody
    a product and tell them how to use it to solve their problem, you
    have, in effect, sold a "solution", whether your *motivation* was to
    solve problems or to move products.
    
    But I'm really surprised that matter got more than a second glance
    in *this* conference.  It seems to me that most of the readers of
    *this* conference are aware of the nature of advertising slogans,
    etc. -- that is, 100% fact-free.
    
    Given that this is all market-speak, is there anything left to say?

re Note 166.5 by ERIS::CALLAS:

>   Incidentally, how do you know that the person meant "Ethernet
>   card" when it said "NI solution"?
    
Easy:

    a) context

    b) he uses "solution" in that sense very often.

Bob

    Then it seems that the problem is one of accuracy, not of language.
    This is really no different that the marketing types who say
    "microcode" when they really mean "ROM." I think that the word
    "solution" can be used correctly, but this person simply didn't.
    
    I'm reminded of the cartoon that was out a few weeks ago in which
    there's a man sitting on the telephone. A voice from off the panel
    says, "What are you doing, honey?" He replies, "Saving on long
    distance."
    
    	Jon 

    A product by itself does not create a solution.  A product when
    combined with instructions on how to use it properly can then become
    a solution.
    
    I reminds me of the article in the paper that said that the building
    was "partially destroyed."  Is this the same as "partially pregnant?"
    
    Bob
    

re Note 166.8 by ERIS::CALLAS:

>     Then it seems that the problem is one of accuracy, not of language.

Or, perhaps, "accuracy of language".

I have not known the person whom I referred to in .0 long enough to say
this about him, but I do know persons who used to talk about "product"
but now use the word "solution" in exactly the same contexts.  They want
to mean something else, something more than they meant when they said
"product".

Yes, in a trivial sense, every product is a solution to some problem, if
properly defined.  But that seems to trivialize the traditional meaning
of "solution", which used to mean much more than a "useful product".

Bob

        I _do_ buy "solutions".  For instance, I've been known to buy
        a cup of coffee, which is a solution of certain volatile oils,
        and I often add sucrose (provided as part of my purchase) to
        it, making it a more complex solution.
        
        Tom