| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1558.1 | I'll buy that (as long as nobody I know made it) | TOOK::DMCLURE | Bush/Hoover for pres in '92/'32 | Wed Aug 14 1991 18:30 | 12 |
| This sounds a bit like the American tendency over the past
couple of decades to buy foreign simply because it seems better.
Trendy Americans simply won't purchase a beer, a car, etc., etc.,
unless it's imported; the same may now be applied to software
(only in our case, the developing trend is to think "it can't be
any good unless it comes from somewhere other than DEC").
-davo
p.s. The fact that Ed Services refuses to fund any of its own
software development anymore and prefers to buy "imports"
is one of the main reasons I left.
|
| 1558.2 | Small Rathole | HERCUL::MOSER | So what's a few BUPs between friends? | Thu Aug 15 1991 00:25 | 8 |
| The thing I hate is the buckets of money I have seen dumped into internal
tools which could have been beefed up for external sale as well.
I believe that our internal engineering is equal to about anyone's and we
ought to leverage that expertise in customer situations. My experiences in
Digital engineering have served me well in the field. Why not quit whining
about how we are loosing money on hardware and look at what other valueable
skills and products we could place in the marketplace.
|
| 1558.3 | Obeservation | AUSSIE::BAKER | Mandelbrot = Paisley of the 90's | Thu Aug 15 1991 01:15 | 13 |
| r.e> <<< Note 1558.1 by TOOK::DMCLURE "Bush/Hoover for pres in '92/'32" >>>
> -< I'll buy that (as long as nobody I know made it) >-
>This sounds a bit like the American tendency over the past
>couple of decades to buy foreign simply because it seems better.
>Trendy Americans simply won't purchase a beer, a car, etc., etc.,
>unless it's imported; the same may now be applied to software
Gee, lucky you dont live in Germany. You'd feel compelled to drive
around in one of those big spongy American sloth cars or drink canned
bathwater rather than the real stuff.
|
| 1558.4 | Opportunism knocks, but nobody's home! | PULPO::BELDIN_R | Pull us together, not apart | Thu Aug 15 1991 08:51 | 13 |
| .2 captured my feeling very well.
>The thing I hate is the buckets of money I have seen dumped into internal
>tools which could have been beefed up for external sale as well.
While I understand the "professional" distaste for "opportunistic
marketing", since our "systematic marketing" hasn't always been a world
beater, maybe we should make an effort to simplify the process of
turning our internal tools into products. From what I read, it seems
we put the entire burden on the inventor and expect the product
development will get a free ride. What a waste!
Dick
|
| 1558.5 | yes and no | STAR::PRAETORIUS | deeds cannot dream what dreams can do | Thu Aug 15 1991 11:01 | 40 |
| re internal tools:
I heartily agree. Some of these tools are in Assets, many are not. And
the Assets program doesn't really provide enough visibility and support for
the stuff that's there.
re IH/NIH/yuppies/sloth cars/bathwater:
Yes, some parts of the company are experiencing NIH backlash. VAX and
VMS were decidedly oversold within the company. Many people didn't realize
they were simply part of a strategy, not the core of a religion. Now some of
the formerly devout are disillusioned. It's hardly surprising.
But I think it's a great oversimplification to say that this is a
prevailing mood within the company. One obvious counterexample to NIH backlash:
DEC dominates in the area of OSF submissions. I don't think this is an
exaggeration. Those are Invented Here products. NAS is another IH stronghold
(although one not uniformly adored inside DEC, to be sure).
VMS itself threw away a lot of Invented Here (at DEC, that is) ideas.
Just ask a few vocal RSTS, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, RSX-11M(&M+) and IAS customers and
excustomers about it.
DEC is not now and never was of one mind about IH/NIH. I'm not even sure
I can spot an overall trend.
On the topic of trends, I'm demographically a yuppie. But I drive a nice
American Fiero GT (V6, not the 4 cylinder kind that had all the recalls) and
about the only beer I buy is Killian's Red Ale, an Adolf Coors product that'll
stand against mass market British and Irish Ales anyday. I wouldn't be
surprised if many of Mr. Baker's coworkers drive Holdens (GM) and Fords (I
certainly saw a lot of these last time I was down under). And does he propose
Foster's as zymurgy's finest? There are obvious exceptions visible wherever
you look.
randomly,
Robt. P.
(P.S.: my notes personal name is a line from a work by the American poet
e. e. cummings. Not yuppie chic, but there it is, nonetheless.)
|
| 1558.6 | Remember big, big cars? | NAC::SCHUCHARD | Al Bundy for Gov' | Thu Aug 15 1991 11:49 | 29 |
|
Don't under estimate the power of the herd mentality steve. It is
still the most predominate behavior among social mammals, and for the
middle manager, the most secure path to follow providing he/she chooses
the proper herd to roam in. The same goes for everyone else - it took
over 10 years of waiting for a fast vax before i felt abanndoning
36bits was a decent move. However, it can be certainly dangerous
to disagree when dealing with people who have reward/punish power and
only hear "Ken said bla bla" and never hear the message "think and be
wise".
This is a company of people, and people politics are not always
wed to virtue. While I sympathize with all you "do the right noble
things in this right and noble place" folks, you gotta remember we are not
in some sci-fi novel, this is real world where bad and stupid things
occur maybe even more readily than good and virtuous things. Many times
bad and stupid things result from noble intentions. Perhaps a little
less hunting for black hats and a little more understanding of why
people do things would assist in improving productivity and profit.
As for NIH backlash, try building something portable that runs on
multiple OS's. While VMS certainly has it's merits, it is somewhat
like driving a 1974 Ford LTD with 6-8 mpg with so many options it
overheats on the hiway in the middle of an energy crisis! Too big, slow
and expensive compared to the little tin boxes that accomplish the same
goal cheaper, just as fast, even if they don't have bucket seats.
bob
|
| 1558.7 | | PSW::WINALSKI | Careful with that VAX, Eugene | Sat Aug 31 1991 18:14 | 10 |
| There are at present both IH and NIH attitudes operating within Engineering.
ULTRIX engineering seems unable to accept that anybody inside DEC can come
up with a good idea or design for anything. On the other hand, VMS engineering
still carries a big NIH chip on its shoulder, although to its credit, the
problem isn't as bad as it was a couple of years ago.
I think we will all do better when we pay more attention to the merits of
the ideas themselves and less attention to where they came from.
--PSW
|