Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news2.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!howland.reston.ans.net!agate!dog.ee.lbl.gov!overload.lbl.gov!emf.emf.net!hilbert.dnai.com!nic.scruz.net!earth.armory.com!rstevew
From: rstevew@armory.com (Richard Steven Walz)
Subject: Re: Software Leasing
Organization: The Armory
Date: Sat, 28 Jan 1995 11:58:35 GMT
Message-ID: <D346Lo.2n7@armory.com>
References: <3g6d3c$fpv@wolfe.wimsey.com>
Sender: news@armory.com (Usenet News)
Nntp-Posting-Host: deepthought.armory.com
Lines: 34

In article <3g6d3c$fpv@wolfe.wimsey.com>,
Mark Fraser <mfraser@vanbc.wimsey.com> wrote:
>I kinda sympathize with the legitimacy of the pathway through
>the much maligned enthusiasts who are interested enough in investigating
>and doing comparisons on *THEIR* [OUR OWN] time, and passing the results
>on to those who are *in the market for* the product.
>
>I'm no hacker by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm quite clearly
>in the category of spending a LOT of time evaluating a program of 
>interest.  Sometimes I buy, sometimes I don't, but *NEVER* without
>either a good look myself, or a recommendation of someone whose
>opinion I trust, AHEAD OF TIME.  And the magazines, I'm sorry, don't
>qualify.  At least not the news-stand ones.
>
>Give me OS/2 WARP as a freebie, I'll look.  If I like it,
>my boss will buy it.  If I don't he won't.  NO freebie, no lookie,
>no buy.
--------------------------------------------
More like; "Let me look at OS/2 Warp and evaluate it until the bugs are out
of it and I really know everything about it for close to a year, and if I
stay enthused enough to use it at home, then I'll dare recommend it to my
company or my clients and risk my own good name as a source of knowledge!!
And damned well not before!" Pieces of software take a while to really get
the proper impression of. You also need the time to shop around. And people
who may be using it under you who have less experience will need to get
trained on it and BE up to speed for the most part before my employer would
dare to BOTHER to take my advice on it anyway; we can't wait six months to
get people up to speed!!! Too many facilities are bogged down already with
people under-using what they've been given before! The next steps have to
be more certain than just giving everyone the new package and expecting
them to be expert users by lunch time well enough to do the day's
business!
-Steve Walz   rstevew@armory.com

