>Craig;

>Analogies rarely if ever work. In this case we are discussing a corporation that contracts with another company to provide a specific function. There may also be other companies involved before the final product is “in the box, sealed, and out the door”.

>Companies have agreements, terms and conditions with each other as to what will be delivered, and at what price. One company I have worked with that does this type of work is Bindco, in Redwood City California. I would not compare something done or expected from a “kid” with actions in the business world. For anyone who thinks that a "kid" is in the same position as a business seems startling to me.

>The end result of this story reflects upon the way Microsoft does business. Do they care? Do they communicate? Do they have quality control to prevent such problems? I do not know. What I do know is that few people will care who put the items in the box. What some people will remember is that Microsoft’s name is on the box. Most folks will not care if third parties or “kids” were involved.

>In reality it does appear that “kids” were at work in this endeavor. To me this is not professional behavior. The world of software has enough problems. How much confidence should we have in any product? Lack of caring, deadlines and little if any SQA do not help the software industry. The term I have all too often heard is, “First to market”! That is the over riding theme. It does not matter if it works – just get there first!

>To prevent problems with software shipments requires time and money. However we all know that if any human intervention is involved in any endeavor there may be errors. In the world of Metrology (The Science of Measurement) we called that “uncertainties”. :)

>Tom


Well said, well said. Bravo… I wish there were more of us out there that felt the same way.