[SunRescue] [OT] Sun TV commercials

[Gregory Leblanc]

On 21 Dec 2000 17:27:00 -0600, scohen - Stephen Cohen wrote:
> David Rouse writes:
> >Sometimes the only meaningful information 
> >is buried in technical papers.
> 
> This is not by accident.  It is actually by design.
> 
> Those who understand what is found in the technical papers are very
> typically NOT those who make the purchasing decisions.  Sun isn't marketing
> its wares to those who know - it is addressing a far, far larger audience.
> 
> There used to be a saying "No one has ever been fired for purchasing IBM
> computers."  While this is no longer true, it underscores that, all too
> often, the quality of a purchasing decision is made by unqualified
> observers.

I thought of quoting this in my first message... :)

> If, for example, a large financial institution had purchased something other
> than IBM just a few years ago, its stock price may have suffered because
> Wall Street may have seen a huge risk that the institution's data processing
> would no longer be stable.
> 
> Sun (and other companies) is trying to leverage the perception (one which it
> created several years ago) that it 'powers the internet'. The unstated
> message being conveyed is that business can consider Sun to be a low-risk
> purchase decision.

So, let me get this straight...  Sun is trying to be seen as the sure,
safe computing purchase...  Sun runs an add, in which some is called a
(and I quote) "loose canon".  This "loose canon" purchases Sun
computers.  Hmm, ok, so buying Sun == Loose Canon.  Offhand, I'd say
that's a bad association to be making.

> Here is another example of how certain brain-dead decisions are made.
> Despite the fact that Apache has hordes of developers working all over the
> world to incorporate the latest advances into this web service, my company
> purchased Netscape Enterprise Server and runs it on WindowsNT!  The
> executive making the decision to reject Apache (on Linux, DEC Alpha, Sun
> SPARC & Sun on Intel) said that it is too risky to rely on something that
> isn't supported.

At least they're not using IIS (that's idiots information server) on NT.
:)  

> One can lead horses to water . . .

But cannot force them to drown in it.  It's good to know I don't work
for the only company with stupid politics.

    Greg