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From: dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu (Daniel Mocsny)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: standard extensions
Message-ID: <7470@uceng.UC.EDU>
Date: 17 Feb 91 22:03:24 GMT
References: <14814@lanl.gov> <1991Feb15.192653.9846@rice.edu> <6049@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <27BDC456.20D6@tct.uucp>
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In article <27BDC456.20D6@tct.uucp> chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg) writes:
>I'm a programmer, but that doesn't mean I've got all the time I want
>to do projects for J. Random Person.  I'm expected to do other things,
>too.

This is true, but if all users wanted to do exactly the same thing,
you could burn it into ROM and retire. As the computer market has
grown in size, it has necessarily encompassed users with increasingly
diverse needs. The software industry has historically responded by 
building increasingly general systems. If you can build one system
that 1,000,000 people can feel happy with, then you get richer than
if you build a system that only 1,000 people feel happy with.

Since you are unlikely to comprehend the full range of desires held by
1,000,000 people, the only way you can satisfy them is to build
systems that are capable of adapting to their environments in ways
you do not foresee in absolute detail. This is what Mother Nature has 
done with biological systems. Your genes can't predict what crises and
competitions your progeny will face; they can, however, roll with
a lot of different punches.


--
Dan Mocsny				
Internet: dmocsny@minerva.che.uc.edu