Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!hsi!tankus
From: tankus@hsi.UUCP (Ed Tankus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Why Can't Microsoft Write Protect Their Distribution Disks?
Summary: You missed the point.
	 (This is gonna be long)
Message-ID: <992@hsi.UUCP>
Date: 26 May 88 15:24:25 GMT
References: <175@optilink.UUCP> <978@hsi.UUCP> <5873@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: Health Systems Intl., New Haven, CT
Lines: 102

In article <5873@cup.portal.com>, jxh@cup.portal.com writes:
> In article <978@hsi.UUCP>, tankus@hsi.UUCP (Ed Tankus) writes:
> >When I purchase media for duplication I'm concerned with both quality and
> >price.  If a vendor quotes a price of $.60 for 5.25" non-write-protected 
> >floppies in quantity versus $.85 for write protected floppies of the same
> >brand and quality, I think my purchasing decision is a bit obvious.  Now 
> >you may argue about customer satisfaction and so on but lets look at some
> >numbers.
> 
	some numbers here deleted for brevity and inews.
> 
> >    Difference of:					   $1,250.00
> 
> >I don't believe I could convince any of my managers or those who have the
> >authority to approve my requests that this kind of customer satisfaction
>                                                     ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >is worth $1,250.  However, I can easily convince them that if they don't
>  ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ [emphasis mine -jxh]
> >use write-protected media, they pare down the use of labor-specific tasks
> >at our duplicators, and provide our customers with sets of disk tabs, that
> >not only will everyone save money but we can deliver the product on time.  
> 
> You, sir, are on the slippery slope of justifying poor quality on the basis
> of aggregate cost savings, ignoring that cost relative to the price of the
> product.  When your company makes anything in sufficient volume, even the
> smallest cost saving can seemingly be justified on the basis of how much
> money the company would save (in aggregate); this temptation often proves
> too great, and quality, little by little, is eroded.  But where does this
> stop?  How about using $0.59 disks instead of $0.60 disks?  $0.58? $0.57?
> Where do you draw the line?  How much value is placed on the customers'
> time: to put on the write-protect tab; to growl at your organization for
> not doing such a simple (not free, just simple) thing when they clearly
> got plenty of money from the customer to cover the cost; to re-order the
> product because of a stupid mistake that caused the disks to be overwritten?
> How much does it cost your company to respond to those who make this mistake?
> Even if you do not offer immediately to ship them new disks, no charge,
> someone has to answer the phone to tell them to RTFM and go to h*ll.  How
> much does that person get paid?  What could that person be doing to *improve*
> your customer relations, rather than annoying disgruntled customers who,
> through no fault of yours perhaps, will never buy another one of your
> products?
> 
> I think if you look more carefully, you can easily justify 15 cents per copy.
> Especially when such a small cost can avert such a major upheaval for the
> customer installing your product, and at a time when that customer is
> forming a first impression of your organization.
> 
> The alternative is slowly destroying the good faith of your customers, and
> therefore your revenue base, and that will cost you rather more.  As a
> businessman, you cannot afford to overlook costs merely because they are
> intangible.
> 
> FLAME OFF.  Sorry for the tone of this: it hit a nerve.  I hope all who see
> it will take my point, in spite of my firebreathing :-).
> 
> -Jim Hickstein, VSAT Systems, Inc, San Jose, CA
> jxh@cup.portal.com   ...!sun!portal!cup.portal.com!jxh

Jim,

You not only missed the point but you missed the boat.   But since you dragged 
the issue of quality into this, lets talk quality.

First, every set of software masters, there are two, sent to our duplicator
is created by yours truly.  These sets are then compared against each other
to insure they are identical.  These masters are then shipped to our vendor.

Second, our duplicator receives our masters and compares them to each other.
The vendor then creates two (2) new sets, one copy each, of the software he
just received.  Next, he compares the two new masters to each other AND to
the masters he just received.  Finally, he ships off the new copies to me
where I compare them against the masters from which they came.

Third, once in production, our vendor has a forty (40) point quality control
program that applies to every single disk and product they produce regardless
of the customer.  This includes media certification PRIOR to duplication and
checking product samples randomly as they are produced.

Fourth, once I receive the duplicated software, it undergoes another set of
internal QC procedures INCLUDING comparing duplicated samples against the  
master, installing the software, and testing its functionality.

And all this is performed whilest on my slippery slope with no regard to 
customer satisfaction and committment.

I have been with my present employer for almost seven years.  My primary
responsibility during my tenure has been the production of quality software,
delivered on-time, with low returns.  My tenure speaks for itself.

Now if you can't spend the two minutes it takes to protect your OWN butt by
putting disk tabs on YOUR software that are FREE, then you get what you deserve.






Ed Tankus.
    
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