> Technology X may be too expensive because we're using another technology with a special discount that's confidential. I'm really proud of myself that I didn'

> Technology X may be too expensive because we're using another technology with a special discount that's confidential. I'm really proud of myself that I didn't insta-rage upon reading this one. Couple years ago, as the software project lead, I suggested a number of processor technologies for a custom device for a specific customer. Any of them would have worked well, they were all very well documented and popular and most of them we already had experience with. Which one did the company owner go with you ask? The obscure, brand new processor that we had never used, lacked documentation, manufacturer-supplied sample code was either full of bugs or only showed how to use the features in the most brain-dead, trivial fashion. Why you ask? Well, it turned out that we were some kind of "technology evangelist" for that semiconductor company and we got a substantial kickback for just putting one of these chips into a new design.