4 ms·

Is this supposed to be tongue-almost-penetrating-cheek, or is this author for real? Let's assume the author is serious for a second; the company he/she is desc

by azanar 17y ago

Is this supposed to be tongue-almost-penetrating-cheek, or is this author for real? Let's assume the author is serious for a second; the company he/she is describing is just asking to get fed to the lions by a company that does not embrace mediocrity-as-policy mantra, and shows they actually give a damn about their product and their customers. Those customers they are pissing off, but aren't seeing leave, are staying because there isn't another option; as soon as there is, the exodus will begin. As it does, this company is screwed, because the mediocrity they worked into their codebase assures they will be able to react about as swiftly as rock can to someone threatening to kick it. This is not the first appeal to mediocrity I've heard, but the authors or orators I've heard make this same appeal in the past are really offering an apology for their own apathy. They want this to be true, regardless of veracity, because then it will justify their own desire to not give a shit. They hope that their self-fulfilling prophecy becomes the same to everyone else, so no one is forcing them out of mediocrity. No one is making them actually work for their monthly lifestyle installment, and instead join them resting on past achievements, hoping this grants all of us a perpetual annuity. On the other hand, if this is satire, it's really bad satire. Oh, and to reflect on his clever quip about spelling: yes, I did catch the spelling mistakes, and they did piss me off. And I did finish the essay, in hopes that I would find a paragraph loosely reading "jk lolz" at the end. Since I didn't, this blogger now has the bozo-bit set. So much for mediocrity being good enough.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
This line made me laugh out loud: > After all, you have to keep in mind that your customers are pretty mediocre too.
kaitnieks 17y ago
At first I thought he might be serious, but the practical examples made it seem more like a joke, since the subtlety was somewhat lost there. Like this part: Once a product is released, focus on fixing bugs, not adding new features. All overacheiving companies try to do the latter and fail. Instead, have a single new functionality, maybe along the lines of ‘New ! Option to save your work’. The rest should be all bug fixes. This will dramatically improve the quality of your software and PC magazine will give it 5 stars.
russss 17y ago
This is either bad advice or bad satire. I'm fairly sure it's the latter.
- dragonquest 17y ago
  I felt the same, but I found it rather amusing and decided to submit it. Although I have to admit somewhere between those lines, there might be a shred of turth, if only a shred.
- mmt 17y ago
  I'd say this is mediocre satire.
Evgeny 17y ago
Let's assume the author is serious for a second; the company he/she is describing is just asking to get fed to the lions by a company that does not embrace mediocrity-as-policy mantra, and shows they actually give a damn about their product and their customers. Those customers they are pissing off, but aren't seeing leave, are staying because there isn't another option; as soon as there is, the exodus will begin. On the other hand, the vast majority of companies are mediocre ... and they stay around for decades literally. It doesn't mean that they don't give a damn about their customers - no, they do, it's just they could do it better, much better. If they really tried. And still the customers stay. This is a great mystery, but still true. As an example, if I go to the site that lists Australian ISP's (http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/), I can see 228 ISP's listed. How's that possible that so many exist - are they all exceptional companies? Do they all provide the same quality of service? Are all plans equally attractive? Clearly no, and I guess that top 10 ISP's may hold some 80-90% of the market. But still the other 218 still have enough customers despite of being 'mediocre'.

by azanar 17y ago

RyanMcGreal 17y ago

This line made me laugh out loud: > After all, you have to keep in mind that your customers are pretty mediocre too.

kaitnieks 17y ago

At first I thought he might be serious, but the practical examples made it seem more like a joke, since the subtlety was somewhat lost there. Like this part: Once a product is released, focus on fixing bugs, not adding new features. All overacheiving companies try to do the latter and fail. Instead, have a single new functionality, maybe along the lines of ‘New ! Option to save your work’. The rest should be all bug fixes. This will dramatically improve the quality of your software and PC magazine will give it 5 stars.

russss 17y ago

This is either bad advice or bad satire. I'm fairly sure it's the latter.

dragonquest 17y ago
I felt the same, but I found it rather amusing and decided to submit it. Although I have to admit somewhere between those lines, there might be a shred of turth, if only a shred.
mmt 17y ago
I'd say this is mediocre satire.

Evgeny 17y ago

Let's assume the author is serious for a second; the company he/she is describing is just asking to get fed to the lions by a company that does not embrace mediocrity-as-policy mantra, and shows they actually give a damn about their product and their customers. Those customers they are pissing off, but aren't seeing leave, are staying because there isn't another option; as soon as there is, the exodus will begin. On the other hand, the vast majority of companies are mediocre ... and they stay around for decades literally. It doesn't mean that they don't give a damn about their customers - no, they do, it's just they could do it better, much better. If they really tried. And still the customers stay. This is a great mystery, but still true. As an example, if I go to the site that lists Australian ISP's (http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/ http://bc.whirlpool.net.au/), I can see 228 ISP's listed. How's that possible that so many exist - are they all exceptional companies? Do they all provide the same quality of service? Are all plans equally attractive? Clearly no, and I guess that top 10 ISP's may hold some 80-90% of the market. But still the other 218 still have enough customers despite of being 'mediocre'.