Next Up Previous Contents Index
Next: Delegation Up: Software Control Policies Previous: Quality Control

Proliferation

One of our most important plans is to put the software on every machine that will have any substantial sales, so that manufacturers will in effect have an investment in us and won't look promising to potential competitors. It's important to remember why we're doing this, so that we don't get off track. If a dealer lends us equipment for a conversion, we don't do the job as a friendly gesture, a speculation on selling a couple of dozen more copies, or even a service for a fee; we do it because a working version of the program may give us a shortcut through the manufacturer's bureaucracy, or at worst produce vast numbers of sales through many dealers.

Meanwhile, every conversion that's released for sale increases our support burden, and every commitment to do a conversion puts our credibility on the line.


Editor: John Walker