Recently, poole argued that computers were just 'useful' tools and that many companies could throw them in the dumpster and still do fine. On it's face we can see that this is the comment of a raving moron, but let's look at some evidence, that makes it certain why poole is an idiot.

"While smaller companies tend to lag everywhere, the potential for a chain reaction in Japan appears greater. Driven by space constraints, Japanese manufacturers have pioneered just-in-time delivery systems that are the envy of the world. Although these keep inventory to an absolute minimum, even a small glitch can shut the system down." Recently, poole argued that computers were just 'useful' tools and that many companies could throw them in the dumpster and still do fine. On it's face we can see that this is the comment of a raving moron, but let's look at some evidence, that makes it certain why poole is an idiot.

http://www.latimes.com/HOME/BUSINESS/t000050791.html

The point is that technology has allowed profitablity where it could not exist before by squeezing out any margin for error. That margin for error was anything that depleted profits. like inventory or wharehouse space, ushering in a JIT world.

These companies rely for their existence on JIT. Without it they lose their profitable edge and go out of business. example. Walmart uses point of sale registers to not only check a customer out but to register that purchase in inventory. Without that ability Walmart could not exist. It could not exist having old man Hurley walking up and down the isles with a clip board. Businesses have utterly squeezeed inventory and storage space out of their costs. They RELY on that state of affairs to make profits.

Likewise, electric utilities have cut down on inventories of fuel and storage for that fuel because of their reliability of fuel transport. if the technology that makes that possible is undercut, they are in big trouble whether they can generate power or not.

poole grotesquely underestimates the dependence that businesses have upon the reliability of their technology.

Most people are aware that even if a Utility can generate power, it is meaningless if it can not be distributed. What they are NOT aware of is that distribution is 100% reliant on telecommunications. If telecommunications go down, the utilities can not send out the necessary signals to regulate their distribution.

There is layer and layer and layer upon layer and layer and layer of these dependencies. It is a technological house of cards.

poole can not figure that out. And his whole argument is that "Well, we can get along without them if we have to. After all, they are just tools like a screwdriver." That is utterly untrue and underscores the incredibly naive world in which poole exists.

I'm sure that poole is a good little PeeCeeWeeNee or sys/op. Perhaps he oversees all the fax machines or something. But in a world that is dominated by enterprise scale systems about to come unglued, poole is a drooling incompetent. A mainframe is not a mere pocket screwdriver that you can do without when your very profitability has been predicated upon its utilization.

-- Paul Milne (fedinfo@halifax.com), June 06, 1999

Answers

I agree with you paul. Many companies will be history with big iron. It's going to be a long winter. Poole will stay warm kissing your you know what after he's out of work for 6 months in the year 2000 when the big economic freeze takes hold.

-- y2k aware mike (y2k aware mike @ coservation . com), June 06, 1999.

Thanks paul, we knew Poole was an idiot before you pointed out his latest blather, but, it never hurts to refresh one's memory. Remember folks, this is but one small (teeny) hurdle for business. Think about, litigation, insurance, banking and billing, power, water, fossil fuels, on & on & on. Ask yourselves what YOUR business's fault tolerence would be if just a few of those other factors where thrown into the "poop". THEN, take a look at the big boys who have hundreds or thousands of participating partners. It's NOT just one business here...it is an innerconnected "system of systems of systems". Gettin' ugly isn't it?

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 06, 1999.

Idiot is an understatement.

CrETin is better :)

As a net is made up of a series of ties, so everything in this world is connected by a series of ties. If anyone thinks that the mesh of a net is an independent, isolated thing, he is mistaken....

Buddha

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 06, 1999.

"The conveniences and comforts of humanity in general will be linked up by one mechanism, which will produce comforts and conveniences beyond human imagination. But the smallest mistake will bring the whole mechanism to a certain collapse. In this way the end of the world will be brought about."

Sufi Prophet Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan's prophecy (Complete Works, 1922 I, p. 158-9),

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), June 06, 1999.

WHOA here. I have worked for both small and large outfits, and while the large ones have no possible way to do everything by hand, the small ones generally could, and sometimes did, do things without computer support.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), June 07, 1999.

A heated criticism from the Paul person, true sometimes (the larger the company, certainly the more true), but not absolutely in every case.

But, having said that, I don't see anyway something larger than a mon-and-pop company (certainly anyting larger than 10 employees or two sites would be very badly hurt) could get along effectively or efficiently or profitably for more than a few days without their currrent database and software functioning.

Even the tire dealer I used today (20 mechanics, one site, same place since 1962) indicated they would be "in trouble" if their machines were to be down for anything longer than a week. they were using older PC's (IBM - 386's ?) and what appeared to be a dBase 3 ordering menu and inventory database.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), June 07, 1999.