____/ Mark Kent on Tuesday 07 August 2007 18:24 : \____
> nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>> Here's a fuller quote on the XBox analysis:
>>
>><Quote>
>> · The temperature gap with room temp was 22 degrees C. "When designing
>> consumer products, it is common to seek a temperature gap of around 10
>> degrees C between exhaust and room temperatures," the thermal design
>> expert said. "The 22 degrees C is quite a large gap..."
>>
>> · The cooling fan was half of desktop PCs-apparently to reduce noise.
>>
>> · The expert pointed out, "The heat sink on the graphics LSI is so
>> small, I wonder if it can really cool down the board." The reason for
>> this? Apparently, Microsoft had to downsize the graphics LSI heat sink
>> so that the DVD drive could be placed above it.
>>
>> · In five minutes after booting up a game, the graphic LSI heat sink
>> temp rose to 70 degrees C. In 15 minutes, the temperature for the
>> microprocessor heat sink stabilized at 58 degrees, but the graphics
>> LSI heat sink reached 80 degrees C. If the room temperature was high
>> (like 35 degrees C), the heat sink could possibly hit 100 degrees C.
>> What's more, if the vents were clogged with dust, the temperature
>> could also increase.
>>
>> · The console repaired in May 2007 did not have a new heat sink placed
>> in it.
>> This is bad design. Really, really bad.
>></Quote>
>>
>
> This is a disaster. It sounds to me like the problem stems from
> "requirements creep". It's a common problem in any technical project.
> The initial specification probably didn't have an HD-DVD drive, the
> whole machine was specc'ed for something smaller. At a much later
> stage, Microsoft started doing deals with film studios and Toshiba to
> promote a particular HD-DVD format, and needed to get it into their Xbox
> Mk2. Unfortunately, it was too late to have the board reworked, so a
> bodge was worked out where the heatsink was replaced with a smaller one,
> leaving just enough room to squeeze in the new, larger, DVD drive.
>
> The designers did not agree with the change, but in the end, were
> pressured into accepting it by senior management (have I see this
> before ;-)? The consequence is that all the "negative" people who said
> it wouldn't work and why have been shown not to be being "negative",
> rather, they were just presenting the facts.
>
> No doubt the paper trail in Microsoft will not arrive at the person who
> forced the decision through - such people are usually far too cautious
> to allow such things to be linked with them in any way.
Remember all the batteries that Sony recalled. Last week I read something new
in CNET. Sony recalled tens of thousands of cameras. Do you know why? Because
the design could, over time, scratch the hand of the person holding it. Now,
that's resposibility.
Microsoft, on the other hand, must (1) freeze the market; (2) screw the
customer; (3) use its PR forced to lie, deceive, and hide the problem. It's
all here, in one paragraph from a recent interview.
Cringely the Unemployable on the fallacy of Web 2.0, Microsoft ruthlessness,
and the CB radio of our decade
,----[ Quote ]
| Davidson: Which software company would you hate to compete against? What
| makes you single them out?
|
| Cringely: Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited
| ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make
| sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean.
|
| Davidson: Why do you think Microsoft is mean? Are you implying some kind of
| malicious intent rather than just ruthlessness?
|
| Cringely: Maybe "mean" is the wrong word to use for Microsoft. "Ruthless" is
| good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who
| gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal
| cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the
| various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced
| through the years that never produced a product or even a usable
| specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are
| intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the
| heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them
| compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are
| plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the
| concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about
| users.
`----
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2007/07/cringely-the-un.html
Learn and watch. That's how it works at Microsoft. The defect/freeze/lie cycle
also shows its ugly face in Zune and Vista (I can't think of many Zune lies,
however, other than lies about sales figure. namely delivered vs sold).
--
~~ Best of wishes
This sedentary lifestyle on the Net leads to fatigue. And then you wake up.
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
|
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