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GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Sander Rossel15-Apr-15 5:40
professionalSander Rossel15-Apr-15 5:40 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Stefan_Lang15-Apr-15 20:36
Stefan_Lang15-Apr-15 20:36 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Alister Morton16-Apr-15 4:44
Alister Morton16-Apr-15 4:44 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
MikeD 215-Apr-15 23:55
MikeD 215-Apr-15 23:55 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Sander Rossel16-Apr-15 5:33
professionalSander Rossel16-Apr-15 5:33 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
MikeTheFid16-Apr-15 4:41
MikeTheFid16-Apr-15 4:41 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Kirk Wood16-Apr-15 11:19
Kirk Wood16-Apr-15 11:19 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 14:22
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 14:22 
Way back (in 1996) I was the new guy in a software shop.

Graeme, one of the Directors, said "Robert, we have great new project for you to lead. Visual Basic, right up your alley, large budget, big multinational. The deal is all signed - fixed price contract. Dave will tell you all about it."

Dave, apparently, came up with the fixed price quote. The fixed price covered about 6 man-months at the then rate for developers.

Dave showed me his spec document, about 70 pages. It appeared to be a series of style notes for Win Forms. After listening to Dave for a while I said: "Dave - how many input forms are there in this system?".

"I don't know", says Dave, "you can figure that out when you design the system.".

"Dave, how did you come up with a fixed price for this system if you don't know what it does?".

"Oh", says Dave, smiling. "It doesn't really matter. We've got a huge budget, AND ... it's going to be written in VB which is really fast and easy!".

At this point I was thinking to myself: "Dave must be a total VB hacker with no real world smarts. I need to let him know that what seems really easy for him may not be for ordinary folk".

"So Dave", I said, "how much VB have you done?".

"Oh", says Dave, "none at all. But I've heard that it's really easy".

And yes, I did quit that company not long after ...

GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Sander Rossel16-Apr-15 20:35
professionalSander Rossel16-Apr-15 20:35 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 23:47
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 23:47 
GeneralRe: Apparently the customer knows best... Pin
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 23:53
Robert g Blair16-Apr-15 23:53 
QuestionAny free software that would be useful to... Pin
Joan M14-Apr-15 23:37
professionalJoan M14-Apr-15 23:37 
AnswerRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Rutvik Dave14-Apr-15 23:51
professionalRutvik Dave14-Apr-15 23:51 
AnswerRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
HobbyProggy14-Apr-15 23:56
professionalHobbyProggy14-Apr-15 23:56 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Thanks787215-Apr-15 0:09
professionalThanks787215-Apr-15 0:09 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
HobbyProggy15-Apr-15 0:44
professionalHobbyProggy15-Apr-15 0:44 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Fabio Franco16-Apr-15 3:52
professionalFabio Franco16-Apr-15 3:52 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Pete O'Hanlon15-Apr-15 0:11
mvePete O'Hanlon15-Apr-15 0:11 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
HobbyProggy15-Apr-15 0:44
professionalHobbyProggy15-Apr-15 0:44 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Joan M15-Apr-15 0:53
professionalJoan M15-Apr-15 0:53 
AnswerRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Amarnath S15-Apr-15 0:01
professionalAmarnath S15-Apr-15 0:01 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Joan M15-Apr-15 2:19
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AnswerRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Mark_Wallace15-Apr-15 0:03
Mark_Wallace15-Apr-15 0:03 
GeneralRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
Joan M15-Apr-15 2:21
professionalJoan M15-Apr-15 2:21 
AnswerRe: Any free software that would be useful to... Pin
OriginalGriff15-Apr-15 0:16
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