G
Guy Macon
Guest
John Larkin wrote:
23,1995, pages 206-212), Microsoft`s Mr. Bill Gates has made some
statements about software quality of MS products. [See executive
summary, below.] After lengthy inquiries about how PCs should and
could be used (including some angry comments on some questions
which Mr. Gates evidently did not like), the interviewer comes to
storage requirements of MS products; it ends with the following
dispute:
--------------------------------
FOCUS:
Every new release of a software which has less bugs than the
older one is also more complex and has more features...
Gates:
No, only if that is what'll sell!
FOCUS:
But...
Gates:
Only if that is what'll sell! We've never done a piece of
software unless we thought it would sell. That's why everything
we do in software ... it's really amazing: We do it because we
think that's what customers want. That's why we do what we do.
FOCUS:
But on the other hand - you would say: Okay, folks, if you don't
like these new features, stay with the old version, and keep the
bugs?
Gates:
No! We have lots and lots of competitors. The new version - it's
not there to fix bugs. That's not the reason we come up with a
new version.
FOCUS:
But there are bugs an any version which people would really like
to have fixed.
Gates:
No! There are no significant bugs in our released software that
any significant number of users want fixed.
FOCUS:
Oh, my God. I always get mad at my computer if MS Word swallows
the page numbers of a document which I printed a couple of times
with page numbers. If I complain to anybody they say "Well,
upgrade from version 5.11 to 6.0".
Gates:
No! If you really think there's a bug you should report a bug.
Maybe you're not using it properly. Have you ever considered
that?
FOCUS:
Yeah, I did...
Gates:
It turns out Luddites don't know how to use software properly, so
you should look into that. -- The reason we come up with new
versions is not to fix bugs. It's absolutely not. It's the
stupidest reason to buy a new version I ever heard. When we do a
new version we put in lots of new things that people are asking
for. And so, in no sense, is stability a reason to move to a new
version. It's never a reason.
FOCUS:
How come I keep being told by computer vendors "Well, we know
about this bug, wait till the next version is there, it'll be
fixed"? I hear this all the time. How come? If you're telling me
there are no significant bugs in software and there is no reason
to do a new version?
Gates:
No. I'm saying: We don't do a new version to fix bugs. We don't.
Not enough people would buy it. You can take a hundred people
using Microsoft Word. Call them up and say "Would you buy a new
version because of bugs?" You won't get a single person to say
they'd buy a new version because of bugs. We'd never be able to
sell a release on that basis.
FOCUS:
Probably you have other contacts to your software developers. But
if Mister Anybody, like me, calls up a store or a support line
and says, "Hey listen, there's a bug" ... 90 percent of the time
I get the answer "Oh, well, yeah, that's not too bad, wait to the
next version and it'll be fixed". That's how the system works.
Gates:
Guess how much we spend on phone calls every year.
FOCUS:
Hm, a couple of million dollars?
Gates:
500 million dollars a year. We take every one of these phone
calls and classify them. That's the input we use to do the next
version. So it's like the worlds biggest feedback loop. People
call in - we decide what to do on it. Do you want to know what
percentage of those phonecalls relates to bugs in the software?
Less than one percent.
FOCUS:
So people call in to say "Hey listen, I would love to have this
and that feature"?
Gates:
Actually, that's about five percent. Most of them call to get
advice on how to do a certain thing with the software. That's the
primary thing. We could have you sit and listen to these phone
calls. There are millions and millions of them. It really isn't
statistically significant. Sit in and listen to Win 95 calls, sit
in and listen to Word calls, and wait, just wait for weeks and
weeks for someone to call in and say "Oh, I found a bug in this
thing". ...
FOCUS:
So where does this common feeling of frustration come from that
unites all the PC users? Everybody experiences it every day that
these things simply don't work like they should.
Gates:
Because it's cool. It's like, "Yeah, been there done that - oh,
yeah, I know that bug." - I can understand that phenomenon
sociologically, not technically.
--------------------------------
Executive Summary:
So...
Bug reports are statistically, therefore actually, unimportant;
If you want a bug fixed, you are (by definition) in the minority;
Microsoft doesn't care about bugs because bug fixes are not a
significant source of revenue;
If you think you found a bug, it really only means you're
incompetent;
Anyway, people only complain about bugs to show how cool they
are, not because bugs cause any real problems.
Straight from the horse's mouth.
Source:
http://www.cantrip.org/nobugs.html
http://www.jas.com/shame/shame/focus.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=FOCUS+Magazine+Interview+Bill+Gates
--
Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/>
In an interview for German weekly magazine FOCUS (nr.43, October
23,1995, pages 206-212), Microsoft`s Mr. Bill Gates has made some
statements about software quality of MS products. [See executive
summary, below.] After lengthy inquiries about how PCs should and
could be used (including some angry comments on some questions
which Mr. Gates evidently did not like), the interviewer comes to
storage requirements of MS products; it ends with the following
dispute:
--------------------------------
FOCUS:
Every new release of a software which has less bugs than the
older one is also more complex and has more features...
Gates:
No, only if that is what'll sell!
FOCUS:
But...
Gates:
Only if that is what'll sell! We've never done a piece of
software unless we thought it would sell. That's why everything
we do in software ... it's really amazing: We do it because we
think that's what customers want. That's why we do what we do.
FOCUS:
But on the other hand - you would say: Okay, folks, if you don't
like these new features, stay with the old version, and keep the
bugs?
Gates:
No! We have lots and lots of competitors. The new version - it's
not there to fix bugs. That's not the reason we come up with a
new version.
FOCUS:
But there are bugs an any version which people would really like
to have fixed.
Gates:
No! There are no significant bugs in our released software that
any significant number of users want fixed.
FOCUS:
Oh, my God. I always get mad at my computer if MS Word swallows
the page numbers of a document which I printed a couple of times
with page numbers. If I complain to anybody they say "Well,
upgrade from version 5.11 to 6.0".
Gates:
No! If you really think there's a bug you should report a bug.
Maybe you're not using it properly. Have you ever considered
that?
FOCUS:
Yeah, I did...
Gates:
It turns out Luddites don't know how to use software properly, so
you should look into that. -- The reason we come up with new
versions is not to fix bugs. It's absolutely not. It's the
stupidest reason to buy a new version I ever heard. When we do a
new version we put in lots of new things that people are asking
for. And so, in no sense, is stability a reason to move to a new
version. It's never a reason.
FOCUS:
How come I keep being told by computer vendors "Well, we know
about this bug, wait till the next version is there, it'll be
fixed"? I hear this all the time. How come? If you're telling me
there are no significant bugs in software and there is no reason
to do a new version?
Gates:
No. I'm saying: We don't do a new version to fix bugs. We don't.
Not enough people would buy it. You can take a hundred people
using Microsoft Word. Call them up and say "Would you buy a new
version because of bugs?" You won't get a single person to say
they'd buy a new version because of bugs. We'd never be able to
sell a release on that basis.
FOCUS:
Probably you have other contacts to your software developers. But
if Mister Anybody, like me, calls up a store or a support line
and says, "Hey listen, there's a bug" ... 90 percent of the time
I get the answer "Oh, well, yeah, that's not too bad, wait to the
next version and it'll be fixed". That's how the system works.
Gates:
Guess how much we spend on phone calls every year.
FOCUS:
Hm, a couple of million dollars?
Gates:
500 million dollars a year. We take every one of these phone
calls and classify them. That's the input we use to do the next
version. So it's like the worlds biggest feedback loop. People
call in - we decide what to do on it. Do you want to know what
percentage of those phonecalls relates to bugs in the software?
Less than one percent.
FOCUS:
So people call in to say "Hey listen, I would love to have this
and that feature"?
Gates:
Actually, that's about five percent. Most of them call to get
advice on how to do a certain thing with the software. That's the
primary thing. We could have you sit and listen to these phone
calls. There are millions and millions of them. It really isn't
statistically significant. Sit in and listen to Win 95 calls, sit
in and listen to Word calls, and wait, just wait for weeks and
weeks for someone to call in and say "Oh, I found a bug in this
thing". ...
FOCUS:
So where does this common feeling of frustration come from that
unites all the PC users? Everybody experiences it every day that
these things simply don't work like they should.
Gates:
Because it's cool. It's like, "Yeah, been there done that - oh,
yeah, I know that bug." - I can understand that phenomenon
sociologically, not technically.
--------------------------------
Executive Summary:
So...
Bug reports are statistically, therefore actually, unimportant;
If you want a bug fixed, you are (by definition) in the minority;
Microsoft doesn't care about bugs because bug fixes are not a
significant source of revenue;
If you think you found a bug, it really only means you're
incompetent;
Anyway, people only complain about bugs to show how cool they
are, not because bugs cause any real problems.
Straight from the horse's mouth.
Source:
http://www.cantrip.org/nobugs.html
http://www.jas.com/shame/shame/focus.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=FOCUS+Magazine+Interview+Bill+Gates
--
Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/>