[Sigia-l] Re: Lifespan

[Frank C.Siraguso]

 From what I've observed and IMHO:
I think there is a definite disconnect between software peddlers and 
users, especially corporate users who "buy in bulk." The corporate bean 
counters show no inclination to "subscribe" to software and feel that 
as long as it does what they need it to do, there's no need to change. 
I know businesses that are happily plugging along using Windows 98 (!). 
There are others just as happy with OS 9 (!!). Moreover, the peddlers 
have irritated the bejesus out of both corporate and single users by, 
in their efforts to stop piracy, forcing users to log on and get 
"permission" to use the stuff once it's installed.  Some users are 
foregoing upgrades and new installations to avoid the onerous process, 
even though they may covet the newer bells and whistles. In short, the 
life span of software, or maybe "half-life," is as long as users can do 
what they need to do with it and whatever extra time they can squeeze 
out of it. Part of this is driven by cost, part is driven by irritation 
-- they just don't want to jack with it.

Frank Siraguso

On Mar 6, 2005, at 11:00 AM, sigia-l-request at asis.org wrote:

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>    1. Lifespan (Listera)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Message: 1
> Date: Sat, 05 Mar 2005 19:32:32 -0500
> From: Listera <listera at rcn.com>
> Subject: [Sigia-l] Lifespan
> To: SIGIA-L <sigia-l at asis.org>
> Message-ID: <BE4FB9D0.99CC%listera at rcn.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="US-ASCII"
>
> If you watch US TV, I'm sure you've seen the "stale beer" commercials. 
> I
> don't know what happens to beer in an air-sealed can, but the 
> manufacturers
> would like you to believe that there's an 'expiration' date. Life 
> expectancy
> of digital products is a similar issue. It's worth tens of billions of
> dollars to Microsoft or Intel, for example. If software could come 
> with a
> "Best Used By:_________" sticker, they'd probably sell it that way.
>
> There are technical parameters to pre-gauge the lifespan of an app 
> fairly
> well. But what I'm interested in is a discussion of *non-technical*
> expectations. What do marketing/business/manager/accounting people 
> think
> about the lifespan of online apps? Has been it lengthened or shortened 
> in
> the post-dotcom era? How do your clients approach this issue? Are you 
> always
> asked to 'build for the future'? For the old timers, can you see a
> difference between expectations now and those of a decade or two ago? 
> Are we
> in a disposable application age?
>
> Ziya
> Nullius in Verba
>
>
>
>
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> End of Sigia-l Digest, Vol 6, Issue 6
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