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Subject:Re: Why is marketing the enemy to a programmer? From:Guy Haas <ghaas -at- NETSCAPE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 15 Nov 1996 17:28:53 -0700
At 04:41 PM 11/15/96 -0800, Sella Rush wrote:
>In a private post, David Locke -at- sugar-land -dot- anadrill -dot- slb -dot- com commented
>that marketing, from a programmer's perspective, is the enemy.
Remember there is a difference between Sales People and Marketing
People:
--Sales People tell lies
--Marketing People make things up.
Sales People are often more the enemy than are Marketing People,
because they will make promises and claims that only Programmers
have to fulfill.
Marketing just has the odor of "hype" about it, from the Programmer's
perspective. Also:
--They turn bugs into features.
--They give names to sets of phenomena as though they were tangible products.
--They demand changes on short notice near the end of a product cycle.
"Let's not call it 'wedge' -- make it 'MarvelTool.'" (Never mind
that the buttons and such are all sized for a 5-letter word, and
the new name has 9 letters.)
Marketing has historically caused Programmers grief.
Not always, not in all companies, not in all situations; but often
enough to have left a stain.
--g
Guy K. Haas, Software Exegete ghaas -at- netscape -dot- com
Netscape Communications 415-937-3773
501 Middlefield My opinions are mine,
Mountain View, CA 94043 Netscape's are their own.
