Computing Fallacies

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Computing Fallacies
or What is the World Coming To?

• Michi Henning
• Chief CORBA Scientist
• IONA Technologies

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Fallacy 1 Computing is Easy

• Teach Yourself C in 14 Easy Lessons
• CORBA for Dummies
• Complete Idiots Guide to Win32
• Java for Morons
• Windows 98 Unleashed

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• Brain Surgery in 14 Easy Lessons
• Bridge Design for Dummies
• Complete Idiots Guide to Contract Law
• Air Traffic Control for Morons
• Ballistic Missiles Unleashed

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Fallacy 2 Computers Allow People to Do Things
They Could Not Do Otherwise

• All you need is a good word processor to create a
  great document
• All you need is a great spreadsheet to make
  accurate sales predictions
• All you need is...

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Fallacy 3 Computers Increase Productivity

• The sound effects in this presentation will make
  all the difference
• It only took five hours to format this memo
• The shading on this pie chart is simply superb
• The icons on my desktop are lined up perfectly

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Fallacy 4 Programs Help Their Users

• What can we do that will force an upgrade?
• What can we do for the next release that might
  sell?
• How can we kill the competition?

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Fallacy 5 If Its Graphical, Its Easy

• Single click, double click?
• Where is the _at_!! menu?
• Which part of the UI does not do something?
• With a GUI, anyone can be a
• System administrator
• Programmer
• Typesetter
• Accountant
• Statistician
• ...

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Fallacy 6 Computers are Getting Faster

• How long does it take for your PC to boot?
• How long does it take to
• start your word processor?
• load a web page?
• compile a program?
• How long did it take
• five years ago?
• ten years ago?

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Fallacy 7 Programs are Getting Better

• How often do you need to
• animate your fonts?
• embed live information from the web in a
  document?
• perform a Fourier analysis?
• create a pie chart with alpha blending?
• create a pie chart?

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Fallacy 8 Programmers are Getting Better

• Average education time 2 years?
• How many students coming out of university know
  what a core dump is?
• Written an Excel macro? You are qualified!
• Average retention time in a job 18 months

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Fallacy 9 Programming is About Data Structures
and Algorithms

• How may times have you written a linked list?
• How many times have you used STL?
• How many books have you read about HCI?
• Design doesnt matter?

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Fallacy 10 Objects are the Rescue

• Weve had objects since 1967
• Object-oriented programming has by and large
  failed to deliver
• Reuse does not happen for free
• Components are not the rescue either
• Neither is ltinsert not invented yet technology
  heregt

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Fallacy 11 Standards are the Solution

• Usable standards are created only years after the
  fact
• Standards are foul compromises
• Standards are created to serve the interests of
  vendors

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Fallacy 12 We are Making Progress

• Progress in data structures and algorithms has
  been remarkably slow
• Progress in management techniques has been
  remarkably slow
• Progress in quality assurance has been remarkably
  slow
• Progress in ltinsert topic heregt has been
  remarkable slow

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Fallacy 13 The Industry Knows Where it is Going

• Todays clever hack is tomorrows solution to
  take us into the next millenium
• There havent been any new ideas in a decade
• We have run out of ideas, so we rehash old ones

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Oh My God! Its All SoD e p r e
s s i n g!!!
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What Do We Need?

• Progress is detrimental to progress
• Focus on design
• Realistic growth expectations
• Legislation
• Code of ethics
• Growing up!

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Useful Reading

• Donald Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
• Alan Cooper, The Inmates are Running the Asylum
• Alan Cooper, About Face