Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JGoren who wrote (18705)	11/23/1998 5:24:00 PM
From: Caxton Rhodes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Broken phones vs. broken Palm Pilots This is somewhat off topic but I am amazed at the excellent service from 3com. Last Wednesday I dropped my Palm III on cement (ok I'm a klutz) and although it looked like it survived, it would no longer turn on even with fresh batteries. I called 3com that afternoon, and they sent me a replacement which I received a day and a half later (Friday morning) requesting I put the broken one in the same box and mail it back. They even enclosed a return packing slip. How about that for no hassle repairs? after a hot sync,I was back in business. Caxton

To: JGoren who wrote (18705)	11/23/1998 5:39:00 PM
From: w molloy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

OT JGoren - MSFT , code re-writes, and all that. it would be well-considered for Microsoft to really streamline WindowsCE They should, but they won't, for a number of reasons... 1. Why should they? Memory space isn't really an issue in a PDq device. CE isn't aimed at devices that have really hard memory constraints (like a telephone on a chip). 2. Time to market Can MSFT produce something with significant added value in the next 3 to 6 months? Probably not, unless they buy someone... There are a number of companies extant that specialise in relatively tight OS's for a number of processors. 3. Legacy code MSFT will have already invested thousands of development hours into Windows CE. This extensive amount of legacy code, coupled to the equally large investment in testing it precludes a re-write. Aside... I've been involved with many projects where the code was frankly a mess. However, the bottom line was that the code worked. One has a really hard time putting a re-write proposal to management, costing say $2..$10 million. It has to have a visible added benefit. Sure you can put a case for quality; maintainability etc. I have myself. Cuts no ice with the corporate suits. They would rather have you working on something else. Generally, in my experience, re-writes are unsanctioned, and occurs as we add 'sanctioned' features. JMO... w.