Microsoft Windows Vista Delayed. Sony PS3 Delayed. Let Him Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone!
Over the past week, news sites and blogs have been full of stories about delays in the launch of a couple of big products: the new version of Microsoft Windows - Windows Vista; and then new games console from Sony Corp, the PS3. In some of these stories, and the community comments responding to the stories, there have been thinly (and not so thinly) veiled accusations of incompetence thrown at people on the Microsoft and Sony teams.
I’m guessing most the people making these remarks have never been part of teams, or been responsible/accountable for projects, involving the development of genuinely complex software and/or hardware. Either that, or they have agendas to push. Why do I guess that? Well, it’s because there are major problems predicting accurate timelines for the development of complex software. And these problems are nothing to do with the level of competence of the people involved in the project. It’s because it’s impossible for *anyone* to know ahead of time all of the critical issues that can be encountered in developing complex software. Developing such software can be like digging a deep underground tunnel - you never know when you’re going to discover something unexpected, like unusually hard sections of rock, that can result in major delays.
It’s easy to cry, “I told you so” or “they’re useless, as usual” when complex products experience launch delays, but what does it prove? Not a whole lot; but it says a whole lot more about the people making the noise than the people developing the products…
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