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mnealtx 0
QuoteQuotePrices dropped dramatically once betamax was no longer the only player in that market.
If prices dropped, according to the statements above that between cheaper, faster and better only two can happen at the same time, current recorders ahve to be either slower or of lower quality.
Apparently it is engineering 101, which would have absolutely nothing to do competition.
No different analogy is needed, however I will give you one.
1980 VHS Camcorder $1,599
2009 HD digital camcorder $800
S would you argue that the 2009 camcorder is slower or of lower quality than the 1980 model?
It's meant as an explanation of the the tradeoffs inherent in design and manufacturing, not as a physical law. Of course, you already knew that and you're just stirring shit to see if you can get a reaction.
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706
SkyDekker 1,465
QuoteOf course, you already knew that and you're just stirring shit to see if you can get a reaction.
Nope, just indicating that when holding on to pre-conceived notions you limit yourself.
billvon 3,176
Right. Now try to buy a Blu-Ray recorder for the same price. You might have to sacrifice cost to get the performance you want.
Or you could buy that DVD recorder at Best Buy for $99 - and have it crap out in a year. That would be another tradeoff.
jcd11235 0
Quote>Never did agree with this.....Actually I think it is a load of shit.
It may be shitty, but it reflects reality.
It only reflects reality if quality and speed have already been maximized at a particular price point. That is often not the case (e.g., software, where the best quality, fastest software options are often open source freeware).
SkyDekker 1,465
QuoteRight. Now try to buy a Blu-Ray recorder for the same price. You might have to sacrifice cost to get the performance you want.
Right, so in some cases it is true, in some cases it is false. Means that the statement as a whole is false.
(Or really just far too simplistic)
billvon 3,176
?? No, it's pretty much always true, both in my examples and in yours.
champu 1
If you want something better and cheaper, wait a while.
If you want something better, right now, pony up.
If you want something right now, and don't want to pay top dollar, you get what you pay for.
SethInMI 174
Quote"Faster" in the context of the axiom means "sooner" (i.e. faster to market.)
I guess it can be thought of that way, but I have always heard without the time to market implication:
Faster means higher performance.
Better means higher quality (rugged, robust, fewer defects, etc)
Cheaper means lower cost.
The incredible shrinking transistor has made amazing exceptions to this rule (do a die shrink correctly and you can come up with lower cost parts that have higher performance with little to no loss in quality), and that has made our modern world possible.
But get outside that transistor exception and the rule is a pretty good explanation for the tradeoffs involved in design and engineering.
champu 1
The "pick two" trade off tends to be even more clear in the commercial world because the obvious question, "than what?" is more readily answered. If your cheaper and faster spacecraft has a reliability of 0.9 vs. another design that has a reliability of 0.99, and both manage to get the one-time only job done, which one was "better"?
billvon 3,176
Hmm. The way we present it is BOM, schedule, performance, pick any three. BOM is bill of materials and is basically cost, schedule is time to develop, performance is via whatever metrics we use (bit error rate, bandwidth, efficiency etc.)
nerdgirl 0
QuoteI was thinking of "faster, better, cheaper" as associated with Daniel Goldin (Director of NASA, 1992-2001) and his quest to improve cost, schedule, and reliability of space missions all at the same time. I thought the term was originally attributed to him, but I could be wrong.
Didn't know that ... neat. Thanks!
/Marg
Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying
SethInMI 174
With a big enough R&D budget, anything is possible!

If prices dropped, according to the statements above that between cheaper, faster and better only two can happen at the same time, current recorders ahve to be either slower or of lower quality.
Apparently it is engineering 101, which would have absolutely nothing to do competition.
No different analogy is needed, however I will give you one.
1980 VHS Camcorder $1,599
2009 HD digital camcorder $800
S would you argue that the 2009 camcorder is slower or of lower quality than the 1980 model?
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