Hi all
I'll don my abestos jacket and send this note on its way.
Can anyone forward me info on this and who to contact at MS - who knows,
maybe MS is lurking on this list.
We should welcome this because they add a useful perspecive to office
productivity that I can see lacking in the mindset of some PWG members as
well ensuring relevance to NT which is *THE* N/OS of the future (immediate
shortcomings aside). I am aware of the flames this is likely to produce,
but like it or not, it happens to be reality.
They are one of the few companies that do not make printers and have a
record of getting things to happen quickly when they put their minds to it.
I only hope it is more successful than their "At Work" proposal that has
since died.
A standard in NT would be much better than a dog's breakfast of printer
company distributed software to configure printers. Many printer companies
do not have their drivers on a web or FTP site and seem to think that end
users should have no contact with them except through dealers* (= garbled
messages and ensuring little no useful product info once it goes through
the dreaded marketing department). There is no provision made for direct
feedback.
I know none of this will be welcome, but I know a lot of pissed off end
users who never seem to get consulted by printer companies and have no
means of giving feedback. They get lots of useless features that add costs
but makes life more complex than it already is and hardly ever attempt any
serious product differentiation.
For all its faults, MS does have a system of escalating complaints rather
than the "talk to the dealer" approach of the printer industry, and they
would undoubtedly be able to add a great deal of experience and knowledge
to the art of printing.
The whole point of the MIB is to make life easier for people, right ?
MS wins by this and puts a lot of energy into making this happen. They are
a welcome asset and maybe they see things the PWG does not see, or perhaps
shuts it face against.
Just my $0.02c.
Geoff