I sent the following letter to the Duluth News Tribune. It was published 2013-12-24. You can also find it at http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/286844/publisher_ID/36/.
Enough already about Obamacare glitches
Please, enough letters about the computer problems related to Obamacare. A truism of any organization, government or corporate, is that people tell the boss what they think he or she wants to hear.
When customer complaints about installing Windows7 came rolling in, did the press call it “Windows Steven” after Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, or Steven Sinofsky, then head of the Windows Division?
Complaints are rolling in about Apple’s latest operating system, Mavericks. Has the press called Mavericks “Cookware” after Tim Cook, CEO of Apple?
Creating software is a messy business; the more that is promised, the less that works right. Way back in the 1960s I was part of a team developing a new, groundbreaking operating system. New releases were never on time and never took care of all the reported problems. Very few customers had a day without crashes. That software was simple compared to what we have today on our computers and even in our smartphones.
President Barack Obama was educated in law, not computer science. He has to rely on others, including all the private contractors, to give him correct and timely information. Do you think Steve Ballmer got as much bad news as he should have? Do you think Tim Cook got as much bad news as he should have? I know we were under a lot of pressure to report good news about that ancient operating system.
The designers of HealthCare.gov were probably behind before they even started. Few, in or out of government, fully appreciate the complexity of the task.
Showing posts with label private contractors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label private contractors. Show all posts
Friday, December 27, 2013
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Don't knock government workers
A favorite stereotype of cartoonists and anti-government types is the city worker leaning on a shovel doing nothing.
As I type this, two men are in our neighbors' yard "doing nothing", sitting in or leaning against an idle backhoe. They work for a private contractor who is installing new sewer pipe. Why are they doing nothing? They have just filled a dump truck with dirt and it has gone off to put it someplace else and probably bring back gravel for the bottom of the trench. Meanwhile there is nothing to do for them but wait.
Should they get paid while waiting? Would you like to be required to be somewhere with nothing to do and not get paid for your time? I bet not.
Next time you see city workers doing nothing, carefully observe the situation. They may be waiting because they are waiting for more equipment or material. They may be waiting for advice on how to get around a problem. They may be waiting for supervisors to make a decision. I bet in most cases they would be working if they had all they needed to do the job.
As I type this, two men are in our neighbors' yard "doing nothing", sitting in or leaning against an idle backhoe. They work for a private contractor who is installing new sewer pipe. Why are they doing nothing? They have just filled a dump truck with dirt and it has gone off to put it someplace else and probably bring back gravel for the bottom of the trench. Meanwhile there is nothing to do for them but wait.
Should they get paid while waiting? Would you like to be required to be somewhere with nothing to do and not get paid for your time? I bet not.
Next time you see city workers doing nothing, carefully observe the situation. They may be waiting because they are waiting for more equipment or material. They may be waiting for advice on how to get around a problem. They may be waiting for supervisors to make a decision. I bet in most cases they would be working if they had all they needed to do the job.
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