On Mon, 22 Sep 2014 21:48:15 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:
Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Cydrome Leader" wrote in message
...
I was just thinking about other things that are just overly complex
for no
reason ...
Have you ever personally participated in the design of new products?
In the software world, yes. People get really carried away with stupid,
overly complex ideas that were just bad to start with.
You start by defining the requirements, or rather debating them until
Actual requirements are usually really hard to come by.
you're too tired to argue, then distribute the work among your
personnel, come up with a separate solution to each requirement,
prototype and test them individually and then together, and finally
try to combine the elements that seem to need no further redesign to
serve multiple functions and reduce tooling, fabrication and assembly
cost while management pesters you to release it to production NOW to
beat the competition to market. They are obsessed with the name
recognition and sales momentum that comes with being first, and know
that the engineers would love to keep playing with it.
All the while realizing that you may be out of a job when it's
complete, unless your performance gets you nominated to the next new
product design team, if there is one.
At the prototype stage having each part serve a single function is an
advantage when it needs to be reworked. Combining and simplifying them
later is time-consuming and non-essential.
Well, in the case of the original F camera of early 1970s revision, every
damn part it connected. There's no sign of any modules of grouped
functionality or subassemblies that are not interconnected in 3 dimensions
with 15 other parts. That's why I wonder if labor was free when thing
thing came off the assembly line. Even assembling it would have taken
ages.
The original F camera was one expensive *******.
https://www.cameraquest.com/fhistory.htm
".....Strangely enough the March 1959 Philadelphia photo show saw the
US introduction of three new top brand Japanese SLR lines: the Minolta
SR-2 with 55/1.8 and a list price of $249.50, the Canon Canonflex
with 50/2 and a list price of $299.95, and the Nikon F with a 50/2
had a list price of 359.50.
The Nikon F completely eclipsed everything else in its time as a Pro
35. Professionals switched from the Leica M's (and everything else) to
Nikon F's in legions, and to this day Leica has never recovered. But
more than the Professional's switch from Leica to Nikon, it also
signaled the maturity of the Japanese photo industry.
From that time on, Japan was the new Photographic Industry leader and
Germany would be doomed to play catch up. Zeiss got out of the camera
business. Rollei hangs on bought out by Samsung. Leica continues its
post Leitz family experience once having been owned by a concrete
manufacturer and now has new ties to Yashica.
The Nikon F was a really big deal, a crucial turning point in 35mm
Photography."
http://www.dollartimes.com/inflation...=350&year=1915
That came out to...wait for it... $2,822.39 in 2014 money
With cash discounting...Call it $2500 today.
"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child,
miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied,
demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless.
Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats."
PJ O'Rourke