"The following scenario is that of a new systems
manager brought into a small company 'to bring systems costs under
control.' The company, its staff and products are fabrications but
the situation presented, and the remedies offered, reflect the
author's recent experience with real-world clients that were overly
optimistic about the prospects for e-commerce applications.
Whackabilly is imaginary, but the conditions, decisions, and
outcomes described are broadly based on real events.
I am the new Information Technology (IT) vice president at
Whackabilly Toy. My company makes the Ventables series of training
aids and the Whackabilly line of deformable plastic dolls along
with the Microsoft Windows software that goes with them. The
products are made out of a dense foam material incorporating up to
about 30 percent sand for weight and feel, and have one or more
pressure sensors embedded near the center. The toys are typically
about eight inches high. The training aids usually nearly life
size. All products ship in Styrofoam kits complete with instruction
manual, CD-ROM, and mouse cable splitters for both serial and PS2
connectors. The Whackabillies also include a foam-rubber
mallet.
When the dolls are deformed the software grabs the amount,
direction, and initial duration of the deformation to trigger an
appropriate action. For the toys, this is a sound and graphics
display set according to user preferences. For the training aids,
it is usually a measure of the source, direction, and strength of
the pressure applied. We ship a default set of these with each
product but also provide an exchange service for users who make
their own and wish to share them with others. These, needless to
say, are often hilariously obscene and far more creative than the
cartoonish violence and sound effects our lawyers let us ship."
