“Software bugs are rampant. Programmers cringe at the junk
they’re forced to build, and companies just walk away when their
products wreck your hard drive. How did this industry become the
engine of the internet economy?…“
“Software is an industry none dare question. It is our newest
sacred cow, the engine of our current economic renaissance, the
field into which all the brightest kids go, reaping millions in
reward for revolutionizing our lives. In June, the Business
Software Alliance proudly proclaimed that software would become the
strongest contributor to the global economy in 2000, exceeding even
the automotive sector. “The industry… has changed the way we live
and work,” boasted Robert Holleyman, the BSA’s president and
CEO…”
“Software is badly made. More than that, it is often horribly
made. It is developed with the sort of irresponsible abandon that
would be unconscionable if it were applied to bridge-building,
car-making and possibly even plumbing. And the internet has only
made matters worse by encouraging dot-com companies to rush
products out ever faster, despite the fact that software is now
more complex than ever. Desperate to ride stock-market hysteria and
the sea of investment dollars for dubious projects and websites,
software companies cram their wares through on shorter and shorter
timelines, with no latitude for serious planning, testing or
concern for quality. “It’s ship first and ask questions later,”
says one weary programmer, a survivor of a database company.”