Computer companies routinely market what they present as wonderful solutions – a weasel word that no journalist should allow to escape from the press release because only the customer can judge whether the offering is a solution to his problems yet would never dream of using the thing in-house: the first question the customer should ask the eager salesman is do you use it in your company? and one wonders why anyone should consider buying consultancy from any manufacturer when Digital Equipment Corp’s Robert Palmer tells the Financial Times sheepishly, apropos the fact that DEC has inadequate internal management information systems for forecasting and matching supply and demand for products We’re like the barber’s son who needs a haircut.
