Support for obsolete products

From: Doug Yowza <yowza_at_yowza.com>
Date: Thu May 7 13:22:24 1998

On Thu, 7 May 1998, John Foust wrote:

> OK, help me brainstorm arguments to persuade companies to release
> obsolete information. Certainly pointy-haired managers (does the
> cartoon "Dilbert" cross the pond?) will opt for the simple safe
> solution of "don't let anything out of the office, or out of our
> control". And there's the question of money to be made. As soon
> as someone seems interested in old technology, they'll believe
> there's still some money to be made. Then there's the question
> of the cost and trouble of drafting or approving any legal document
> to make the transaction official. Why spend money on giving away
> products?

Appeal to their ego.

Dear Pointy Haired Manager:

My name is Joe Hacker, and I'm the curator of the Pointy Haired Products
museum, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Pointy Haired
history. Our current project is the preservation of your products PH123A
and PH171, and we'd like your help. We seek any documents, schematics,
prototypes, or marketing literature that you feel may have historical
significance related to these products. Even photocopies would assist our
preservation effort, and we will gladly pay for any reasonable costs
associated with transporting these items to our museum.

Yours Truely,
Joe

If that doesn't work, maybe we could set up an organization for legacy
support (something like the obsolete computer helpline). Most orgs would
be happy to offload support for legacy products to a third-party org
comprised of eager volunteers.

-- Doug
Received on Thu May 07 1998 - 13:22:24 BST