wayner@cello.cs.cornell.edu (Peter Wayner) (12/20/90)
I've gotten plenty of mail about this and EVERYONE has been quite positive about their experience with MacWarehouse. I assume it is a fluke, although a bit of a pain. This leads to the question, "How do you design networked database software so that databases are kept consistent?" Why don't people do this? The airlines can do it, why can't the software developers who coded up the stuff for MacWarehouse. Peter Wayner Department of Computer Science Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY 14850 EMail:wayner@cs.cornell.edu Office: 607-255-9202 or 255-1008 Home: 116 Oak Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850 Phone: 607-277-6678
dave@PRC.Unisys.COM (David Lee Matuszek) (12/21/90)
In article <49942@cornell.UUCP> wayner@cello.cs.cornell.edu (Peter Wayner) writes: >I've gotten plenty of mail about this and EVERYONE has been quite >positive about their experience with MacWarehouse. I assume it >is a fluke, although a bit of a pain. > >This leads to the question, "How do you design networked database >software so that databases are kept consistent?" Why don't people >do this? The airlines can do it, why can't the software developers >who coded up the stuff for MacWarehouse. You've obviously ordered software more often than you've flown. :-) Seriously, the airlines deliberately overbook. Being off by one in the amount they overbook is no big deal (for them, at least). From my experience, I would guess that MacConnection and MacWarehouse both have excellent networked databases. However, this is a very busy season, and there is a gap of a few minutes between the time when they check the availability, and the time when they enter your order. I suspect this "hole" may account for at least some of the occasional problems. -- Dave Matuszek (dave@prc.unisys.com) -- Unisys Corp. / Paoli Research Center / PO Box 517 / Paoli PA 19301 -- Any resemblance between my opinions and those of my employer is improbable. < You can put a mouse on an IBM. And you can put a radio on a motorcycle. >