ian@utcsstat.UUCP (08/09/83)
Since there is an ongoing discussion of slander and libel, this should be a good time to reply to some allegations raised on the net recently. A message from the SYSOP RCPM was reposted to USENET, and it claimed that some electronic circuit analysis programs from Ackerman Digital Systems (ADS) did not work as documented, did not work with the sample programs in the manual, and were just generally a RIP-OFF!! (sender's own exaggeration marks). Since I have had dealings with the good folks at ADS, and suspected that they're not on the net, I took the liberty of sending them a copy. Sure enough, they were surprised. The person who posted this vitriolic attack on a small company *did not even take the trouble to CC: them* on the complaints he was airing to thousands computer people. Had I not sent on a copy, ADS might not even have known of this belligerent attack. ADS' president replies (in part): I must say I was flabbergasted to read [flamer's] comments. First, I am not convinced they are true, and second, he certainly made no effort to contact us. As you know, if he had, he would have received our sincere efforts to help him. [For this I vouch; I built one of their hardware offerings from a bare board, and they were quite helpful whenever I phoned them]... We are checking into [the technical] problems now. It is the first we had heard of them, and if [the flamer] had followed the normal, courteous procedure of contacting us immediately we would have taken prompt action to help him. And... I must question the manner and choice of language [the flamer] used in handling this problem. What's the moral of this little anecdote? First, if you must flame, try telephoning the vendor first, and flaming privately. Reputable vendors (in which class I definitely include ADS) will always respond to legitimate problems. Next, if you must flame to the net about a product, the onus is upon you to *make sure* the vendor sees a copy, preferably before all of netland sees it. Third, be sure you are right before you post something. It always *feels* right to flame in the heat of the moment, but "feelings are not tools of cognition." Ian Darwin, Toronto (utcsstat!ian) P.S. For information on these programs, write to ADS at 110 North York Road, Suite 208, Elmhurst IL 60126, or phone 312-530-8992. I have no commercial affiliation with this firm.