Development Style

How big firms develop products nowadays

1.CODENAME: UMBRELLA

2.PRODUCT SPECIFICATION: multifunctional, integrated, user-friendly and
 non-expensive "solution" compatible with future system
 architecture concepts aimed at avoiding the effect of
 extensive humidity and other environmental
 influences to human heads and other body parts.

3.MARKETING SPECIFICATION: Get hold of it ! Now !

Pre-Version: Type: Hazelnut-stick
 (because of strict confidentiality, the shape of the
 product can only be guessed at).

Beta-Version: Plastic tarp sized 5 square meters including 320 pages
 of technical documentation.

Golden Version: 5-color pamphlet, sunny weather report and about
 4-15 months postponement of GA (general availability).

Release 1.0: Frame without covering; the mechanism is working
 reasonably, it unfolds effortlessly, but there are
 problems with folding it again.
 The handle is offered as a separate feature with its own
 order number.

Release 1.1: Frame without covering, fully integrated handle, mechanism
 is working problem-free. Development is praising
 the well thought-out design, marketing stresses
 the products' universial usability.
 The weight of 18.9kg is to be addressed in one of the
 next releases. The opening mechanism takes about
 12.5 minutes at the moment, but is caused by the
 hypermodern microscalar hydraulics being used for
 the first time in a worldwide product of this type.
 They announce plans for further performance improvements.

Release 2.0: Milestone in development: the product is delivered
 with full (!) covering.
 The customers criticize only one item: They should
 use watertight materials for the covering.

Release 2.1: The covering is now watertight, but the opening mechanism
 doesn't work anymore.
 Marketing tries to place the product as a sun-shade;
 development thinks about functional extensions such as
 a suitable leather bag.
 As a second variant, the firm considers the involvement of a
 new Business Partner.
 The Business Partner cannot deliver a product, but he
 promises a rain-dance to avoid tropical rains.

Release 2.2: Suitable leather bag is being developed.
 Marketing praises the architectural concept of a
 non-opening umbrella with a suitable bag (an open
 umbrella wouldn't fit into the bag anyway, right ?).

Release 3.0: Upgrade to a fully functional model with watertight
 covering - free of charge !
 For this, the firm unfortunately had to change the dimension
 of the leather bag, so the customers have to buy
 a new version which is twice as expensive as before.

Release X.X: Development defends itself against repeated attacks
 by stating that the product passed various test cycles
 and that no involved tester could find any functional
 deficiencies.

Final: Product development is transfered from a lab
 in Saudi Arabia to a lab near London.

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