Interesting reading this morning, both about the background of Cecil Watt's accomplishments (thanks TLS Guy), and the discussion about marketing and marketing people. Although I agree in general with TLS on his opinion of marketing, I cannot disagree with shadyj and Irvrobinson and their comments about how you cannot afford to ignore marketing. So, thanks to shadyj and Irv too.
I have this observation to add to the subject. A number of years ago, I took a course called Principles of Project Management. Don't ask what it's about, I was required to take it so I can nod my head intelligently at others who seem to swear by it. As a scientist, I honestly thought business management courses were an exercise in BS. I wasn't disappointed by Principles in Project Management. Instead of swearing by it, I learned to swear at it.
However, the instructor of the course turned out to be interesting, despite the subject matter. He often used jargon and abbreviations for jargon that I didn't know. So I pestered him with questions about what those terms meant. He kept using undefined jargon, so I kept interrupting him. At a break in the action, I told him I was sorry for interrupting him so often, but no one else present would join me in that, so I had to carry the ball. He answered that he was not at all bothered by what I did, and further surprised me by asking what kind of "technical guy" I was. I told him, and he told me he also was a "technical guy", computer IT. He deliberately used undefined jargon as a way to find out the backgrounds of his students. Technical people usually ask right away what those terms mean, while marketing, sales, & business management types deliberately keep their questions to themselves to hide their ignorance from their rivals. Most of my career, I've been surrounded by other scientists who all believe the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Apparently, others don't share that philosophy. Once I understood that, I got an insight into what makes them tick – always valuable.
The best post so far in this thread was Floyd Toole's photo of his HT system. We no longer have to debate about HT details, we know the answer to the burning question, What Would Floyd Do (WWFD)?.
