Re: FCC Issues Rule Allowing FBI to Dictate Wiretap-Friendly Design for In ternet Services

[Tony Li <tony.li () tony li>]

> i opine that some features are innovation and others not.  i.e.,
> x.25 support on modern kit seems a not innovative and a waste of
> resources i would rather see applied elsewhere.


Probably a fairer characterization.


> but every feature has its cost in complexity and resources to build
> and maintain.  resources are finite and complexity has super-linear
> cost.  so i would much prefer that the vendors concentrate on the
> features *i* want <g>.  and i am quite skeptical of features which 
> non-paying non-customers want.


Well, I'm even skeptical of features that paying customers want.  But
that doesn't pay the bills.  ;-)

While complexity has super-linear cost, not all features introduce
significant complexity.  It's very much a function of the architecture.
 In a highly partitioned, loosely coupled system, adding a feature that
interacts with only a single other component in a trivial way may be
quite simple.  In a monolithic system, adding a feature that permeates
the system may be so complex as to be unimplementable.

The features to avoid are those where the complexity cost outweighs the
revenue.  If only we could evaluate this properly!  ;-)

Tony