On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 16:12:11 GMT, in a place far, far away, Monte
Davis made the phosphor on my monitor glow
in such a way as to indicate that:

(Rand Simberg) wrote:

What's so frustrating is that we aren't even asking to do everything
right. We'd just like to do it so everything isn't so damned *wrong*.

I feel your pain, quite sincerely. My comment was directed not at
those (like you) with hands-on experience, but at those DerekL
recently described as "fanboys, opium dreamers, and folks eager to
prove that _their_ penile substitute is not only bigger, but faster
and cheaper too."

I've spent too much time as a citizen watching other agencies' R&D and
procurement to believe that NASA + primes is an especially awful case
within government. And I've spent too much time in my career watching
dysfunction (failing but unstoppable projects, managerial and
divisional infighting, and all the rest) at ABB, United Technologies,
Philips, Con Edison, and most of the big players in energy, IT, comm
and pharmaceuticals -- to believe that private enterprise and market
discipline automatically produce better results. I think it's just
especially frustrating to us because we love space and are impatient
for progress.

They may not always produce good results, but if they're operating in
a free market (Con Ed, for example, wouldn't count), they have to
provide *better* results. If not, they eventually go out of business
(e.g., GM's recent woes).