Dan Waters
df.waters at comcast.net
Fri Jan 14 12:11:06 CST 2011
I'm going to bet that even the Greek engineers who built this would have charged more than $40 - in year 0 dollars! ;-) Dan -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of jwcolby Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 12:07 PM To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT:Old Dog, New Tricks - Ferrari's ? I would pay $40 to have that as a real machine (in metal) just as a conversation piece. As a LEGO it would be too fragile. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com On 1/14/2011 12:09 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote: > Impressive. > > Jim > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Gustav Brock > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 1:01 PM > To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT:Old Dog, New Tricks - Ferrari's ? > > Hi Drew et all > > How to assemble 110 gears - including differential gears - to a meaningful > machine - in LEGO: > > Lego Antikythera Mechanism > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLPVCJjTNgk > > Watch in HD and full screen. > > /gustav > > >>>> DWUTKA at marlow.com 12-01-2011 21:27>>> > Actually Mark, I think a better analogy would be to say that Access is > like Legos, and .Net (or any other actual true programming language) is > like a full blown machine shop. > > First, inexperienced users can use legos, but what they make will > usually be a disaster (plus they tend to put the little pieces in their > mouth and choke on them), where as an inexperienced user would give up > in a machine shop, or just be too scared to walk in it. Experienced and > skilled pros can make works of art with both legos and in a full blown > machine shop.... however the skill sets do vary between the two. > > Second, with legos, a lot of the 'tricky' parts are already molded and > ready to go (like Jet, DAO, Reports, etc). With legos, you don't have > to build a tree out of tiny pieces, you can just use the preformed tree > pieces, yet you can still build the tree from scratch if you want too > (bound/unbound). With a machine shop, you have lots of tools, tools > that allow you to build pretty much anything you want, but you don't > have a lot of 'pre-formed' pieces, so you have to build them from > scratch. (Of course, like a good machine shop, when you build a custom > tool, you can easily use that same tool in another project, so you > really only have to do something super useful once, then re-use it). > > Third, legos aren't suited for all environments. If you need to build > something that'll hold up to 300 degree temps (or run across a VPN > connection), legos might work, but probably not too well. To improve > them, you have to go outside of the lego world, and use some special > coating (scrap jet for a SQL Server backend). With a machine shop, you > can build the tool/project to suit the environment. > > Fourth, let's face it, how many engineers or mechanics didn't bite their > teeth on legos as a kid. They make a great starting point for people > new to the field. Where as walking into a machine shop on the first day > of kindergarten.... you'll hurt yourself. > > Fifth, legos have a public perception of being a toy, but people who are > damn good at what they do have created wondrous creations using that > 'toy' that wouldn't have been the same using any other medium, and > fulfill their purpose to the Tee. Along these same lines, there are > people skilled enough to use a machine shop, who probably laugh at > someone using legos, but who still produce garbage, that won't hold up > to a skilled lego project. > > Sixth, the Legos Group continues to sell and market their product to > people they expect to use it as a toy (nice little dig to M$ ;)). > > Seventh, and most importantly, the only thing legos and a machine shop > have in common is that they can produce things. Neither of them are > designed for all projects. The true skill is to know what project > should use which environment. > > Drew > > > -----Original Message----- > From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com > [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Mark Simms > Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 11:10 AM > To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving' > Subject: Re: [AccessD] OT:Old Dog, New Tricks - Ferrari's ? > > While there is no question that John needed dot-net due to a multi-threading > requirement, before making the commitment, you've got to ask yourself: > How many Ferrari's are you asked to build ? > > Dot-net is a Ferrari-building tool. It takes a lot longer to build anything > with a complex toolset. > I think Access builds Chevy's very fine and very quickly. > > But if you need to build a Ferrari, by all means move up to dot-net. > Super-fancy GUI ? Access can't do it. Multi-threading ? Access can't do > it. > > Note: since no one understands the software business, so I'm stuck on using > these analogies to explain things to end-users. Sorry, didn't mean to offend > anyone. > > -- AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com