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Virus-related stereotypes, part 2
A 1996 opinion piece by Rob Rosenberger
Stereotypes about shareware vs. retail software
- Even the best shareware is poorly written
- It comes from one guy who [still] lives in his parents' basement
- He goes to high school or college during the day
- He earns most of his money flipping burgers
- He writes viruses at night as a malicious hobby
- He owns an "old" computer by today's standards because he can't afford to buy the latest
technology
- He hawks his software as shareware because retail companies won't waste their money trying to market an
inferior product
- Even the worst retail software is professionally written
- A whole team of professionals work on any given retail product
- The team members with Ph.D.s in computer science actually conceptualize & design the software
- The "hot" team members do the actual programming and they're typically managed by someone with
a master's degree in computer science
- The quality-assurance team members hold "management information systems" degrees and they
carefully test the software before it ever reaches store shelves
- The head of marketing holds a computer science degree and can speak as an authority about the software if a
reporter calls
- These professionals work hard for their salary and it reflects in the professional box you see on store
shelves
- The men wear traditional business suits and roll up their sleeves then they get to the office
- They worry about receding hairlines and college-aged daughters who only seem to show an interest in
boys who write shareware
- The women wear conservative makeup with fashionable (but not flashy) business outfits
- They wear tennis shoes on the way to work and grab a pair of pumps from the bottom desk drawer when they
get to the office
- They all work in a professional office building located in a major city
- Each desk bristles with the latest hardware & software
- Everybody at the company understands the threat of viruses and they diligently check their computers to
make sure customers never receive an infected disk