My boss—a biologist—told me to buy Oracle. Me: What is Oracle, exactly? Boss: It’s a database. Me: Why do we want it? Boss: We have data. We have to put it in a database. Me: I don’t think so. Boss: Our data is important. Don’t argue, just go buy it. It should cost $10,000. 1/2
-
Show this thread
-
I drive to Oracle HQ and ask to talk to someone who can tell me what it is. Sales guy: So, how much of it do you want? Me: What is it? S: It’s Oracle. Everyone has to have it. Me: But what does it do? S, irritated: Look, how much do you want to buy? 2/n
2 replies 0 retweets 32 likesShow this thread -
David Chapman Retweeted Patrick McKenzie
Me: How much does what configuration cost? What do the different versions do? Sales: You don’t seem to understand. Go ask your boss how much he wants. Me: OK, so what would I get for $10,000? Sales: Great! We’ll send you an invoice. 3/nhttps://twitter.com/patio11/status/1029113225659408384 …
David Chapman added,
Patrick McKenzie @patio11Since they don't mention this in school: you can ask for the budget. People will routinely disclose it to you. Sales folks get good at doing this without anyone getting the impression they're being rude, partially because this isn't rude and partially because delivery matters. https://twitter.com/FreelanceWars/status/1029014684161196032 …Show this thread2 replies 0 retweets 31 likesShow this thread -
Two months later, my boss informs me that Oracle has arrived and I have to put data in it. It is wheeled into my office, where the manuals take up two complete bookshelves and there is a box of CD-ROMs fills the space under my desk. (This is 1994, by the way.) 4/n
2 replies 0 retweets 38 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @Meaningness
just to be clear - is this a thing that actually happened or an exercise in IT-themed surrealism?
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
Yeah, this happened pretty much exactly as described. My impression was that it was a common story at the time. Based on @patio11’s thread, it’s probably still common!
-
-
Except you don’t get the beautiful set of matching manuals anymore.
0 replies 0 retweets 2 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.