[Stoves] Stove ID please - 2-pot stoves - testing needed

[David G. LeVine]

> But the question is:   who will pay for these tests, and who will 
> release the results? 

A variant is who does the tests and who interprets them.

Many years ago, a small computer manufacturer had three primary 
operating systems, let's call them RT-11, RSTS and RSX.  A chart was 
shown to the sales people telling them how much better RSX was, based on 
the chosen metric.  The axes had no labels.  RT-11 showed a small bar, 
RSTS had a much larger one and RSX had one many times larger than 
either.  RSX was CLEARLY better.

It turned out that the vertical axis was support dollars to support one 
seat.  So, if you had RSX users it cost many times as much to keep your 
production system working than either of the others.  This meant that 
RSX brought in lots more support dollars per seat, good for the company, 
bad for the customer.  The company is no longer in business.

If a stove manufacturer makes a similar chart and shows stove models on 
the horizontal axis and a "quality" number on the vertical axis, who is 
to tell if the number is repair and maintenance costs, fuel costs, cost 
of ownership, or something else.

Be wary of who counts the votes.

Dave  8{)

-- 

/"Among the many misdeeds of British rule in India, history will look 
upon the Act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest."/
Mohandus Ghandi, An Autobiography, Page 446.
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