Full Version: Ares Excalibur
I really think it was some 'genius' in the writing staff who needed to fill a space, and thus decided to see if he could get away with taking the boondoggle around the original deployment of the M16 and turn it up to 11.
QUOTE (binarywraith @ Jun 13 2013, 06:54 AM) 
I really think it was some 'genius' in the writing staff who needed to fill a space, and thus decided to see if he could get away with taking the boondoggle around the original deployment of the M16 and turn it up to 11.
That is my guess too. *sigh*
You'd be wrong, for what it's worth.
If you read Stormfront, you'll find out a *lot* more about the Excalibur project, including one reason why R&D was way, way higher than you'd think (Hint: It didn't start as a gun that shot bullets), and why some things continued to garner support when they shouldn't have.
As for boondoggles, you can draw from a lot of past experience ... the Ford Pinto and the Edsel for cars, for instance, or you can watch Microsoft taking hit after hit in real-time from the Xbox One. Sometimes a company just screws up. It happens. Sometimes, they screw up badly enough to go out of business.
Ares, a true Triple A, isn't at risk for that over this, but factors that lead to it could.
IE, "The patient won't die because of the sniffles, but because he had AIDS which killed his immune system." Think of the Excalibur as a symptom, not the disease.
(Mind you, I have no dog in this hunt. Not my plot. I just figured that, you know, people going "lol, macroeconomics and economies of scale 101" might want to know that they're missing the steak for the garnish.)
If you read Stormfront, you'll find out a *lot* more about the Excalibur project, including one reason why R&D was way, way higher than you'd think (Hint: It didn't start as a gun that shot bullets), and why some things continued to garner support when they shouldn't have.
As for boondoggles, you can draw from a lot of past experience ... the Ford Pinto and the Edsel for cars, for instance, or you can watch Microsoft taking hit after hit in real-time from the Xbox One. Sometimes a company just screws up. It happens. Sometimes, they screw up badly enough to go out of business.
Ares, a true Triple A, isn't at risk for that over this, but factors that lead to it could.
IE, "The patient won't die because of the sniffles, but because he had AIDS which killed his immune system." Think of the Excalibur as a symptom, not the disease.
(Mind you, I have no dog in this hunt. Not my plot. I just figured that, you know, people going "lol, macroeconomics and economies of scale 101" might want to know that they're missing the steak for the garnish.)
QUOTE (Wakshaani @ Jun 13 2013, 07:38 AM)
You'd be wrong, for what it's worth.
If you read Stormfront, you'll find out a *lot* more about the Excalibur project, including one reason why R&D was way, way higher than you'd think (Hint: It didn't start as a gun that shot bullets), and why some things continued to garner support when they shouldn't have.
As for boondoggles, you can draw from a lot of past experience ... the Ford Pinto and the Edsel for cars, for instance, or you can watch Microsoft taking hit after hit in real-time from the Xbox One. Sometimes a company just screws up. It happens. Sometimes, they screw up badly enough to go out of business.
Ares, a true Triple A, isn't at risk for that over this, but factors that lead to it could.
IE, "The patient won't die because of the sniffles, but because he had AIDS which killed his immune system." Think of the Excalibur as a symptom, not the disease.
(Mind you, I have no dog in this hunt. Not my plot. I just figured that, you know, people going "lol, macroeconomics and economies of scale 101" might want to know that they're missing the steak for the garnish.)
If you read Stormfront, you'll find out a *lot* more about the Excalibur project, including one reason why R&D was way, way higher than you'd think (Hint: It didn't start as a gun that shot bullets), and why some things continued to garner support when they shouldn't have.
As for boondoggles, you can draw from a lot of past experience ... the Ford Pinto and the Edsel for cars, for instance, or you can watch Microsoft taking hit after hit in real-time from the Xbox One. Sometimes a company just screws up. It happens. Sometimes, they screw up badly enough to go out of business.
Ares, a true Triple A, isn't at risk for that over this, but factors that lead to it could.
IE, "The patient won't die because of the sniffles, but because he had AIDS which killed his immune system." Think of the Excalibur as a symptom, not the disease.
(Mind you, I have no dog in this hunt. Not my plot. I just figured that, you know, people going "lol, macroeconomics and economies of scale 101" might want to know that they're missing the steak for the garnish.)
Good to know...
You really should get a dog, though. Nothing like a good hunting dog.
QUOTE (hermit @ Jun 13 2013, 03:50 AM)
It has some good stuff, but also weirdness. I personally bought it for the house boat, but YMMV greatly on this.
I was being tongue in cheek...
At this point I am only buying plot and setting stuff, anwyay.
QUOTE (Wakshaani @ Jun 13 2013, 10:38 AM)
IE, "The patient won't die because of the sniffles, but because he had AIDS which killed his immune system." Think of the Excalibur as a symptom, not the disease.
As I said from the beginning, I am only accepting this debacle if it means that are problems all the way to the top; Damien Knight himself is bungling things badly for some reasons.
QUOTE (Charon @ Jun 13 2013, 04:41 AM)
See, it has been scrapped. Ares Excalibur was not scrapped, it was sent in production and they are trying to sell it knowing full well it's an awful product that will earn them scorn.
It has only been scrapped after they actually bought several Drones to find out they were not allowed to fly them, not because of any form of controlling. And it still took years after that revelation.
My point is that while I do think the damage the Excalibur did to Ares is a bit overblown it is not impossible that a project can go as bad as the Excalibur did.
When internal rivalries meet prestigious yet shoddy pet projects meet hotshot managers who want to show everyone that they are the best and won't admit defeat a lot can go wrong and yet the project still continues, especially when you also figure in sabotage to ensure exactly that.
And speaking of "trying to sell it knowing full well it's an awful product that will earn them scorn", ever looked at the F-35 Lightning?
QUOTE (Ixal @ Jun 13 2013, 10:46 AM)
And speaking of "trying to sell it knowing full well it's an awful product that will earn them scorn", ever looked at the F-35 Lightning?
Devices that cost 250,000,000 per and are > 30% of your companies total gross vs devices that cost 1,000 and are < 2% of your total gross tend to have a bit more potential for causing harm to your company. Plus it's unlikely that a rifle has 250 million lines of computer code.
QUOTE
I just figured that, you know, people going "lol, macroeconomics and economies of scale 101" might want to know that they're missing the steak for the garnish.
Even if a lot of research compared to other rifles went into the Excalibur, it's still a minor blooper. The Xbox1984 won't kill Microsoft, and they are a lot more, proportionally, invested in the console market than Ares is in the battle rifle market. Yes, if all of Ares is about incompetence and clumsily covering their own asses, the company has a problem. However, none of the true dangers to ares had a real stake in the Excalibur as written up in Stormfront.
Honeywell makes heating and cooling devices and paraphernalia. Things like box fans, ceiling fans, thermostats, and such.
QUOTE (MADness @ Jun 13 2013, 07:05 PM)
Honeywell makes heating and cooling devices and paraphernalia. Things like box fans, ceiling fans, thermostats, and such.
That's not all. Or even close to all they do.
I know people who needed serious security clearances to work for them.
http://honeywell.com/Products-Services/Pag...ce-defense.aspx
Thanks for the link, kzt.
QUOTE (Charon @ Jun 13 2013, 10:39 AM)
As I said from the beginning, I am only accepting this debacle if it means that are problems all the way to the top; Damien Knight himself is bungling things badly for some reasons.
How old is he again? It may be age setting in. He was young in like the 2030's, making him probably in his 60-70s by 2074.
I had no idea Honeywell did that much. Makes sense that Ares bought them out.
QUOTE (Neraph @ Jun 14 2013, 09:34 PM)
How old is he again? It may be age setting in. He was young in like the 2030's, making him probably in his 60-70s by 2074.
He is the CEO of a AAA if anyone can get leonization treatments it is him. He is literally supposed to be one of the smartest people on the planet, and yet recent evens make him out to be buffoon. Some age based mental defect at least would explain things, but I doubt they are going there.
In both Storm Front and Dirty Tricks, his use of Leonization is mentioned. Pops up in older sources as well.
QUOTE (Tymeaus Jalynsfein @ Jun 13 2013, 10:34 AM)
Good to know...
You really should get a dog, though. Nothing like a good hunting dog.
You really should get a dog, though. Nothing like a good hunting dog.
A Caucasian Sheperd for reals.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.