[Asrg] Analogies

[Matt Sergeant <msergeant at messagelabs.com>]

On 5 May 2004, at 14:16, Hallam-Baker, Phillip wrote:

> How many credit agencies would list every customer of Verizon
> because one customer of Verizon defaulted on a loan?
>
> How many credit agencies would list half the population of spain?
> Would a credit agency list Texas because of Enron?
Can we (as a group - I don't intend to single Phillip out) stop with 
the bad analogies? We seem to keep filling this list with awful 
analogies to the real world that make no sense whatsoever. The internet 
email system is different.

Examples of bad analogies seen here:

 - SMTP compared to the postal system
 - The internet email system compared to the telephone network
 - Sender-pays compared to cars that run on water
 - Blacklists compared to credit agencies
 - Blacklists compared to restaurant critics

I could probably go on...

Analogies have ceased to be a useful tool, especially on this list. Can 
we stick to reality?

Matt.


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