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Le 2010-11-03 12:19, Invisible a écrit :
>>> Well, the essential point was risk reduction. Sure, you *can* reverse
>>> engineer it. Now tell me how long it'll take, with the same accuracy
>>> with which I can predict how long it'll take to buy a copy of Windows.
>>>
>>
>> Hmm, thousands of dollars in programming hours, and the risk that you
>> get something critical wrong or, $75 per machine for a license.
>
> While these arguments seem sound, it still doesn't really address the
> whole "you don't need an entire desktop OS just to run a trivial
> embedded device like an ATM" angle.
An ATM is a computer with a screen, a keyboard, another input device
(the card reader) three printers (receipt printer, bank book printer and
money dispenser), and a network card.
If the ATM supplier has to decide between buying off-the-shelf parts
designed for an off-the-shelf OS, or reinventing 12 different wheels,
which option do you think he's going to chose? Keep in mind that he has
to price his machines within the same ballpark as his competitors who
are also trying to reduce R&D and production costs as much as possible,
themselves. Fewer $$$ (or €€€ or £££) spent on manufacturing, means
more $$$ (or €€€ or £££) in profit.
Besides, the desktop OS also offers additional features that you can
use, such as video or sound - to help train your users or provide
advertising, performance and environmental statisitics gathering, remote
management, etc...
Let's also look the problem from a different angle:
Your company makes card readers. Would you prefer to design your card
readers to use a standard protocol such as RS-232 and write Windows
drivers only, or have to support 57 flavors of cash registers, ATMs and
building security systems? You're going to support Windows. Fewer $$$
(or €€€ or £££) spent on development, means more $$$ (or €€€ or
£££) in
profit.
Finally, one of the main factors a bank will use when it decides to buy
10,000 ATMs from Diebold, NCR or Toshiba, is ease of management. If the
ATM uses a standard desktop OS, patch management and other routine
updates (sending a new bunch of ads, special promotions, etc...) will
look a lot like distributing a patch or new version of Excel to the
30,000 office PCs the bank has in its branches and corporate
headquarters, so training costs and management tools costs will be
lower. Fewer $$$ (or €€€ or £££) spent on acquiring, operating, and
maintaining ATMs, means more $$$ (or €€€ or £££) in profits.
Sure an ATM doesn't _need_ many of the functions provided by a desktop
OS, but as you can see, there's a very good reason to go that way
anyway. (Let's see if you can spot it!)
--
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/* gmail.com */}camera{orthographic location<6,1.25,-6>look_at a }
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