Originally Posted by Texrat

Progress comes from constructive criticism, not abject whining.

Originally Posted by jakiman

I disagree. There usually is a very good reason why people whine.
You cannot expect all great ideas to come from nice and constructive comments.

Originally Posted by Texrat

Well, I'm only speaking from personal experience of course. I've seen that people who can effect improvements tend to tune out whiners because they offer little substance and a lot of noise. Therein lies the difference with and advantage of constructive criticism.

Originally Posted by roger_27

funny funny!!

guess one wrong post and I get eternal damnation!

Originally Posted by danramos

I saw that! I couldn't believe people would be so nasty.. but I saw it.

Originally Posted by danramos

Or, to look at it another way, the people who can effect improvements might need to improve their ability to understand the whining better. After all, the mission SHOULD be to provide customers (as many as possible) with what they want

Originally Posted by danramos

In principle, I agree.. however, even the whining is constructive if you approach it correctly. You cannot expect everyone to have a mind for constructive criticism--some people can experience something, say driving a car, and explain precisely the problem they seem to feel to be the problem. Others, on the other hand, can drive the same vehicle and claim that they simply didn't like the car but lack the articulation of language or the experience to be able to place their finger on precisely the details that could be improved to make the vehicle a much better drive. Ultimately, their opinion (or whining, as you put it) might still be perfectly valid. The object SHOULD be to persuade customers with such a good experience that whining of any sort should be at a minimum despite their ability to articulate the experience into words.

Originally Posted by RevdKathy

I'll try hard to overlook the sexism. I think your underlying motivation is probably good: you're right that there will always be people who get the newest thing only to complain at what it won't do. (I have yet to get the n900 to make me a cup of tea in bed in the morning).

But remember when you paint with a broad brush, you create boxes that actually don't fit real people. Almost everyone reading what you have said will find some reason it doesn't fit them (in my case, I'm female, and while I run devices into the ground its with work. I don't 'just break' them.)

The pleas for less unconstructive whining (note, that's not constructive suggestions and the like) is well made, though.

Originally Posted by Texrat

In principle, I agree-- with the caveat that when signal-to-noise favors noise by a significant margin, you are better off focusing precious time on contributors who already have the necessary skills and/or the willingness to refine their approach. I'm betting you'll find that this is the rule in practice. I've never known anyone in a problem-solving position who could afford to process every single input-- especially the noisiest ones.

As far as the "as many as possible" part goes, check into the philosophy of "firing your troublesome customers".

Originally Posted by fatalsaint

However.. if that person then hangs around that car.. and every person getting into the car they sit there going "This car sucks, you can't shift, the seat feels like ****, and the manufacturer eats babies"...

Originally Posted by danramos

Well, that's not whining--that's just being a jerk and slandering. Whining is when you've tried it and don't like it and complain.. or even if you didn't try it, but it's lacking what you wanted and you complain about THAT. The latter is actually USEFUL if you bother to listen, the example you gave isn't useful in almost any circumstance and doesn't really fit the criteria of 'whining' so much as undermining.