Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 23:49:21 +0800 (CST) From: Michael Robinson <robinson@netrinsics.com> To: matt@zigg.com, robinson@netrinsics.com Cc: chat@freebsd.org, Jeff.Baker@acadhotline.net.au, stephen@math.missouri.edu Subject: Re: Learning curves (was Re: Newbee) Message-ID: <199908271549.XAA29148@netrinsics.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.10.9908271045350.4156-100000@megaweapon.zigg.com>
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Matt Behrens <matt@zigg.com> writes:
>Sorry, I never was good at math. I leave that to the eggheads.
>The important thing is that people understand it. I would wager
>from the widespread acceptance of the phrase that it is widely
>understood despite its apparent inconsistency with mathematical
>practice.
>
>The first time I heard the phrase "steep learning curve", that
>picture jumped into my mind. The bit about Windows I added myself
>as part of an argument I was having with some colleagues. I wish
>I could cite something for you, but I can't.
So, you heard someone use the phrase, a picture popped jumped into your
mind, and you were sufficiently confident that the picture in your mind
was accurate that you started using the phrase yourself, accordingly?
I suppose if everybody did the same thing, you might get "widespread
acceptance" of a "widely understood" term that was, in fact, completely
wrong.
"While the unit costs of the new technology may initially be higher
than that of the pre-existing one, due to the presence of a learning
curve the unit cost for the former may eventually become lower.
However, in deciding whether to switch to the new technology, a
manager in a firm may be uncertain about the slope of the learning
curve: if the slope is very flat, it may be worthwhile to maintain
the old technology, while if unit costs decrease very rapidly it
would be better to switch to the new one."
"Learning About the Learning Curve"
(http://bucky.stanford.edu/cef97/abstracts/bala.html)
It seems that the professionals (i.e. "eggheads") use flat slope (i.e.
"shallow learning curve") to refer to a difficult-to-learn task, and steep
slope (i.e. "steep learning curve") to refer to an easy-to-learn task.
-Michael Robinson
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