30Jul/01Off
Some feedback regarding pushback
Now's a great time to mention that I really don't like the word pushback. The definition of the word pushback doesn't match the way people (mostly Dave Winer, but I've seen it spread a little) have been using it lately, and secondly, I think the word is confrontational, whereas the word I prefer to see, feedback, is much more respectful, constructive and friendly.
Pushing is rude, Feeding is mmm, mmm good. 
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July 30th, 2001 - 18:40
Jim, dude, I love ya, I think you’re the greatest, but every now and then I just gotta go, “Wha????”
Okay, “pushback” is confrontational.
What, exactly, is “bullshit?”
An invitation to calm, dispassionate rational discourse?
Yours Inquiringly,
Dave Rogers
July 30th, 2001 - 19:15
On Monday, July 30, 2001, at 07:46 PM, dave rogers wrote:
> Jim, dude, I love ya, I think you’re the greatest, but every now and
> then I just gotta go, “Wha????”
>
> Okay, “pushback” is confrontational.
>
> What, exactly, is “bullshit?”
>
> An invitation to calm, dispassionate rational discourse?
Is this pushback or feedback?
Seriously though, my point was, I see people using the word pushback and
it peeves me because it’s not a real word, in the sense it’s being
used. Clearly the word feedback is what’s intended here.
Dave Winer always calls feedback ‘pushback’. It’s no wonder he takes
constructive criticism so badly, and so often repulses against feedback
instead of consuming it — because he thinks the other person is
‘pushing’ him rather than trying to help him (correctly or not), and he
obviously doesn’t like to be pushed into anything (hence “I’m an
internet developer not a Windows or MacOS developer, etc”).
“Bullshit”, in the context of TCO, is what I think of using TCO is a
metric for choosing a CMS technology. It’s not what I thought of what
John Robb had to say at all! I’m not sure why you think otherwise. I
didn’t say “John Robb’s piece was bullshit”, or “John Robb is full of
shit”. I clearly said, the CMS industry is dysfunctional, which results
in John Robb deciding to compare Frontier with other unnamed CMSs by
approximately TCO.
John’s right, Frontier is very cheap, and very cheap to maintain,
compared to other CMSs, when you only consider the cost of ownership.
What I’m saying is that’s a bogus way to decide which CMS to buy, and
not only that, ignores a lot of problems with Frontier that TCO don’t
take into account…. like opportunity costs brought on by using a
non-mainstream platform and having questionable scalability.
Pushback and Bullshit. Bullshit and pushback. Amusing they end up
getting questioned in the same message.
I think you’re the greatest too, dude.
Jim
July 31st, 2001 - 06:17
Aw, shucks. Now you’ve got me blushing!
I think I understand what you’re saying, but I hope you get the irony.
Sometimes we have difficulty getting the message because we get wrapped around the words that are used, rather than the content of the message. It was your characterization of “pushback” as confrontational (as opposed to merely incorrect) that made the use of the term “bullshit” stand out in the overall discussion, as bullshit is typically used to express a strong opinion of some kind, and strong opinions are often invitations to confrontations.
Maybe my irony meter has it’s threshold set too low.
Dave