I just read a thread here where Neo uses the word "Kludge". This brought long memories flooding back to me. Does anyone know the true origins of this word in the context of the IT industry??
I remember about 40 years ago people asking how IBM was growing so fast and the response was it's caused by the Kludge. The Kludge was defined as selling a product that you didn't have and then fulfilling the order by designing the product quickly afterwards. IBM salesmen in striped suits went out to very big customers (e.g. the DoD) and agreed to supply new systems. When they got back to the office the techies would say that they couldn't do that but the salesman would say you'd better design it because I've already sold it. As far as I'm concerned, that's the kludge.