Shenan
Thu Jul 03 15:12:27 PDT 2008
<snipped>
Archived indefinitely:
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsupdate/browse_frm/thread/ef03a286b47f861d/fad50c47ba538944?lnk=st&q=author%3ABill+author%3ADrake#fad50c47ba538944
Shenan Stanley wrote:
> Same "system"?
>
> KB stands for "Knowledge Base" and almost any software (and even
> hardware - computing or not) manufacturers' have a knowledge base of
> problems/fixes/etc. Some call it knowledge base and use "KB" and
> some call it something else (FAQs, Stuff you need to know, etc.)
>
> In any case, the article you seem to be referring to:
>
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb403742
>
> Is clearly part of the Adobe "kb" system (notice the "kb.adobe.com"
> address.)
>
> Microsoft does _not_ have a KB article by that number:
>
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/403742
> (Microsoft KB articles can be referenced by
>
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/###### <-- sub in MS KB Article
> Number for ######)
>
> However - Adobe has many other articles in their KB, which you can
> search using:
>
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/microsites/microsite.do
>
>
> As for "It makes no sense at all for Adobe to use something which
> looks so much like the MS System - all the way down to the exact
> same format and six-digit-number" <-- not *exactly* the same
> format, perhaps they worked their way *up to* a six digit number. There's
> only so many ways you can do a good knowledge base system
> and have it work...
> If you are confused - you obviously did not read and comprehend the
> entirety of the situation. Many fiction books (paperbacks) are
> about the same size, they mostly have covers, page numbers, title
> pages - many have dedication pages and most have a UPC code on the
> back cover that allow them to be scanned for identification and
> charged for purchase. They come from many different publishers,
> many different subjects are contained within created by many
> different authors and are sold in many different places possibly at
> many different prices despite the recommendation of the UPC code
> that may be on the back cover recommending a certain price but
> having the *same number of digits* in the system as the other
> books. However - if you look at the title, the author, the subject
> etc - you can see the differences quite clearly.
> In the end - you seem to have a complaint about Adobe... You do not
> seem to have a complaint about "Windows Update".
Bill Drake wrote:
> I disagree as far as the rationale is concerned. I understand
> that there are similarities between KB systems and the
> methodology is similar between all. The same is true of
> cosmological star catalogs.
>
> However, nobody in the Astronomy department would
> consider it responsible to use the same star-catalog name
> for two different star catalogs. It's confusing and stupid,
> so different star catalogs have different names.
>
> If Adobe want their stuff to be easily differentiated from
> Microsoft's - to prevent the very trap into which I fell - then
> they should at least have the form of AKBxxxxxx or have a
> different numbering system such as KBXXX-xxxx. This only
> makes sense.
>
> Regardless, this is deviating from the purpose of this
> newsgroup.
Actually - the point is that this whole discussion was off topic. From the
beginning. It had nothing to do with Microsoft. It had to do with Adobe.
So in-as-far-as this thread (from start to finish) goes - it is on-topic.
I figure Adobe differentiated itself just fine with at least these two
facts:
1) When you go to Adobe KB articles - you do not visit
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/######/, you visit
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb###### (Notice
"Microsoft" in one, "Adobe" in another. If you cannot tell the difference
from that - that would not be your issue. I would *not* expect them to
consult with Microsoft (or any other company they deal with in other ways)
on the design of their web page/knowledge base/etc.)
2) The article speaks of Adobe products. If nothing else gave away where
you were/what you were reading about - the fact that each page says "Adobe"
on it with some product information about a specific (or multiple) "Adobe"
product - that should be enough.
In the end - what I see here is similar (albeit not all that similar in
format beyond the fact both are now at six digit article numbers) designs
with similar purposes (to distribute information about the product(s) in
question and/or answer specific questions or address specific issues about
said product(s)) - and I would expect no less.
I find nothing confusing about going to a Microsoft web page and pulling up
an article on a Microsoft product and then *perhaps* being able to use that
same number and pull up an article in some other knowledge base for some
other company. I would consider it - at best - coincidental that they both
had a knowledge base article by the same number. Actually - I probably
wouldn't notice - because I would know where I was and what products I was
looking for help on and would read the articles in question to comprehend
whatever it was I needed to to figure out anything else. ;-)
The flaw in your logic ("same star-catalog name for two different star
catalogs") is simple to point out:
You are thinking of the knowledge base article numbers as some external
differentiator that *all* products share. They are not. They are like the
page numbers in a book. If page numbers are printed in a book - I bet you
will find the same page numbers in another book. What differentiates them
is the title of the book (web page address), the words on each page (the
content of each knowledge base article) and *possibly* the subject matter
for the overall book (Microsoft products vs. Adobe Products.)
By your logic - every book would have to number their pages with some unique
identifier so it could not be confused with the page numbering of any other
book.
--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html