Isn't a race to the bottom on *price* the desired outcome? The presence of a rac... | Hacker News

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		mquander on Nov 22, 2011 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: The Government's $200,000 Useless Android Applicat... Isn't a race to the bottom on price the desired outcome? The presence of a race to the bottom on functionality is independent of whether or not the contract is open. If they don't have anyone competent who is vetting the proposals or evaluating the progress and deliverables, then they will wind up with shit no matter how they arrange the contracting. But if it's open to normal software shops, then at least they probably won't wind up with $200,000 shit.

gte910h on Nov 22, 2011 [–]

>Isn't a race to the bottom on price the desired outcome

Cheap yet sufficient is the desired outcome in government work.

I'm guessing 'sufficient' was defined too broadly or too specifically, and therefore was not correctly tested for on delivery.

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