University students seemed to view software as a second-rate career path. Already the university system is trying to combat the problem by increasing the number of computer science departments and professors and by upgrading training equipment. My feeling is that it will take five to ten years. Finally, Feigenbaum looked at the role of government. There's a set of cultural attitudes that say, with hardware, for example, you can touch it, feel it, hold it.
Software is nothing, it's vapor.
It's not a thing. And their attitude is, they deserve the best service in the world and they ought to get it for free because it's part of the product. As a result, Japanese entrepreneurs and venture capitalists view software as a highly risky business, even though the American experience has proven otherwise. The findings of Feigenbaum's study will eventually be integrated into a book on the computer industry that Feigenbaum will write with William Miller and Haim Mendelson of the Business School faculty. Lucy McCauley Return to the top.