The Leaking Tap

[The_Hawk]

The Home Owner
- Turn off water
- Pull apart tap
- Take old washer to hardware store
- buy new matching washer
- install new washer
- turn water back on
Total time: 30min
Total cost: $1.75


The Government
- attempt to turn off tap tighter
- break tap
- commission new department to look into faulty taps
- advertise new positions
- interview applicants
- re-advertise positions as applicants don't have enough experience
with that particular tap type
- interview applicants
- hire employees
- draft a report to the department head
- re-draft report to the minister
- send copies to all related department
- conclude that wash basin to blame for problem
- replace all toilets
- tap still leaking
Total time: 3 years
Total cost: $10 million + super

Microsoft
- claim the tap was designed to leak
- release service pack 1 beta for taps
- service pack fixes original leak, but creates 3 new leaks
- replace building with new improved building 2.0
- no leaks
- turn water on
- building floods
- claim it was design to work that way
- release service pack 1 for buildings 2.0
- taps no longer leak, toilets no longer flush
- end official support for buildings 2.0
Total time: 5 years
Total cost: $100 million

US Army
- turn of tap tighter
- with smart bombs
- for 8 hours
- kill 3,000 people
- claim they were collateral damage and their loss although
regrettable was unavoidable
- tap now destroyed
- water gushing from broken pipe
- nuke whole block
- pipe still gushing water
- area un inhabitable for the next 250 years
- leaking tap no longer a primary concern
Total time: 21 days
Total Cost: US$76.4 Billion & 2 million lives