====20050110, Monday - Systems Self Consistency====
The metro sign states 'orange' in red LED lettering.  The host company for the system had taken shortcuts in cost and consistency to curtail slow earnings.  Is this a contradiction? It is certainly not meeting my standards for consistency.  Would I wonder, 'Does it really need to be orange?' if it was?  I don't think so.  I think that often, if and when one has a critical eye, that we notice discrepancies.  We pick them out because it might be important.  I pick them out.  Is this what it means to be an engineer?

'Color', each letter as red, green, yellow, blue, and violet would be consistent.  Realizing that a better product eventually achieves better earnings over time would be consistent.

I have always thought that a system should be a self-demonstration of its own efficacies.  If not, those that use it are not likely to notice or appreciate its niceties, only its inputs and outputs.  We should expose the reasoning behind our systems by not making compromises in our designs.