New machines for balloting in 2008

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007, Unclaimed wrote:

>> and finally with the rapid advances in technology,
>> how soon these new machines should be replaced, with
>> ones with much better capabilitites.
>>
>
> It's some of those "capabilities" you gotta watch out
> for.

Right, it may be that the more primitive machine
without the software configurability, but with switches
that need to be hand checked and annotated for voting
is the more difficult one to cheat. It's the one
withOUT the "capabilities". And the rugged switches may
last longer than high tech Hard drives-- like 20 years
instead of three or four years.

On Wed, 25 Jul 2007, Jerry Okamura wrote:

> "Alvin E. Toda" <aet@lava.net> wrote in message
> news:1185000901-sch@news.lava.net...

>> Sometimes new is not better. Your goals for a system
>> are not well thought out. Basically, because you
>> have some uncertainty about what you require in a
>> balloting system, you want to leave yourself the
>> opportunity to change if something you think is
>> better comes along. NY is happy with their "old"
>> machines. That should tell you that there are some
>> elements that such machines are critical to have.
>
> Yes "sometimes" new is not better, and "sometimes"
> new is better....

Always true in general if you like to throw dice on
decisions. Is that what you think about balloting
machines?