April 1, 2003

Atomic Object, LLC has forged a new path into the food industry, adapting cutting-edge software development techniques to good, old-fashioned service.

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April 1, 2003

Grand Rapids, MI – In a surprising leap over the business fence, East-town-based Atomic Object has relocated to the corner of Lake and Wealthy, opening the area’s first 1950’s style burger joint… with a twist.

“We realized that making good software isn’t that different than making good food,” said an Atomic spokesperson early Tuesday. “It’s all in the wrist.”

The software-developers-gone-burger-flippers are applying a whole grabbag of techniques, drawing off their years of computer programming experience and a cutting-edge development methodology called XP: eXtreme Preparation.

Trading in his Toshiba laptop for a Linux-based cash register, LLC partner William Bereza said, “Unit testing is more fun than ever. Or will be,” he added, “when we can get Dave away from asimov.” (‘asimov’ is the company’s nickname for its primary deep frier, inheriting the title from an old file server).

That’s one good part about XP; you’ve got to be able to man all posts. Team members work in an open kitchen—usually in pairs—which allows for increased communication and cross-pollination of ideas as new sandwiches are developed.

Partner Carl Erickson explains the deceptively short “Optional Scope” menu you’ll find hanging over the counter at Atomic Burger:

“The customer starts out with a minimal risk base system… er, that is, a bun. Features—toppings, I mean—are added iteratively in a ‘pay-as-you-go’ process that ends precisely when the customer wants it to. Compare that to the average burger joint. If you run short of change at Burger King, you can’t just have them stop at the onions and call it good… you’re stuck with a fixed-price bid right up front. We don’t like to work that way.”

Atomic is confident that their revolutionary burger development process will make them stand ahead of the competition.

“Since customers often aren’t 100% clear on their needs at the beginning of their lunch hour,” said Erickson, “they’re bound to be excited by the control they have over the outcome of their individual burgers.”

Atomic Burger is currently posting internship positions. Duties will include development, documentation, adapting Blue Tooth devices to work with the refrigerator and friers, tending the cash register and mopping the floors.

Great burgers are tested before they even exist.

They come from smart people using a disciplined process.

...(april fool!)

About Atomic Object LLC

Atomic Object designs, develops, and delivers custom software solutions. We form partnerships with the business experts of our clients, contributing our knowledge of modern computing technologies and our reliable software development process. Based on agile practices in general, and Extreme Programming in specific, the Atomic Object development process delivers tested, reliable, maintainable software, predictably on time and budget, while significantly reducing project risk. With experience in a wide range of domains and industries—including e-commerce and web apps, business process automation, database integration, kiosks, and manufacturing software—Atomic Object specializes in having a world-class software development process, rather than being specialists in a particular business niche.

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Atomic Object Contact:

Carl Erickson
+1 616 776 6020
CarlErickson@atomicobject.com