Hi All,

I hear you BenT, and I agree it's sort of a bass-ackwards re-use of a
term.. If you take "turnkey" to it's literal origin (you hop in and
turn a key) that's right, and I understand your frustration in the
usage of the term. However in this case (and in dare I say *most*
usages of the term, the scope/context is what defines what can be and
can't be considered turnkey.  The loosest version of turnkey is simply
meaning no configuration needed, in the case of a "turnkey"
conversion, the conversion is the extent of the product's scope so a
turnkey conversion means both: No additional configuration required.
The use of the term as it applies to conversions might actually be
entirely my fault. Way back in 05 I started using the term to describe
the way we delivered all v1.0 conversions. The term was borrowed from
tech/software (which was borrowed from the original turning a key
related industry ha) so the whole thing is absurdly cyclical.. anyhow
"turnkey" as it pertained to video editing workstations when I was a
product manager for a manufacturer in Japan was a complete ready to
use workstation. It did not actually include a monitor, chair, desk
etc, but was complete and true to the scope of the product and as far
as the customer is concerned. The same is true of our usage of the
word turnkey to describe a complete, ready to bolt to your trans and
into the van, vs. kit... since the two are completely different. They
differ again still from an install, since the scope has no been
increased to completion of a job, which is a service on top of things.
 I hope this makes a little more sense, but I completely understand
the confusion and contest of the usage.

Jim Akiba