I was delighted that you included SmartForecasts in your review ``Forecasting the Future'' (June). However, in saying the program ``lacks a convenient way of holding out data to verify forecasting accuracy,'' it's clear Stewart missed the concept of sliding simulation, the process we use to measure forecasting accuracy. Maybe our problem here is that this calculation is automatic; the user doesn't have to ask for it. He also said our Eyeball program ``does not document the manual changes made in the forecast graph.'' However, we do document both on the graph and in the forecast data table that the changes resulted in a ``manual'' forecast.
Charles Smart
President, Smart Software, Inc.
Belmont, MA
Flexible C++
Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it
is
theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.
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Forecasting: Criticizing the Criticism
