Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!purdue!decwrl!armada!doug
From: doug@armada.UUCP (Doug Hoffman)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Screwing Little Guys
Message-ID: <98@armada.UUCP>
Date: 17 Mar 89 22:37:37 GMT
References: <79700022@p.cs.uiuc.edu> <96@armada.UUCP> <15903@cup.portal.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: MassPar Inc., Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 40

In article <15903@cup.portal.com>, dbell@cup.portal.com (David J Bell) writes:
> >> People get screwed all the time (I'm thinking about Apple customers)
> >> when a company introduces a new model at a random time of the year.

> >> Don Gillies
> >
> >I don't understand this.  How is this screwing anybody?  If they paid
> >a fair price for the product capibilities, then how is it they have
> >lost anything?
> 
>       I don't entirely agree. 
>                [stuff deleted]                             Now I have
> *last year's* product, at full retail price, and the NEW, IMPROVED model
> is available at 10% more than I just paid. If I'm really lucky, I can
> try to dump the one I bought, but wont get nearly what I paid for it.

What I don't understand is why you need to dump it at all.  If you bought
it to do a job then either it is adequate to do the job or it isn't.  If
it is capable then you don't *need* to dump it.  If it isn't capable,
then you shouldn't have purchased it in the first place.  In neither case
has the vendor's NEW, IMPROVED model caused you any direct loss.

>         But they *should* ANNOUNCE new products, and not just vaporware
> press releases a year in advance! 
> 
> Dave

I believe Osborn is an excellent example of what can happen to a company
when they announce a new product *weeks* early.  Put them literally out
of business.  When and what to announce is a business decision.  Some
companies handle it better than others.

I'm a person who shops around for a good (hopefully great) deal before
making a major purchase.  But I certainly don't get upset if I make what
I feel is a good purchase and then see that "I could have gotten it for
less" when it later goes on sale, or I see another place advertise a
lower price.  And, I only have myself to blame if I make a bad deal in
the first place.

Doug