4 ms·

Funny thing is that said HP still exist. What people are complaining about is the bottom of the barrel consumer products hawked out of very storefront the worl

Funny thing is that said HP still exist. What people are complaining about is the bottom of the barrel consumer products hawked out of very storefront the world over. I have seen similar sentiments aimed towards Acer, yet i have seen Acer business market laptops survive for ages. Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec.

ballenf 9y ago
There are companies that refuse to dilute their brand or sully their image: - BMW, Lexus - Tiffany's - Rolex Tech companies just think that they are immune to the market forces that keep other high end brands from skimming off the lower rungs (or at least doing it with their marquee brand). The examples are just the first ones from different markets that came to mind.
- Cyph0n 9y ago
  I don't think any of those companies -- all luxury, high-cost/high-profit, consumer brands -- can be compared to a multinational, high volume, consumer- and business-facing IT company. Perhaps there are better examples?
  - overcast 9y ago
    Apple.
- skate22 9y ago
  I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Luxury watches sold by rollex only have to do a few things very well, and look nice. Some major tech companies are constantly under pressure to not only maintain quality of existing features, but to develop new features to stay competitive (all of this on updated hardware). Im not defending any 'bad' products that major tech companies put out, but i dont think the companies you listed are very comparable.
  - mathgeek 9y ago
    > I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Perhaps the examples of BMW and Lexus, which were provided by the previous poster, would be a better comparison than Rolex for you? Car companies like those two, which focus their (multiple) brands for different levels of the market rather than diversifying the levels of the market covered by their brand, are a great example of keeping people thinking that one brand is "only for X type of buyer" while maintaining a presence across all corners of the market.
- mschuster91 9y ago
  > BMW Oh, BMW certainly has had its fair share of lemons and... unconventional cars, as well as involvement in shady dealings. The difference to other carmakers (e.g. VW!) is that their overall quality both in build and in service is extremely high and that, while BMW was involved in shady stuff, they didn't get remotely as low as VW did with gassing apes with diesel fumes...
- icantdrive55 9y ago
  I repair watches. I don't work on newer Rolexes because they won't sell me parts. Actually, if the customer doesn't mind, I do repair with generic parts. There's nothing special when you unscrew that back. It's a whole lot of marketing. Don't get me wrong, I love old Bubble Backs, Thunderbirds, Datejusts, etc., but under a 40x scope, a center wheel is a center wheel. I can't tell the difference between generic, and factory parts most of the time. In all honestly, it's kinda depressing. When I see a new Rolex on a guy's wrist, I just think about guts of the watch, and how he probally overpaid, and that o-ring probally leaks, but since the watch will never see water, it will be fine. I probally won't get a Rolex sponsorship?
TeMPOraL 9y ago
> Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec. Yes. It still surprises me that most people I know - personally or otherwise - didn't figure it out yet: the lower bound on price for a consumer good is "just barely functional enough so that you can't sue the vendor for false advertising". And it's not that people expect milspec hardware. They just expect it to work decently, for a while. But those expectations are still too high.

ballenf 9y ago

There are companies that refuse to dilute their brand or sully their image: - BMW, Lexus - Tiffany's - Rolex Tech companies just think that they are immune to the market forces that keep other high end brands from skimming off the lower rungs (or at least doing it with their marquee brand). The examples are just the first ones from different markets that came to mind.

Cyph0n 9y ago
I don't think any of those companies -- all luxury, high-cost/high-profit, consumer brands -- can be compared to a multinational, high volume, consumer- and business-facing IT company. Perhaps there are better examples?
- overcast 9y ago
  Apple.
skate22 9y ago
I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Luxury watches sold by rollex only have to do a few things very well, and look nice. Some major tech companies are constantly under pressure to not only maintain quality of existing features, but to develop new features to stay competitive (all of this on updated hardware). Im not defending any 'bad' products that major tech companies put out, but i dont think the companies you listed are very comparable.
- mathgeek 9y ago
  > I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Perhaps the examples of BMW and Lexus, which were provided by the previous poster, would be a better comparison than Rolex for you? Car companies like those two, which focus their (multiple) brands for different levels of the market rather than diversifying the levels of the market covered by their brand, are a great example of keeping people thinking that one brand is "only for X type of buyer" while maintaining a presence across all corners of the market.
mschuster91 9y ago
> BMW Oh, BMW certainly has had its fair share of lemons and... unconventional cars, as well as involvement in shady dealings. The difference to other carmakers (e.g. VW!) is that their overall quality both in build and in service is extremely high and that, while BMW was involved in shady stuff, they didn't get remotely as low as VW did with gassing apes with diesel fumes...
icantdrive55 9y ago
I repair watches. I don't work on newer Rolexes because they won't sell me parts. Actually, if the customer doesn't mind, I do repair with generic parts. There's nothing special when you unscrew that back. It's a whole lot of marketing. Don't get me wrong, I love old Bubble Backs, Thunderbirds, Datejusts, etc., but under a 40x scope, a center wheel is a center wheel. I can't tell the difference between generic, and factory parts most of the time. In all honestly, it's kinda depressing. When I see a new Rolex on a guy's wrist, I just think about guts of the watch, and how he probally overpaid, and that o-ring probally leaks, but since the watch will never see water, it will be fine. I probally won't get a Rolex sponsorship?

TeMPOraL 9y ago

> Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec. Yes. It still surprises me that most people I know - personally or otherwise - didn't figure it out yet: the lower bound on price for a consumer good is "just barely functional enough so that you can't sue the vendor for false advertising". And it's not that people expect milspec hardware. They just expect it to work decently, for a while. But those expectations are still too high.