At 6:07 PM +0000 2/3/02, olympus-digest wrote:
>Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 17:49:43 +0000
>From: dolphans1@xxxxxxx
>Subject: RE: [OM] Irony of discontinuing of the OM series
>
>Well Allan, I guess thatís where we'll agree to disagree
>on. I feel a corporation does owe its "loyal" customers
>an obligation to support its product.
>
>Do you not feel that if you purchase a product, you
>should be able to service it within a "life time"? ( I
>know, what is considered a lifetime?)
I must say that I don't feel that Olympus has abandoned me. They supported the
OM line for thirty years. How many manufacturers (of anything, not just
cameras) can even come close to that kind of a record? One can count them on
the fingers; toes not likely required.
>I do not agree with the "policy" of dumping good camera
>parts into a landfill as being one of them, if this is
>even true. If so, this "policy" prematurely exasperates
>or accelerates the OM's series demise.
I recall John Hermanson saying in a past posting something like the US Tax Code
forced Olympus to do this, even as John hopefully hovered around the dumpster.
One can only hope that this time, John will be allowed to loot that dumpster.
>In my opinion, the OM series is a classic camera line.
>Why let it die? To become a collectable or to be forced
>to switch to digital?
Because the remaining OM community isn't large enough to support the product
line anymore. Companies don't generally just up and kill profitable product
lines. Money talks.
>Olympus could out-source or licenses out its classic
>line parts, to another corporation who may be interested
>in supporting it.
If Olympus couldn't make any money on it any more, why would some other
corporation do any better? Or even be tempted to try? The Zukiholoic
community isn't getting any larger.
Just for curiosity, how many Zuikoholics are there in the world? Can we
estimate this?
And, what is their average age? (I'm 55.)
>I guess in the end, "we" as consumers, do have some sort
>of recourse, we can always walk away from those products
>and go elsewhere. Perhaps "brand loyalty" is no loner
>important in today's corporate culture.
I think that thirty years is extraordinary support, especially these days.
What other 35mm camera manufacturer would you suggest as the newfound
alternative?
Olympus could sell their residual parts supply for a song, and get most of the
tax benefit, I suspect, because they are now getting out of the OM business
forever, a one time event.
Joe Gwinn
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