Khen,
You do Steve Dropkin a disservice in calling him a troll. He is like
most of us long time Olympus users on this list someone who watched
our marque descend from a trend setter that was copied poorly by
others to being a company that seeks a way that is copied by no one.
I have nothing that I can argue with in Steve's recapping of Olympus
as seen by anyone on this list for a while.
And now you stoop to name calling and sarcasm? Fortunately, most of
us are a bit more rational than that. You actually sound quite
hysterical about defending Olympus when all anyone wants is real
information and conversation. There is no reason for you to feel
embattled here.
The other thing that bothers me about your post is that you keep
saying you have explained things about the otherwise inexplicable
failure of Olympus to address the market place. All I have seen are
winks and a nudge and no explanation at all.
I have a few questions and comments.
Do you really think that the OM4T was a significant model change from
the OM4? Primarily it replaced the faulty battery circuitry and
introduced the FP flash capability. The FP flash was never developed
beyond the weak and minimally useful F280. Not many points for
potential and no development, I think. I think that 1987 for the last
model is probably fair. The OM3 seemed to be little more than the 4
with the substitution of a mechanical shutter controller, the
dropping of the electronic self timer and a predatory price.
So what was Olympus doing from 1987 till 2002 besides the 35-80/2.8?
I think I read all of your posts until recently and I still do not
know why Olympus did not develop an autofocus SLR. A veiled "you
know, Minolta" wink, wink, nudge, nudge does not explain anything. So
specifically what happened at Olympus that did not happen at Canon or
Nikon or Minolta or any other company that developed an autofocus
camera?
What innovations are you referring to in the compact camera market
that others are just now copying? Saying "wake up" is just rude since
you seem to raising the issue and then criticizing because it was not
part of his post. You seem to assume that people on an OM SLR list
are intimately familiar with the compact camera market.
I don't even know what you are talking about with the motor drive. I
have never had a camera with a motor drive and one wonders how
innovation in a seldom used accessory can substitute for basic camera
development.
OK , I will bite. Why is Minolta no longer around?
You confirmed something for me which I suspected and expressed
before. The E-1 was a financial failure since, as you say, current
development is being funded by the E triple digit models. I would
guess that the association with Panasonic has something to do with it
too.
I am sorry, but I am skeptical that there is insufficient
manufacturing capacity to do a world wide introduction of the E400
especially when Olympus is used to working with outside fabricators.
All they would have to do would be to stockpile for the anticipated
demand like other manufacturers do. If manufacturing capacity truly
is the problem it is another piece of evidence that Olympus can't get
its ducks in a row. I can't believe they are that incompetent. The
selling off of excess inventory owned by the US distributor with
relationships being more important than the bottom line is much more
believable.
I am sorry you are so uncomfortable with questions and skepticism.
Most of us are not awed to the point of head down silence before
someone like Yasuo Asakura. Many of us might enjoy a lively
conversation with him. You seem satisfied with unquestioning trust
even when it is not apparent to an outsider that it is justified and
you seem to expect others to have the same attitude. And how would
you have felt with someone from Minolta saying trust us, we know what
we are doing?
And there is reason for skepticism by an outsider. Some of the things
that Olympus said that were not true:
4/3 format will allow for smaller cameras and lenses than larger
formats.
OM lenses will not function on a digital camera.
Two and a half years from announcement to market for the E-1 with out
of date specs resulting in price cuts even before it came to market
and eventually selling for less than half of the original market
price. An expensive high end camera that was originally envisioned to
compete with D30 Canon and the D1 Nikon with more megapixels,
sealing, metal body ended up competing with the bottom of the market.
So perhaps if you could be patient with people who have cheered for
Olympus in the past and watched with disbelief what appeared to be an
endless string of bad moves.
Since you mentioned it, what is the Olympus strategy or business
plan? It is not apparent from the outside.
Winsor
Long Beach, CA
USA
==============================================
List usage info: http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies: olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================
|