I think one thing that is going on here, Khen, is that this list
is an interesting cross-section of talents and professions. For
example, there are people here that do understand the product
development, engineering and marketing professions, because they
are currently are have been directly involved in it in other
industries.
Just as an example, I was a product manager with a high-tech
pro-audio and broadcast industry company. Not just any company,
but the #2 company in the world in that industry. Oh, Sony was
#3. Prior to that I managed a software company. I know full
well about engineering, product development and marketing issues
as well as competitive issues. I also know that we had one
competitor that kept us on our toes because they were constantly
introducing new products or feature updates and we were of a
"superior engineering" bent. Whenever we had the "ivory tower"
mentality, we'd lose the customer. It was critical that we
listen to the customer's needs and either answer them with the
product or provide an alternative solution. Oh, why am I no
longer employed by that company? Easy, we lost millions of
dollars thanks to a major recession in South America as well as
being bit by the SE Asia economy when it tanked a few years ago.
Unfortunately, we failed to make enough inroads in Europe where
the sales were. I, along with a number of other responsible
people, were made responsible for that--if you get my drift. I
was also a product manager for an ISP that grew 120% during the
same time that all of my competitors decreased
substantially--including the biggest, most powerful national
providers.
There are several others on this list that are among some of the
most talented software, firmware and hardware engineers in the
world--of any industry. This also includes a couple of
inventors.
We may not know the insides of the camera industry, but we do
know other comparitive industries. Olympus has attracted a
certain type of buyer--those who truely appreciate the fine
engineering and genious behind the design. These are sometimes,
as represented here, engineers.
We might be ignorant of the inside development going on inside
Olympus. We can only trust you that they are onto something
really great. But, we can recognize the weaknesses in our
competitors as well as in our own companies. We might not be
professionals in the camera supply industry, but we are
professionals in other industries with exactly the same issues
and concerns. Every industry has/had an Olympus. There really
isn't anything particularily unique about the photographic
industry.
AG
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