Originally posted by Hank:
Lasher, I'm an even longer time member and I do understand your points.
Gonk, you put up a good defense. I'm involved in electronic products development/manufacturing and do understand that complex products take a long time to develop and also it's always the soft/firmware that causes deadlines to be missed.
However, Outlaw's delay on this product is inexcusably excessive. I say that because even though the delay is at SN, the problems are apparently so great that SOMEONE in SN could have predicted a long delay months ago and Outlaw should have been told that so they could tell us to not expect the product in 2009. Also, if S/N was not up front with them, Outlaw should have guessed that there was a serious problem and Outlaw should have told us to forget 2009...BUT, Outlaw did not do that and I fault them for it.
I've followed the antics of SN, in general, and Jeff Hipps, in particular, for almost a year. In my opinion, his comments have been inaccurate and misleading in terms of when the product would ship. One could shift the "blame" all over the place, but I find it hard to believe that SN/Hipps was being straight with people. If he/they didn't know the true nature of the delays, they *should* have.
As far as Outlaw is concerned, they're in a pickle. What do you do when your supplier isn't straight with you or the market about the timeline for delivery of a critical product? Whether that misinformation is the result of intentional misdirection or incompetence really doesn't matter. At the end of the day, your brand suffers and it costs you money.
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