John Celio wrote:
You have no right to be pissed off,
but you will piss off a number of people on this list by being a know-it-all.
Oh but I do have a right to be frustrated. Do you know how many morons I have to deal with at work on a daily basis, who think Canon is the Lord God Almighty of cameras just because their friends told them so, or because they read it on some photo forum somewhere?
Yes, I used to sell cameras many years ago, I worked for a Minolta bigot. (I also worked for a "Major" DP consulting Company, as a Microsoft windows expert, one of my managers was a UNIX bigot), If you think it's difficult dealing with the great unwashed, imagine how it is if they have "real" power over you .
Did you know Canon sponsors some of the major review sites, like dpreview? Did you know Canon has the largest advertising budget of the major camera brands?
Well, yes, I think I do.
Do you have any idea how many people come into the shop I work at thinking they know everything, yet are completely mislead by slanted articles, out-of-date magazines, and reviewers who don't know what the hell they're talking about?
Once again I have a very good Idea of how that is.
Oh hum. Look I truly feel sorry for you but mail order has always had it's charlatans, and most of them moved on line. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Do you know how many people walk into my shop with a camera they bought from some gray-market (or otherwise shady) dealer and complain that something is wrong with their camera? Similarly, do you know how many people think they're getting a good deal from some online company and end up getting screwed over in one way or another? Granted, there are some reputable online dealers, but they are drastically outnumbered by the shadier dealers.
Where I work, I have to know as much as possible about the products I have around me, as well as the companies we get them from. I am by no means a know-it-all, but I damn sure know more than most people I meet on a daily basis.
That may be true but you're dealing with a group of very knowledgeable people here, most of us have been working with or at least messing around with this stuff for a long time. We know b******t when we see and hear it. Some of us can mathematically prove it's b******t.
If the horses mouth is a sales rep I'd take it with a boulder of salt. They have their own agendas mostly to do with moving the cheese. Many of them have no idea if what they spout is true or not, as long as it advances the company line, and pads their personal bottom line. Almost none of them are "real" engineers.
All I can say is, I do my best to get my information from the most reputable sources possible. I get as close to the horse's mouth as I can.
John Celio
-- http://www.neovenator.com http://www.newpixel.net
AIM: Neopifex
"Hey, I'm an artist. I can do whatever I want and pretend I'm making a statement."
--
I can understand why mankind hasn't given up war. During a war you get to drive tanks through the sides of buildings and shoot foreigners - two things that are usually frowned on during peacetime.
--P.J. O'Rourke
