Wirt wrote:

>duane writes:

>>Maybe I've been in the software business too long or something, but my
>>reaction here is that hp has every right to do what they want with their
>>products.

>In general, I tend to agree with only about 10% of what Duane writes, and I
>couldn't disagree with him more on this. Indeed, if a vendor told me what
>Duane writes, I would never purchase another thing from him. Indeed, I
>would disentangle myself and my company from his products as quickly as
>possible.

Wow - a whopping 10% :-)

My point is that the maker of a product has the final say on that product.
Granted, what they say and how they say it will influence the existing and
future customers with respect to their purchase decisions. On this product
and for other products.

Similarly, you will make the final decision WRT to any of your products.
That decision is ultimately yours to make. I don't have to like it and I
don't have to buy anything from you ever again, but that still doesn't give
me the right to tell you how to run your business. If you decide it's not
in your best interest to allocate resources on a particular product because
you have more pressing needs then that is your choice. These decisions are
made every day in the business world. And it's a cold cruel world out there.


Maybe this is the core of disagreement between me and others on
this list - especially you. That somehow because you have purchased a
product from hp or because you have established a business around one of
their products that you get to tell them how to run their business with
regard to that product. Sure, you can give them input. Sure, you can
jump and down and complain when you disagree with their direction.
Sure, you can never buy another product from them. Sure you can develop
a sense of distrust towards them.

But, ultimately, the choice is theirs to make. Just like the choice to
make the system in the first place was theirs. And the choice to stop
making them is also theirs to make. The world is full of product decisions
such as this. hp is not in business to make you money. They are in business
to make themselves money.

duane percox

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