Hi George, it took me awhile to replay to your message but yesterday I had an experience that maybe you find interesting when you decide the next time who you consider a customer. 15 years ago I bought a photo-camera from Minolta at a little store in NYC. Last sunday I took some pictures and after developing them I decide, that it would be nice to have a flash for that "old" camera. So, Monday I called Minolta by their 800-# and surprise, I was considered a customer (even so I had not bought from them in 15 yrs) I got help and recommondation Yes, after not purchasing something from Minolta in 15 years I was still considered a customer and got help. Guess what, I don't even have a support contract with them and their warranty is long exceeded. Today I am ordering a flash for a 15 year old camera and that flash is not even made by Minolta but still recommended. They didn't even tell me, that I should buy a new digital camera from them. Guess what brand my next camera will be if I am going to buy one? 100% SURE NOT HP The other points in your mail I'll not even touch because I wouldn't want to to lower myself to the level of some people. Happy Holidays On Mon, 3 Dec 2001 21:46:30 -0600, george c stachnik <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > >Whether or not Winston's quote is an understatement depends on how you >define the word "customer". Several of the emails that I received via >Carly's mailbox came from software vendors that sell applications or >tools for the HP e3000. A few referred quite proudly to the fact that >they have customers who run old SPL versions of their products on HP3000 >series 70s. These are machines that HP hasn't sold or supported in >nearly 15 years. Are these people "customers?" I'm no business major, >but in my book, a "customer" is a person who buys something from you. >If these people are buying support from thse software vendors, then they >are certainly customers OF THAT SOFTWARE VENDOR. But regardless of >their protestations of loyalty, you can't really call them HP customers >any longer. You'd have to include all the people that are using >obsolete, unsupported or 2nd-hand hardware purchased from and supported >by brokers to call Winston's quote an "understatement." > >I'm proud to be associated with a platform with the longevity and upward >compatibility of the HP e3000. I'm proud to be associated with a >business that has allowed these people to be able to run their >businesses in such a cost effective manner for so many years. But I >must point out that customers such as these are part of the reason why >HP has been forced into making this decision. There's nothing wrong >with what they've done. They've made business decisions. That's what >you do when you're in business. But when people boast in one breath >about how loyal they've been to HP, but in the next breath go on to say >that they are using an HP e3000 model that hasn't been sold or supported >in five, ten or even fifteen years (one email that I received even >boasted about the great price he got from a broker!) then the problem >begins to become clear. > * To join/leave the list, search archives, change list settings, * * etc., please visit http://raven.utc.edu/archives/hp3000-l.html *