??????????????? You mean the OLD North American model that once made America great. B&D is only good for minutes. Never had any good B&D products and neither did my dad. I was always driving into the city to buy parts to fix that stupid drill.
Arrogance/complacency has knocked a lot of corporations on their asses. Empires have suffered the same fate.
Microsoft is not invincible.
I worked on Vax/VMS and PDP/RSX. I talked to a friend of mine last week who is still working on a large VMS system used to control a pharma plant. It was a bullet proof OS.
"Robatoy" wrote
Rob, you aren't alone in thinking along those lines. Robert Cringely wrote on June 29th about the same thing (link below) titled "An AIR of Invisibility: Adobe has Microsoft in its sights"
Regards,
Rick
B&D wasn't sold. It is based in Towson, MD and is publicly traded stock.
You are right about the quality decline. I have a B&D circular saw, jig saw and corded drill from the 70's and they are still going strong. They are all B&D trade line that became rebranded as the Dewalt line. I wouldn't buy any tool with B&D on it today. No complaints with Dewalt.
Dave
Digger wrote: ...
Au contraire...
--
He can't import more. That's why Micros~1 is opening a branch in Vancouver; the Canadian government is more accomodating.
She's had some problems. Another operation on her neck. A pacemaker. Physio twice daily. The house has been totally converted for her needs and has a lift on a van now, but can't drive it yet. She manages to stand and has some feed-back from her feet, but no motor (small or large) on her legs. She's painting and has become quite proficient at feeding herself and chatting with friends on her computer. She's mostly in good spirits but her mobility hasn't really improved from a year ago.
My mother, on the other hand, was wrongly diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Turns out she had a nasty nervous break-down after my sister's fall. She's shaken all that off her, after 10 months..and is now happy as a clam in a super-cool retirement home. She remembers very little of the last 8-10 months but is as sharp as a tack.. just like new. We're all amazed and very grateful. My dad had to go to a home a few weeks ago. He has dementia and has been falling down.
Soooo, with all that, and the new land-lady of my new shop making unreasonable demands (triple sound insulation...putting sub-floors in so glue won't spill on her floor, tractor trailers for me have to use another drive-way where their forklift can't go because it doesn't have yard tires.. just one demand after another.. I said to hell with this, I'll build something instead. So, I'm getting 2 houses ready for sale and shop for some land in the spring.
Oh... and I need a frickin' vacation.
thanks for asking...lol.
r
But why should a manufacturer be allowed to influence what profit margin a retailer wants to maintain on an item? (Hypothetical numbers used.) If Festool sells a borg an item wholesale for $100 and the RRP is, say, $149 that's a 49% markup. But if the borg is happy with a
20% markup and wants to sell it for $120 that's nobody's business besides the borg's. That's what capitalist competition is all about. That's (one reason, anyway) why Sam Walton died a grillionaire.Something is fishy here.
FoggyTown
That is exactly what they DO NOT do.
See earlier post RE: AGENCY.
Lew
You've not had retail experience, I see. That's a 33% markup in retail parlance. Markup as percentage of selling price.
The manufacturer is attempting to keep his retailers in business by keeping them from cutting each others' throats with discounts. He usually gives rebates or price breaks to those who sell the most, unfortunately, which puts the little guy at a big disadvantage if the big guy passes his savings on to the consumer. Always looked with envy on those who didn't have to make cash flow decisions to make minimum purchase amounts to please a single customer. Sometimes I had to say I couldn't even order what he wanted, even though that was a half-truth.
Using your example, the manufacturer may very well say, "Hmm, Borg is satisfied with a 20% markup, so lets sell the item to Borg for $125. They can then mark it up to $149 and everybody's on the same page."
George,
I agree. I think what Festool and others (Tormek, I think) are also doing is avoid having to have only the largest, most successful (in terms of pushing units) stores be the only places to buy their products. While we might not like having to buy at full retail, often is the refrain heard from this group is that you should buy the best you can afford. With that, where is it written that we always deserve a price break?
I make sure I buy a book from my local bookseller now and then even tho I know I can get it from Amazon. I want them to continue to be around. They provide excellant service and carry other things I like to buy than just books.
Same with woodworking. Saves me time to have a woodworking store like Woodcraft to buy a variety of items than having to chase around town. Sure I'd like to get some deal going, who doesn't. But the case here, is (and as was ruled by SCOTUS) this retail pricing isn't illegal.
MJ Wallace
....then the next guy wants to steal the deal at 115...another at
110...then the next guys says...who cares??? Can't make any money this way...and drops all interest in supporting the line.Next?
Nobody carries it.
You HAVE to allow people to make a buck. Milking them dry is NOT a solution!!!! Do YOU want to work for nothing???
Used to write VMS device drivers and up. Haven't for about 7 years. But, it still is a bullet proof OS and you can still buy it today. It was a sad day in May this year when the plug was pulled on the Alpha servers.
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