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Trackman
@qsc.de
| reply to sapo
Re: [Praise] Shining Example of Customer Support: Logitech
said by sapo  :Logitech is nice, mouses and keyboards are nothing though, that stuff is dirt cheap to produce so its not worth even fixing the old one. In Logitech's old days, you never needed to worry about fixing the old one: they never broke.
The Trackman Marble was the pinnacle of trackball design. Admittedly, it favored people with larger hands, but man is that thing bomb-proof. The one I have has to be nearly a decade old and still works just fine.
Of course, it's only fair to say that if Logitech had maintained that same high build quality, they likely would have put themselves out of business.
Sadly, most peripherals nowadays are indeed designed to be "throwaway"-type items. The move to dome-switch keyboards from mechanical-switches was a clear signal from keyboard manufacturers that they were more obsessed with production costs than they were with building durable, long-lasting keyboards that end users actually enjoyed banging away on.
(Anyone else out there still using a Model M? Right on, brother!) 
I'll never forget the shock I got seeing the local Walgreens selling keyboards and mice. But yeah, nowadays they're so cheap (and cheaply made) that even Walgreens can carry them. | |
sapo
I eat meat
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA | These days everyone wants stuff so cheap you can't sell anything long lasting as it will kill profits unless its going to be very expensive. | |
Trackman
@qsc.de
| said by sapo :These days everyone wants stuff so cheap you can't sell anything long lasting as it will kill profits unless its going to be very expensive. Well, the kicker is that most people computing today are, very likely, only familiar with the cheap, throwaway keyboards and mice that have been the standard for the past 15 years or so. Convincing such people that spending significantly more money on better-quality keyboards or mice is tough to do, seeing as how most (though not all) of them are content with using the stock El Cheapo keyboard and mouse that came with whatever computer happens to be on their desk.
I stumbled across this recently:
»steampunkworkshop.com/keyboard.shtml
..and thought it was an interesting project. And it seems that after this guy built the original one purely for fun, a friend of his is now turning them out on a commission basis....at $1200+ a pop. Wow.
Apparently, he's had at least a few takers, even at that price. So, yes, there would seem to be a market even for very expensive peripherals, at least among a few people. Although since I'd top out at $120 even for one of those keyboards, I don't seem to be one of them. | |
sapo
I eat meat
Premium
join:2002-09-16
Sacramento, CA | Don't worry, get China on that keyboard and it will be $20 at your local Walmart. But seriously, boutique items do have decent markets out there, while we do have people obsessed with cheap stuff people always love flashy stuff with huge price tags. | |
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