Now, I know what you are thinking, "Your first impression is 'Gotta Have It'? What kind of Audioholic is that guy, anyway?" Well, to be honest, that IS the first impression of most people when they hear the name "Bose." Of course, the commercials they have on the Discovery HD channel after nearly every show tell the average Joe how small they are and how great the room filling sound is. When Joe walks into the local big box store, the Bose demo is setup nicely and always works.
Discuss "Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System" here. Read the article.
While I get that this write up is very tongue-in-cheek and basically meant as an "in joke" for Audioholic's regular readers, I think it's damaging to Audioholics to write the first impression as "Gotta Have It". I get that the article goes on to basically make fun of giving that designation, but any casual reader is going to see that and think that this is actually a good system to buy! People do not read reviews. They look at scores and quick conclusions. I suppose the writer thinks that it will do no harm since people buy Bose anyway - obviously without any research what-so-ever and based purely on marketting. But adding this sort of "Gotta Have It" impression only serves to further misinform casual readers.
Audioholics sometimes takes a bit of a laid back (or at the very least, editorial) approach to writing, but I think using it as a place to literally make jokes only serves to demean the website. Audioholics' has their tagline, "Pursuing the Truth in Audio & Video" written right underneath the banner at the top of the page. It seems to me that using sarcasm, irony and outright jokes only serves to increase confusion.
I just think that the joking of certain writers ought to be edited with a little more care. I find myself losing respect for Audioholics when they start posting articles that really only serve to poke fun, and even worse, do so in a way that could easily mislead and misinform casual readers who are actually looking for real advice and could easily misinterpret the "joke" as being genuine sentiment.
If you are considering an "Investment" into A/V, you better had do your damn research and know what you're getting into. Just like any other investment. People spend 3 hours a day watching TV, you would think they would have the brains to look before they leap into a purchase that will potentially affect 1/8th of their lives
I live by Darwin's rules... If an Idiot survives their mistake (despite the wealth of information they had access to) then they will become better investors. If not, they will hopefully cram their tail between their legs and not buy A/V equipment until they learn their lesson.
And kudos to That BestBuy manager for telling it like it is. I can't tell you how many people I've tried to educate on how great a Deftech pc600 pack, or Klipsch Quintet system sounds over ANY Bose system ANY day of the week... I was actually out on an install a few weeks back, in which the bloated windbag in the 6000 sqft mansion couldn't SHUT THE HELL UP ABOUT HOW GREAT HIS BOSE WERE!
Could you imagine how many pissed off Middle-Class suburban culture execs would be demanding refunds if they just spent maybe 4-5 hurs reading these forums?
Well, my hope is that most people will read the article so they can see how they are being convinced that the system is good, even before they know anything about it. I think my statements in the first paragraph would lead someone to continue reading so they know the true intent.
BTW, in my former life as part-time home theater sale guy at Best Buy, I would actually refuse to sell any Bose product. The store's General Manager didn't like that, but I sold enough other stuff to make them happy. Of course, I would do my best to educate people while selling stuff and acted in the customer's best interest. That also ticked off the GM. *grin* Buy hey, I wanted people to buy stuff that looked and sounded good!
Anyway, the topic of "Bose" isn't really "Mildly interesting", or even "Pretty Cool" to me, so I went with the "Gotta Have It!" and worked backwards from there. I don't have the option to say: "Stay away", or "Piece of Junk". *laugh*
Hopefully some Bose seekers will stumble upon Audioholics as a result of this article and find out that there are a lot more options available to them.
Anyway... Later all!
__________________
Jim Robbins
jim -dot- robbins -at- gmail -dot- com
Give it up. Bose and Monster will overrun the market to the point where is no choice. Audio will face the Dark Ages. We are a minority under extinction.
Earlier tonight my uncle told me his wife gave him a new surround sound system for Christmas. "It's a Bose and only needs two speakers for a whole surround sound system! Can you come over sometime and hook it up for me?" he said to me. My heart sank at that moment and I did not give any reply. I really feel sorry for him.
Bose Lifestyle V20 Home Theater System
Linear Mode
