It isn't like Monster is a bbbbbaaaaaaaadddddd company.
The products are good.
Just a weeeeeeeeeee bit overpriced.
Where do we go from here?
I don't know for sure, but I think we have a bigger problem than Monster.
But let me mention a conversation I overheard at IHOP (international House of Pancakes for those of you that forgot the name of that fine food establishment).
The waitress, a late 30's single mom (I go to IHOP way too much, I even know the life history of the waitresses) is discussing "something" with a customer in an adjoining booth.
It seems the waitress has been to CC or another local establishment seeking to purchase a Home Theater System (the words of the waitress). The waitress had saved up a few dollars and was looking at a $700 system to hook up to her TV.
The customer in the booth asked "did you get it"?
And the waitress replied, "no, by time I added the cables it was like another $500 more and there was no way I could afford that".
Does anybody have a positive solution to this little problem?
Sure, I could send her to Home Depot for some wire for speaker cable, give her directions to Rat Shack for some cables, sent her to Wally World for a $20 multi-outlet surge suppressor. And then spent an hour of my time at her house hooking the whole thing up for her (try explaining that hour to a significant other). She may still be out more money than she can afford to spend on her "Home Theater System".
My only positive suggestion is to encourage manufacturers to INCLUDE some basic cables with their equipment. It happened in years gone by, so it could happen now as well. I know, those old patch cables really sux, but for my waitress friend, they are really all she needs.
First, as a marketing sceme, the manufacturer can make great emphasis of their "concern" for the consumer. Secondly, from a ROI (return on investment), the manufacturer can have a great ROI buying cables in huge bulk and marking up the selling price of the product to compensate for the cables. Yes, I know the market is competitive. But to the consumer, a $5 swing in the price of the DVD player, when the cables are INCLUDED, is not a big draw back when the alternative for the consumer is a $500 cable and wire bill.
By the way, I think it is more important to get my waitress friend, and all of her friends to have a HT, as the more consumers buying DVD's can only help to drive down the cost of DVD's.