I'm very pleased to that you finally mustered up the wherewithal to address my comments. My response will be very simple. Let me begin with the most significant quote of the entire stream of thought:
"But in the same way I look at a resume of the employment applicants with discerning interest, I look at a product's technical specs as an indicator and a start in evaluating it. Anything that doesn't interest me won't even merit a consideration for audition. Same with applicants."
Robin Garman, former vice president of Shearson Lehman American Express, walked into Rabson's Stereo Warehouse on 50 7th St. and 6th Ave. in Manhattan one afternoon back in 1983. She was a bullish handsome woman with a very Type-A personality and money to burn.
She had recently made a stopover at Harvey's Electronics, one of the more elite audiovideo establishments at that time to be found in New York City. She had gotten an ear full about Satin moving coil cartridges, Oracle turntables, Magnepans, Acoustic Research, Mission and a plethora of other brands that were either in the upper echelon that time or had spires of product lines that were.
It was obvious that she was hellbent on buying a complete audio system that day, as she had a very poor party to conduct a later that evening in her penthouse apartment a few blocks away. I happen to be the fellow standing behind the counter. I listened to her go on and on about all the things that she was told were great. I suffered through giving her a detailed rundown on every speaker, receiver, power amp, preamp, turntable, CD player, stylus and tape deck we sold.
After going through the litany of products on hand she preceded, in a very snobbish way, to question why we didn't have some of the same brand's Harvey's Electronics carried?
I gave for the requisite response that Harvey's was our competitor and why we did share some brands we each have exclusive contracts with manufacturers to serve as exclusive vendors of some of the finer products. She then explained to me that the salesperson at Harvey's told her that everything that Rabson's carried was garbage. I said that in his estimation, based upon his tastes, his opinion was irrefutable. I explained to her that one man's trash is another man's treasure.
Then I asked her what she liked to listened to. Smartly enough, she had arrived prepared with her own assortment of music.
The manager of the store, then the guide by the name of Mark Hayder, asked me who she was and if I wanted to T.O. the potential sale to someone more knowledgeable than me about the brand history's, technical specifications and other minutia related to the equipment. See, I was just the counter salesman and everyone was at lunch. I told him "No!" and asked that he allow me to proceed. He granted my wish, all the while watching me through the glass wall that peered into the sound room.
Behind closed doors, I asked Ms. Garman what her objective was? Are you looking for equipment that will function as decor? Are you looking for something that has the smallest possible footprint that produces the fullest possible sound? Is space not an issue allowing us to look at virtually everything we have to offer as a possible solution?
Ms. Garman very curtly advised (no doubt likely due to the fact that she was rich, important and had an outstanding home atop one of New York's finest buildings) that space was not an issue, price was no object and that the most important criteria for her was that when she listened to her system, and that when others did too, she and they could only remark at how wonderfully engaging and beautiful the reproduction of sound was. But she did throw in one caveat, the stuff needed to be brands that people would recognize as being the finest of the finest.
That threw me a curveball... because in my mind, based upon her requirements sans the last, I had a pretty good idea what she would be walking out with. I derived at this but carefully scrutinizing her musical selections even before the first listen.
She agreed to give me 10 minutes of her time and we proceeded to audition equipment. Some 40 minutes to an hour later she was deciding whether or not she wanted to pairs of the speakers at cost or to fall in love with. All the wonderful brochures technical specification sheets that she had acquired at Harvey's were now in a nearby trash can.
Later that day we delivered an installed her dream system. I was invited to the party which was a fabulous event. All night long people commented on the aesthetics, sound quality in the presence of the music emanating from her system. She had a proud glow all night long.
Upon leaving that evening she thanked me for not allowing her to become overly consumed with superficial details there were admired her decision-making process and quite possibly for turned our road to a decision that would ultimately prove to being less prudent then it could have been.
The idea that someone could rule out listening to any product, or auditioning any equipment, based upon whether the technical specifications jumped out to them as something noteworthy is somewhat befuddling. No, political correctness is not warranted here...it is downright asinine.
So where you certainly have ruled out viable equipment considerations in the past, time certain did you have likewise watered down your talent pool in your search for employees by employing the same tactic.
The fact is people lie on resumes, companies lie about product claims. Moreover, I the do believe in "what you except you teach!" Therefore, I do feel that people should be held culpable for things that they do. I guess that's why I have been in the law enforcement and fraud investigation arena for so long. Nevertheless, perspective is important when assessing what arguments have merit and which ones don't. There's nothing further I need to say about that particular statement.
I for one never got the impression that many in the membership here were after the Yamaha lovers and owners. On the contrary, the impression I got was that many here were open-minded individuals whose focus is centered around purity, quality and reliability. While I am not discrediting your assertion that there may be some plausible bit of deception that exists in manufactures technical specifications; what I'd do take exception to is the perceived need to turn a reasonable question into an inquest that has an equal amount of bias coming from your end.
Nevertheless, to each his own. If reading technical specifications for you is the equivalent of composing a sonata for Mozart to them...then I feel you. But just as with religion... there's no need to proselytize!
Lastly, your attempt to emulate my writing style resulted in something that sounded quite ridiculous coming from you.
There is only one Phara0h... on your faces!!!
