I just want to offer a reality check from a person who runs a consumer software company and gets dozens of emails every week from enthusiastic customers who have new product/feature ideas. This is not meant to throw a wet blanket on new product ideas but rather to suggest some reasons why a company might not be as enthusiastic about a particular idea as one of their customers is. And of course I'm speaking from my own experience, not on behalf of Elecraft.
First, we spend 24x7 thinking about our products and where the company should go next. There are few things that customers mention that we haven't already mentioned, discussed, drawn up designs for, done the market research for, etc. This doesn't mean we don't want to hear new ideas, it just gives you an idea of why a company like ours might not be as excited as its customers over their new ideas. Second, we have significantly more information upon which to base a decision. We have our own financial history and also have insight into the financial position of our competitors that aren't obvious to customers. We see every piece of customer feedback so we can gauge whether a new product is something that would be in demand or not. The thing that really turns on one customer to the point where he all but demands that we do it could be something that nobody else has ever mentioned and two other companies have tried to sell but nobody bought. Third, we have more experience in all areas of our business, including marketing, manufacturing, R&D, sales, and support. While a customer idea might sound easy from an R&D perspective, it might be impossible to manufacture or support. It could be that the new feature would be expensive to implement and not have any marketing (and therefore sales) impact. By all means keep sending in new product ideas. I got a feature suggestion from a customer yesterday that is going to be easy to implement and will significantly improve one of our products. I'm embarrassed I didn't think of it myself. But that's a pretty rare occurrence. If you keep suggesting a particular thing and it doesn't make it into the product line for months and years, keep in mind that they know more than you do about their products, the future of their company, their customers, and their business. BTW check out www.telepostinc.com -- N8LP's digital wattmeter & other products. They match some of your requests. Craig NZ0R K1 #1966 K2/100 #4941 KX1 #1499 still in the box -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Fred (FL) Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 7:19 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] Ideas - new Elecraft Products K2/K1 Owner-builders I posted a "Elecraft New Product Ideas" email last week - which received mixed responses - "good", "old stuff", "too difficult for Elecraft", "done that ....", "won't work", etc. I think Elecraft is a great ham company. And as every builder knows - their support to us the ham community - is superb! And their quality of products and kits is excellent and higher. I'd suggest, we K1/K2 builders - continue to send in "product ideas" to Elecraft, via this email list - and let Elecraft Management know, what product ideas we'd like to see and what product ideas might help us in our amateur endeavors. We might be surprised, and see some of them come to reality. If they have to hire another designer & tech or two, so be it. If you like the product(s) which Elecraft now markets and sells - I myself, would like to continue to buy my next products from them too. Frankly I've never been fully satisfied with MFJ items - for some reason many of them look aluminish and of poorer quality. BUY ELECRAFT, TELL ELECRAFT WHAT YOU'D LIKE and WHAT YOU THINK WOULD BE HELPFUL, FOR OUR HOBBY! My Kits - short list 5/23/2006: - outboard RF OUTPUT METER Indicator (in-line) - inboard RF OUTPUT INDICATOR (panel, neon/eye) - outboard POWER METER (ala Birdy), w/SWR option - poor man's 6146 200w PEP outboard TUBE AMPLIFIER (relive your youth) (FCC ham-project form) - matching Elecraft 6146 AMP POWER SUPPLY - 200w match-anything TUNER (coils, meters, R/L/C's) - a HF K3 TRANSCEIVER, with general coverage, 2 meter, 440, and bigger footprint & displays - an Elecraft K2/K3 MOBILE MIKE, w/up-down, functions - an Elecraft quality, HEADPHONE set, K1/K2/K3 - a couple HF porta-ANTENNAs, back pack carryable - a "hide-able" HF ANTENNA (gutter?, bush?) - Elecraft Mobile VERTICAL ANTENNA (hf, tuneable) - Elecraft SCOPE for alignment jobs - Elecraft SIGNAL GENERATOR, for alignment jobs Thanks, 73's Fred N3CSY FL/upstate NY 5/23/2006 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
