On Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 12:36 PM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]>wrote:
> I wrote: > > >> Can you think of a recent spectacular innovation that has been marketed >>> by deliberately acting in a way that suggests it can't and doesn't work? >> >> >> Toyota's plug in Prius. Toyota kept saying existing model is not designed >> for plug-in mode; they do not recommend it; it will take a complete >> redesign. . . . >> > > Obviously they were not saying "it does not work" but rather "it does not > work yet, it is hard to make it work, don't count on GM making this work," > etc. They were downplaying expectations. They did not circulate > specifications, so automotive journalists were playing a guessing game > about the range and features. > > Rossi has never said or implied that the thing "can't and doesn't work." > What he does is to leave lots of room for plausible doubt in the minds of > his opponents and competition. This lulls them into a false sense of > security. Toyota was doing the same thing by downplaying expectations about > the plug-in Prius. > Dreadful example. Nobody doubted for an instant that a plug in Prius was coming soon. And nobody stopped buying the add ons who was willing to pay their high prices. > It is not possible for Rossi to fine tune the response to his tactics in > other people's minds. He does not care about most people's response. He is > only concerned about a small number of people who might buy 1 MW reactors. > I believe he refuses all scientific tests because he knows that a test will > prove beyond doubt the thing is real, and that would lead to disastrous > consequences for him: a Niagara of competition. He knows as well as I do > that not allowing tests will convince people such as Yugo that he is > committing fraud. He does not care what Yugo thinks. Why should he? She is > not going to buy a 1 MW reactor. Actually, she is doing him a favor by > attacking him in the mass media discussion sections. > Your novel fantasies are amusing. I doubt I do much harm to Rossi's case with believers. I hope I alert the general public and potential investors that they need to be wary and to not believe the optimistic hype about Rossi's tests and supposed client. > In short, he is doing a "fan dance" striptease act. > > He does not want to sell smaller reactors because someone like me would > buy one only in order to test it, and publish the results. Plus if he sells > 100 small ones he will have less control over them than he has over one big > machine with 100 reactors inside it. It is 100 times less work too, vetting > customers, arranging deals, preparing contracts and so on. > So let me be sure I understand. To be safe, instead of selling small reactors to potential competitors, Rossi was able to sell 1300 leaky, half rated-power models that require a large diesel generator, to someone? To an American military organization? That has to stay anonymous? And you believe it? That's very funny.
