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For General modelling or hobby-related topics that are not covered by any other specific forum. Please keep to topics concerning the hobby. |
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| Subject: | People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) |  |
| Date: | Jan 23, 2003 |
| From: | Peter Ong | |
Tim wrote...
>I think Pete brought up some interesting points...
I for one, think, rant, and talk WAY too much, sometimes not to my benefit,
Tim ;-). But the reason I do this is because of bad memories and
experiences such as the one below.
==========================
I always believe in a few philosophies when it comes to hobbies (models).
1) Peter Ong doesn't pay for or buys junk
2) If anyone messes up a model, it should be ME, not the manufacturer. A
great kit, IMO, is a kit that the manufacturer did everything possible to
make perfect. If I mess it up gluing or painting, then I'm at fault and
shouldn't blame the manufacturer. However, if the kit is far from even
decent and gives me constant headaches, then of course I'll blame the
manufacturer.
3) No one is going to cry for you if you did a #1 or the manufactuer did a
#2 on you. In fact, these people **will be glad they're not you** who had
to suffer.
Why do I believe in Numbers One and Two? Personal experience.
My dad had a 1965 Dodge Dart GT and a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutless four-sedan up
until 2000. I HATED those cars because they constantly broke down due to
BAD PARTS! So I spent/ wasted many weekends of my childhood to teenage
years getting stretched all out of shape to fix those old cars and their
associated parts while other kids partied and had fun and a "normal"
childhood. We'd buy a new Olds radiator and next year it'll leak. We
bought a new Olds water pump and sometimes two months later the gasket burst
because the gasket didn't fit the part snugly due to a "measurement error."
Geez!!! Are we getting ripped off here or what? Plunk $250 in 1992 for a
new water pump....and then another $250 two months later because something
leaks! Two years later it's $380 for a new one because of that minor
measurement error!
If anyone ever fixed old American cars, one should know to get to something
in the middle involves taking apart a lot of stuff off on top and hence this
means high labor costs for garage mechanics. The work is dirty, heavy,
grimy, blood-letting, mind-numbing, and time-consuming (we had car manuals)
and boy, I tell ya,.taking off so many parts...one better pray everything
works when we put everything back together and close the hood! Yes, we used
garage mechanics a few times and but the same problem would occur two-four
years later! And most of these problems cannot be fixed in a single weekend
but often takes two to four weekends for us and for a mechanic as long as
two weeks. Sometimes, three major things would fail in ONE WEEK: carburetor
clog, radiator leak, and gasket leak. In times like that, paying a mechanic
would be near suicide.
So I've had my fair share of cursing manufacturers on the REAL thing for
their shoddy parts. How were we to know? We buy a top-quality new water
pump for retail price (without any product reviews of course) and expect it
to work a long time. Of course how did my dad and I know it was a lemon and
would burst later and, "Guess what I'm going to be doing all this weekend,
son?" Can't get one's money back, you know, and the product warranty only
lasts 30 days at best. When I show up for class or work on Monday...do you
expect me to be happy?
The Olds racked up 166,000 miles and the Dodge 145,000 miles. As any
mechanic said, "Gee, I'm surprised these cars even lasted past 100,000
miles...heh-heh." We finally got rid of the Olds...couldn't pass the 2000
California smog test (oh thank you, GOD!) but if it did, who knows how long
we could've kept it rolling.
On the other hand, my mom drove her 1981 Toyota Corolla Tercel to 125,000
miles before the whole water pump burst and flooded the engine. We hardly
had to fix her car. I had a friend who drove a 1986 Honda Civic 165,000 and
still kept driving it in 1993. A girl-friend forgot to fill her VW Jetta
engine with oil after an oil change and drove it for a month before she
found out. Still worked fine.
We kept all cars in garages so it's not the weather that made them broken.
My dad just drove the Olds on city streets to work.
Call it bad luck or a curse on us or fate or what have you...
So when it came time to buy a new car, my dad and I looked at each other and
said, "NO MORE AMERICAN CARS!! NONE!!!"
So all our new cars are Japanese. Sure, they may be made in the good old
"U.S. of A" but at least they haven't broke down since.
****
Right now, Hondas and Toyotas are being made in Canada and USA. The people
are American and the product is still American. Somehow, these
Japanese-American cars are more reliable than the American cars.
So is the problem of inaccurate or poor-quality aftermarket models a "People
Problem" or a "Product Problem?" Does one blame the mechanic or the product
if the product fails after warranty but way before life expectancy? IF the
part was designed to near perfect standards by the manufacturers, then we
wouldn't have to fix the cars so much.
I say people because I take the PC video game approach. The bugs in PC
games in my opinion is not a Product Problem but a People Problem because
some Big Cheese decided to ship the game without spending the time, money,
and effort to fix the bugs....or the programmers didn't want to spend the
time writing code to patch the problems. It's the people and the
manufacturer that makes the product. How can I blame the Olds (although I
did) for breaking down? A "cursed car?" No such thing.
#1 and #2 I learned well by my own blood, sweat, and tears and life taught
me #3. Hence I can relate to Kurt's post. Modelers may say Kurt's modeling
nit-picks are "No big deal...nothing to get all steamed up about." Yes,
perhaps maybe such inaccuracies don't matter for models but I can tell you
how "big of a deal" such minor measurement stuff is on the REAL thing when
parts don't fit or are made to EXACT measurements...but carries a huge
retail price.
Peter
(Now you see why my reviews are so long and detailed and even nit-picky.
I'm trying to present as much info as possible because I don't want anyone
to buy kits that are like our late 1978 Oldsmobile). |
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 | Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Paul Roberts - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Ed Kusiak - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Ed Kusiak - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Will Pecoul - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Harry Andrews - Jan 25, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Captain Swoop - Apr 24, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Saul Garcia - Apr 24, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Captain Swoop - Apr 24, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Janusz Smolinski - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Captain Swoop - Apr 24, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Adam Vukich - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Warrink - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Adam Vukich - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Warrink - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . that should be a reply to Adam Vukich.. n/t - Warrink - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Chris - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Two Way Street - Alex Johnson - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Two Way Street - MSW - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Andrew Herbert - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Peter Ong - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Saul Garcia - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Yes, agree & apology to AMPS - Peter Ong - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Tim Streeter - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Ken Hartlen - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Peter Ong - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 24, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: People Problem, not Product (LONG RANT) - Chris - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - MSW - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Glenn Sudol - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . Depends on who you are I guess - David Nickels - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Depends on who you are I guess - Warrink - Jan 21, 2003 |
| . . . Remember the 10 % rule [IMG] - Jari Lievonen - Jan 22, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Well, 20% is a bit too big. . . - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Well, 20% is a bit too big. . . - Jari Lievonen - Jan 23, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . . . . Re: Well, 20% is a bit too big. . . - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 24, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Dave Clark - Jan 24, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Harry Andrews - Jan 24, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Harry Andrews - Jan 25, 2003 |
| . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Kurt Laughlin - Jan 25, 2003 |
| . . . . . . . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Harry Andrews - Jan 28, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - John Napolitan - Jan 25, 2003 |
| . . . Re: Opinions wanted - Captain Swoop - Apr 24, 2003 |
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