As I scour the web for good deals, particularly for camcorders and digicams, I notice a phenomenon. Not that this is totally new, it has surfaced again in a slightly different form. Years ago the brands aiwa, akai started a trend wherein its mid-range and hi-end audio systems carried 1000 Watt, 2000 Watt tags. Discerning consumers were too quick to scoff at the phenomenon saying it's the RMS that mattered, and not the PMPO. It didn't matter how high the PMPO was, what mattered was how high the RMS was. Brands like Samsung, LG, and aiwa went in for a rebuttal saying it's the aam admi who mattered to them, the bill paying populace they were catering to. High end brands like Sony and Panasonic, I reckon, were wrong in believing that they could be aloof from this trend. Alas, they had to succumb; succumb, grudgingly. So where a 1000 Watt PMPO would have the jaws hitting the earth in mid and late 90s, 3500 Watt PMPO have been the order of the day; audiophiles still screaming that it was the RMS that would decide a home theatre system buy.
Similar trend has caught on in digicams. Where 3 MegaPixels (MP) was "decent" in early 2000s, 8, 9 and 10 rule today. Make that 12. It has been said well and over that the higher digit MP cameras are required only when one decides to go for blow-ups or large prints, and that is precisely where the difference between a 6MP and say a 7MP would show. Similar is the case with zoom (optical/digital). So one needn't be surprised if one found a more expensive model with lesser zoom capacity than a cheaper model with higher zoom. This is because the latter would be the proverbial hot-cake targetted at an entry level buyer. Anyway the companies seem to care two hoots for all this and are leaving no pebble unturned to raise the numerical bar.
Is this indicative of the requirement on brands' part to play to the masses? May be that answers the diluting down of the uber premium image of Sony, which had steadfastly stuck to its no gimmick stand. May be it was a lesson learnt that one cannot be excessively self indulgent at the cost of alienating one's audience/target group/consumer base. Unless you are a Bose, that is.
Are Anurag Kashyap, Sony India-Columbia TriStar-SLB listening?
Similar trend has caught on in digicams. Where 3 MegaPixels (MP) was "decent" in early 2000s, 8, 9 and 10 rule today. Make that 12. It has been said well and over that the higher digit MP cameras are required only when one decides to go for blow-ups or large prints, and that is precisely where the difference between a 6MP and say a 7MP would show. Similar is the case with zoom (optical/digital). So one needn't be surprised if one found a more expensive model with lesser zoom capacity than a cheaper model with higher zoom. This is because the latter would be the proverbial hot-cake targetted at an entry level buyer. Anyway the companies seem to care two hoots for all this and are leaving no pebble unturned to raise the numerical bar.
Is this indicative of the requirement on brands' part to play to the masses? May be that answers the diluting down of the uber premium image of Sony, which had steadfastly stuck to its no gimmick stand. May be it was a lesson learnt that one cannot be excessively self indulgent at the cost of alienating one's audience/target group/consumer base. Unless you are a Bose, that is.
Are Anurag Kashyap, Sony India-Columbia TriStar-SLB listening?
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