Flappo The Grate:

particularly from trip english who really should know better and does a great disservice to bno's 'dealer' reputation imo with his 'jokes' aimed at us 'customers' 

But this means we're now attacking TripEnglish! The policy should apply to all.

Completely agree - I have no problem with Trip either. If you want to gratuitously insult people, please do it out of sight of me! 😂

Dude, that's the same on any forum. Have you ever seen the Manchester Utd forum? My oh my!

It's waaaaay more tricky to be polite through email/chat/forum. It's so easy to come across as cold and blunt. It happens a lot for me ;)

Often a 'personal attack' can seem very personal, when it's more of a criticism or questioning observation, directed at an individual. I have absolutely no issues with 355f, but I do often question his negativity. However, I still welcome his comments..! Keep posting!

355f, best post so far. I'll postpone my retirement for at least a few more contentious threads! One of the reasons that I didn't initially "come out" as a dealer (I can't even remember now whether I admitted it or was "outed") was for threads like this. I'm fairly passionate and I've become aware that passion often translates into "agression" when typed into a forum where no one can see the smirk on my face. So I always feel taken out of context, but in re-reading my posts, I'd probably react the same way. Go figure.

Though they can be eye-melting to read through, I'm a fan of the "essay post" as I think it always comes off as a bit better rounded. Reading through 355f's post, I found myself often in agreement, but we'd likely never agree if we kept it to a few sentences. Who knows. I even found myself on Flappo's side recently!

I also don't want to give the impression that I'm categorically in favor of everything Bang & Olufsen do. I think if you talked to people in Chicago or DK, none of them would think that I was satisfied with anything! So, while I agree with much of what 355f says in terms of the manufacturing reality, my comments trend toward the consumer point of view. I started out as a consumer and was lured into the business where my passion developed even further. When I hear about all the potential products or the CES type products and the betas and the prototypes, I think back to what Steve Jobs once said: Real artists ship. That has kept Apple so focused on not only well designed products, but products that are complete and robust operationally, that they have set themselves apart in computing as the last refuge of sanity. Having to sit at a desk and use Windows every day has to be at least as harmful as second hand smoke!

What I mean by this is that for all the wild and ambitious products and concepts that exist out there, most of them exist wholly or partially in the "vapor." What impressed me as a Bang & Olufsen owner (my role previous to dealer) was that they offered me a world of operation where if I was willing to do without the more exotic fraction of features, I got a world of beautiful objects that were made to live together in harmony. I'm also someone who values design, both aesthetically and operationally. Since we deal in custom systems from my shop, I regularly deal with or even install alternatives to BeoLink and 3rd party flat panels. I'm never impressed with their build quality or ease of use and have found the concept of the universal remote to be too much of a hassle to set up, use, and adjust downstream. Not that it's impossible, mind you, but simply nothing compared to the elegance of a Beo 4 (and I have to admit, the Beo 5, though there was a time its very existence frustrated me). Additionally, the materials used in the construction are superb. I've liked the "look" of other products, but when I get up close and touch them the magic is gone. It's like using Windows (not to belabor the point). Sure it's functional, and if you get really good at it you can get it to do everything a Mac does and probably more, but Mac has style from minute one. For me personally, and I can say most of my customers, that's the beauty. If they wanted to become savvy insiders, they could make any franken-system work, but they don't. I'm just glad we're here for that small slice of the population.

"I think I'm going to retire. Hang my jersey from the rafters. 😕"

From what I read it's not the jersey that would be hanging. 🙂

I think I generally do agree to disagree. I would level the same charge at others, but as you can see from 355f's post and my subsequent edit, even us severe partisans can be reasonable (and even agreeable) in a more lyrical format! As I've said, I think that the more passionate the poster is (myself included) the more they need to type in order to take the edge off. To me, if I'm only going to type a few lines, they're all going to be direct. It's my essays that probably give a better impression of me (hopefully!)

To you specifically, John, I do wish you'd give me a break as to my identity as a dealer. I never intended to mislead anyone, but as you can imagine, it's not always welcomed for employess to be active on forums like this. Now that I'm a little mnore comforatble, it's been smooth sailing and I've been nothing but forthright ever since!

Anywho, I'm glad page three has brought some civility!

Cheers,

Trip

Trip,

You mentioned Chicago and DK.  You don't happen to run State St. in Chicago, do you?  If so, I've purchased some things (albeit smaller ones!) from there and have probably met you.

If not, then I haven't met you obviously!

Just curious....

- Aaron