Originally posted by BarryE I don't think I started it off as overtly negative, rather it was slightly newsy for UK readers.PS I'm not a Pentax doom and gloom purveyor - more pragmatist at heart, really :-)
Something to be aware of, people from all over Europe buy at SRS, or Amazon.fr.it.de.es.uk, and others... thousands of customers are scattered all over the places, it's hard to have a general Pentax meeting at one place in the UK since customers may prefer to save UK exhibition flight ticket money for a new lens or camera. Imagine, out of thousand customers of SRS, only 5 customers go to the exhibition, having Pentax execs travel and spend days there is a waste of time and money.
Being pragmatic is realizing how the world is now compared to what it was 20 years ago, it is to realize that selling have been vitalized by ubiquitous internet access, now you can even browse for Pentax product on a mobile phone at any time and from anywhere. For a lot of things it is now possible to order online in a few clicks in the evening and have it delivered at your door, instead of driving for 30 to 45minutes up to a shop during working hours and realize the product isn't in stock, go back to work 30 to 45minutes and have lost 1h30 for nothing. The new way of buying products is to read specifications, read reviews and opinions of people who have used the same product, order online, unbox it without damaging the packing, try it , keep it or return it immediately if you realize it is not what you expected. Guess why are amazon warehouse deals. That's how people buy.