I just got out of my photography last regular photography class for the term and my professor was giving advice to the class on buying DSLRs (it was a film class and most of the students didn't have a DSLR).
Not surprisingly he said stick with Canon or Nikon. However, his reasoning was because of distribution and availability. I actually agree with him in that sense alone
. He was saying that because Canon and Nikon have such wide distribution, it is easy to find lenses, accessories, expertise etc.
Then it occurred to me. Why doesn't Pentax work more closely with universities and photo professors to infiltrate the college student market? If you can build solid relationships when people are on the verge of earning discretionary income, then perhaps that will become brand-loyalty. That would significantly increase the prominence of the brand and would eventually take care of that pesky availability problem.