Originally posted by straightshooter In my digital photography class we were talking about ISO ratings in cameras and I mentioned that my K100D Super would only go down to 200 instead of 100. This is when he said I bought an Edsel. At least I got even with him. Told him while he was spending thousands on IS (or whatever they call it) that Nikon built into it's lenses to rip him off, I could buy Takumars, some of the greatest glass ever made, for practically nothing and all of them could be used with shake reduction. I think I made my point and I think he realized I wasn't happy with his joke.
CW
Without further explanation it seems like he made a crass and hurtful comment. However, he could have been making a general comment on one of the main reasons the Edsel failed to garner a lot of sales; it was a marketing disaster. The reasons the Edsel failed so spectacularly should be discussed so similar mistakes aren't made in the future. Mechanically, the Edsel was a fine car, contrary to some opinions. But Ford promised it to be something amazing and spectacular and would have never-seen-before options and styling. In reality it borrowed parts from other Fords and Lincolns and looked quite like all other cars in the late 1950's; other than that expressive grill!
There are lots of books and articles on the mighty Edsel and why it failed, I'm not going to ramble on for ever. The instructors comparison isn't really fair as Pentax has not been marketed as 'the next best thing', but it appears that even we on this forum have some concerns over their marketing strategy. Personally, I would say that Pentax is a decent, inexpensive choice for a camera system - but it ain't no Edsel! Pentax has been around for decades while the Edsel was gone is 3 years.