Be forewarned that this is a thinly veiled rant.
In another thread we were asked what we would like to see at SHOT. I put in my two cents, and I will expand on it here. This is brought on by Ed Head asking what we think of the new Taurus .38 with the see through side plate.
For decades we have dealt with planned obsolesence. The electronics industry is planned around not releasing a product until its new and improved model is already in production. General Motors will openly state their largest marketing failure was the 1973 - 1987 pickup line. They made no major changes during this time, and most body panels are universal. The hood is a prime example. You can put any year hood on any of these 15 model years with no modifications and only a purist will notice the slight differences. Grills, fenders, boxes, tailgates, doors ...
GM learned that people will trade for a new vehicle every three years. Some people will trade more often if you change model styles, and many will wait many years if there are no noticeable changes. The marketing force said they will never make that mistake again!
In the shooting world we are used to durable goods that come out of the box ready to shoot and that will last a lifetime. We brag about our Remington 700's or Savages that are tack drivers from the factory. We love the 1911 that has worked since day one, and is basically unchanged, because there is no reason to change.
Today I see two trends in the gun world:
1. Research and development has been reduced to what can we build, and fine tuning is done by the end user - you and me. Rather than turn out a classic they run it up the flag pole to see if it will fly.
2. Gimmicks. The best way to phrase this is marketers are trying to wow the tactards, mall ninjas, and geeks. The more gadgets the better, and now it is clear plastic side plates. How many glitzy new items can we turn out to get more sales is replacing durable timeless quality.
John Moses Browning and Bill Ruger! What have we done to your industry? Where are those you mentored? Will we return to proven quality, or is this just the start down the slope to throw away products in our world?
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