Techies,
This
is a serious issue and it's a good topic for this forum... I have had the
opportunity to be exposed to
three
sides of this complex picture during my career. First as a software developer,
second
as a
marketer of ATE products (bare board testers), and now as a PCB
fabricator.
As a
PCB fabricator with excess capacity and a need to sell off idle equipment, I
find it
extremely frustrating to have my vendors (current and past) openly
threaten my employer
with
litigation if we attempted to re-sell some of our excess equipment.
These
vendors demanded involvement during the resale process that would have
made
Bill
Gates proud and probably would have the Justice Department gleeful at the
potential.
They
wanted to be present on our sites to remove any operating systems or
executable
applications. This unethical intrusion into our business had an adverse
affect on our
ability to sell off our excess equipment. Long term we have started the
process of
replacing these vendors.
These
vendors should have done their home work when they were selling and
installing
their
products from the beginning. As, Joe mentioned, Big Blue, would only lease
their
main
frames. My old ATE employer gave a life time software license that followed
the
tester. As long as you had title, they supported the tester. Maybe that's
why they
are
still in business.
We are
firmly committed to intellectual properties and licenses, it is the cornerstone
of
our
business. It is a large part of my personal responsibility and job
function. Our
Vendors cannot change their business methods because the current economic
conditions
are
not in their favor or because their products are not viable in today's
market.
Jim
Axton
Corporate Director of Test
Hi
Russell,
Thanks for the note back. I again appreciate your thought and
comments.
As I said previously, as long as no one is named, there is
(I, at least, believe) no harm and no foul.
If what is being reported
is standard business practice, it is important that those who are seeking to
purchase used equipment be made aware and not be blind-sided by such
practices.
The expectations and the reality, we have learned from
comments thus far, can be quite removed from one another. Who knows?... armed
with such knowledge, it may encourage someone to buy a new machine instead of
a used one.
To stem the problem and concern, the equipment
vendors can always opt to go out and repurchase all of their used equipment
when it comes on the market following the approach described in an earlier
message. In this way they can create scarcity and keep prices where they wish
and preclude the employment of policies and practices. (which are likely
to make few friends based on what has been said.)
They may also
decide, in the current business climate, to simply lease equipment in the
future and not sell it. That way they can control all revisions, modifications
and upgrades more closely and perhaps make or keep their customers quite
happy. IBM did not originally sell computers, they leased and maintained them
quite profitably.
I hold to my belief in keeping the dialog open.
Censorship in matters such as this, self imposed or enforced by authority,
(beyond the common sense strictures applied to indecent, hateful,
mean-spirited or libelous language) does little to help the advancement of
science or the industry.
Reporting factual experiences is
simply that, nothing more, nothing less. Fabrications, falsehoods and the
breaking or violation of confidences are a different matter completely and I,
for one, am trusting that all here abstain from such activity.
At the
end of the day, if any company is concerned that they might be seen in a bad
light for their business practices then it seems to me that, just perhaps, it
might be that it is their conscience is doing much of the talking and they may
want to consider reconciling themselves with their actions before calling in
the lawyers. Law suits, we all know, will only enrich the lawyers.
Just a few more rambling thoughts from a madman... ;-)
Kind
regards,
Joe ---------------------------------------------------
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