On Sat, 13 Jan 2001, Paul Braun wrote:
> Yep. Agilent makes that great test equipment now. No way would
> we want to keep using the long-respected, world-reknowned,
> instantly-recognizable brand name of "Hewlett-Packard" anymore,
> would we? I mean, for cryin' out loud, them guys are dead!
Of course not, who in Dilbertland would ever want to do something that
sensible?
> So, you can use your Agilent test equipment while you call
> Accenture on your Lucent phone over phone lines owned by
> Verizon. Of course, if you're in the field using your fabulous Agilent
Wow, you must have read my mind; I find these things senseless too.
Sometimes, I really think that some of the marketing goons get their
minds stuck in some sort of weird la-la land resulting from too strong
an infusion of the world of Dilbert in their dreams, which they can't
separate from reality.
Here in Baltimore, when one called the telephone company, one called
C&P Telephone, which was part of the Bell System... that became Bell
Atlantic - ok, still not too confusing. Then, this past year, the
name changed to Verizon. How the heck does anyone associate this,
insipid sounding, name, Verizon, with telephones?
Yes, the same people who now make us dial a 10 digit number for all
local telephone calls, which includes the area code, because they
thought that it would be too much of a pain for businesses, etc. to
have to use a separate area code for modems, pagers and cell phones.
Never mind that the seven-digit number was decided upon for a
scientific/psychological reason, as seven digits are the most that the
average person can easily remember.
Of course, consider that Baltimore Gas and Electric decided to
modernize its image, and took the "and" out of its name; it's no
longer BG&E as it's been known for many decades, but BGE. No one
at BGE, however, can explain to me what "gas electric" is... yes,
I know what gas and electric are, but, what's this new product
called gas electric?
> test set, you can call Accenture on your Cingular Wireless phone.
> That is, if you can even figure out how the heck to spell it, much
> less pronounce it. Same thing for Verizon wireless. How the hell
> are you s'posed to find the company if you can't pronounce it or
> even spell it?
No problem. Just do like the people in their marketing departments do
when they can't spell a name. Scribble something illegible on a piece
of paper, and hand it to the right person in management, then declare
that a marketing study has come up with a new company name. Of
course, try using that same logic when writing them checks to pay your
bills, and you'll eventually get your service cut off.
> Marketing weenies. When did technology get overthrown by
> marketing weenies?
I'll tell you when. About the same time that idiots who never took a
TV set, car engine or lock apart, who never built a radio or
hot-rodded an engine, who never played with erector sets and real
hammers and nails, and soldering irons, as children, began enrolling
in college as engineering majrs and got hired by MBAs, (Meaningless
But Arrogant) who are, no doubt, hired because the marketing
department says that MBAs are good for the company's image, and the
MBAs hire marketing people with low IQs, like everyone else, are't
paid to think, but to "fit in" with the company's "culture" and will
be good little corporate 'droids.
You know, I think I've got it! Someone must have told some CEOs that
it's safer to smoke one-hundred dollar bills than tobacco products,
and some must have believed it. Who wants to volunteer to roll some
big bills and smoke them while undergoing psychological evaluation so
that we can verify this hypothesis?
NOTE: I happen to know a couple of past and present marketing
executives who are very sensible and intelligent people, and mean no
offense to them by this. I also went to college with some marketing
majors who were very sensible and had some good common sense... of
course, I also went to college with some of them who, while they were
nice people, didn't quite understand the concept of "reality."
--
Copyright (C) 2000 R. D. Davis "The best way to gain a true understanding of
All Rights Reserved Wile E. Coyote on the Roadrunner cartoons is to
rdd_at_perqlogic.com 410-744-4900 fly, head-first, off a horse into something like
http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd a fence or a tree; trust me, this works." --RDD
Received on Sat Jan 13 2001 - 23:39:30 GMT