Hmmm - the reason that they can't test the crap out of it BEFORE rushing to market (at least in the case of the M8) is that they couldn't afford to - if you remember rightly they were on the brink of catastrophe. I've no idea who knew what, but I find the whole concept of 'whistle blowers' rather distasteful. The cracked sensor was definitely a QA production issue - hard to have anticipated.. . I guess that just saying this makes me an apologist!
I don't believe things are worse than they were - in fact, I'm pretty sure they're much better - it's just that a few years ago problems like this really didn't come to light for ages - and even when they did, it was only to a select few. The internet has made these kind of issues immediately obvious to everyone.
As consumers we DEMAND perfection at a sensible price - the competition is extreme, and I think we often get better than we deserve - which, generally speaking is pretty good.
I find all this zipless and brutal criticism pretty distasteful myself. Nobody wants to release a faulty product, and one assumes that even if they do it on purpose in the final analysis, it's because they have no choice.
It's quite simple really:
If you don't want to be a beta tester - don't buy early
Obviously, I'm really pleased that this information comes to light - the internet is a wonderful vehicle for it. But I'm afraid I live in a glass house, and throwing stones is against my principles. I'm amazed at everyone who seems to find it so easy.
Jono, I think you are a politically correct enabler. You may think consumers should have bailed out Leica. That is your opinion, not mine. I've had a belly full of bailing out mega rich people and their companies.
If Leica couldn't bring a M8 to market without the huge flaw because they couldn't afford to get it right fast enough, who's problem is that? Well, they made it the consumer's problem by prematurely releasing a product that did NOT meet
reasonable expectations for a $6,000 camera body. Not a "demand for perfection at a reasonable price" ... reasonable expectations at a lofty price.
Big difference.
Your memory is also selective ... Leica initially denied the issue with legal-weasel responses ...
not unlike Fuji's response on this issue.
RE: Throwing big stones, whistle blowers, and all the terms you find distasteful ... as if consumers did not have the right to express their frustration because they are not worthy in the face of the mighty corporations who, out of the graciousness of their good will, bring us an ever increasing avalanche of gizmos to keep our feeble minds occupied.
I personally don't care if you find "Whistle Blowers" a "distasteful" term ... if someone finds a HUGE flaw they should keep quiet about it? Let herds of other buyers buy without knowing? If the truth is "brutal" so what? It sure isn't going to get better by enabling errors to go unmentioned, or to use excuses and mealymouthed apologies on the behalf of some faceless corporation that has your money.
Glass house? Hey, it's my money and
their product. I have to live and die on the photos I make. I make a bad product for a client, and guess what ... I'm out of business. They don't make excuses for me, bail me out with hat in hand ... they fire me AND demand their money back. That keeps you on your toes and working to retain their trust and confidence.
It's all an example of the new consumerism ... where an issue with a product becomes the consumer's problem, and the company hopes for complacency.
Honestly, I'm sick of it ... others may not be, that's their choice ... but do not expect it to get better if everyone lets it slide, and bails out the multimillion dollar corporation by enabling less than expected performance for the money paid.
And I sure as hell am not buying anything early anymore. I waited a year and a half before committing to the S2, over a year before upgrading my H4D (and tested the crap out of it before handing one penny to Hasselblad), and cancelled a NEX7 order.
Trust is earned, not a right. If a company abuses that trust ... there should be a consequence. Brutal? Throwing stones? Maybe, but it wasn't me who broke the trust, it was them.
-Marc