Wave Rave
First, I admit to being no audiophile, but I've been soured on the Bose Wave radio ever since...
[fade out to the sound of chimes, fade in to geeks in bell bottoms with big sideburns and bigger backpacks walking across Massachusetts Avenue]
...once upon a time, in the People's Republic of Cambridge there taught an MIT professor of electrical engineering named Amar Bose who had a reputation for being a bit of a rebel. One day he left the little trade-tech on Chuck Creek and went off to found the venerable Bose Corp., best known for those tiny speakers with big sound (thanks to Direct/Reflecting technology).
[fade out to the sound of modem squawks and hissing, fade in to bearded geeks in black trench coats walking across Massachusetts Avenue]
...fast forward to the mid-nineties. The Bosemobile shows up on campus one day with a portable demonstration auditorium built into long bed trailer. Like moths to a bug zapper, the geeks are lured into the trailer to listen to a twenty minute demonstration of Mr. Bose's latest and greatest--a stack of audio components surrounded by two large floor speakers at either side, thumping out such geek favorites as the theme to Star Wars.
Now, like I said I'm no audiophile, but I thought it sounded just OK. For such a big piece of equipment, though, it was just plain crappy. Besides, I never liked Star Wars. So then, with a triumphant voila, and presumably to audible gasps from the audience, the salesman lifts away the whole audio component system which was just a plastic facade to reveal a tiny countertop-sized Bose Wave radio. Well screw that, for the money I could have bought the component system and better sounding speakers.
Way to go Mr. Bose, you just ensured I'll probably never buy anything from you. (You can buy can buy me one of these, though.) Can anyone detect a theme here? Like, I don't like my chain yanked?
(Interesting article about marketing techniques for the Wave radio.)
[fade out to the sound of chimes, fade in to geeks in bell bottoms with big sideburns and bigger backpacks walking across Massachusetts Avenue]
...once upon a time, in the People's Republic of Cambridge there taught an MIT professor of electrical engineering named Amar Bose who had a reputation for being a bit of a rebel. One day he left the little trade-tech on Chuck Creek and went off to found the venerable Bose Corp., best known for those tiny speakers with big sound (thanks to Direct/Reflecting technology).
[fade out to the sound of modem squawks and hissing, fade in to bearded geeks in black trench coats walking across Massachusetts Avenue]
...fast forward to the mid-nineties. The Bosemobile shows up on campus one day with a portable demonstration auditorium built into long bed trailer. Like moths to a bug zapper, the geeks are lured into the trailer to listen to a twenty minute demonstration of Mr. Bose's latest and greatest--a stack of audio components surrounded by two large floor speakers at either side, thumping out such geek favorites as the theme to Star Wars.
Now, like I said I'm no audiophile, but I thought it sounded just OK. For such a big piece of equipment, though, it was just plain crappy. Besides, I never liked Star Wars. So then, with a triumphant voila, and presumably to audible gasps from the audience, the salesman lifts away the whole audio component system which was just a plastic facade to reveal a tiny countertop-sized Bose Wave radio. Well screw that, for the money I could have bought the component system and better sounding speakers.
Way to go Mr. Bose, you just ensured I'll probably never buy anything from you. (You can buy can buy me one of these, though.) Can anyone detect a theme here? Like, I don't like my chain yanked?
(Interesting article about marketing techniques for the Wave radio.)
posted by anchovy @ 12:04 PM
1 Comments:
At 5:51 AM,
mal said…
I first listened to some Bose speakers in the early 80's and they were head and shoulders above the competition,FOR THE SAME SIZE UNIT. I ended up purchasing larger Pioneers that I felt had as good sound quality for less money
Guess what? The competition is much better these days and the differences I think are a case of marketing a perception rather than a reality
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