Not just lifecycle, but sales cycle…

An interesting comparison is to look at “the good old days” of SLR cameras. Nikon F and Nikormat film cameras were essentially the same (with continuous by not necessarily noticeable improvements) for decades. A recent article in a photo magazine stated that any new digital camera has only a six to nine month sales life.

In the digital photography, computer, automotive, cell phone, PDA (etc.) industries consumers, retailers and manufacturers are obsesses with “the latest and greatest”. Porsche, Mercedes Benz and BMW have a model for every and any purpose – they have become their own competition.

The mechanical watch industry is similarly obsessed with releasing as many new models as possible, winning as many trade show awards as possible and creating as many “must have” models as possible. I have to scratch my head looking at some of the new Zenith models – what are they thinking? Why does every watch company feel that they too need to have “something for everyone” and release so many new models on a regular basis?

All of this detracts from the focus on quality, reliability and longevity.

Just my thoughts.

Twotone

“A man with a watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure.”