Category Archives: Basic Business Concepts

Product Warning – Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander is a product catastrophe

I apologize for not responding to your emails and comments during the past few days. I have been offline trying to debug a botched Linksys product offering.

Wre54g_1The product team at Linksys has managed to take a brilliant product concept and turn it into a frustrating customer experience and a support nightmare. This is not a simple mistake. This is the work of inspired dunderheads! The Linksys Wireless-G Range Expander – WRE54G should have been a slam-dunk success, but a group of designers and marketing execs managed to make this product one of the worst new product releases since the Jugo.

My take on it is that the product team pushed this abortion out the door in a hurry so they could meet a deadline and get their bonuses. This was not the work of one person. This catastrophe required a lot of people to turn a blind eye to the effect this would create on a typical customer. In my opinion, Linksys owes their customers an apology.

UPDATE 03/04/06: 229 Linksys customers reviewed this product on Amazon.com and the vast majority of them could not install it because of the botched product release. Does anyone at Linksys keep track of what customers are saying?

Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts, Possibly Helpful Advice | Leave a comment

Feline organizational structures- part 5

The Thompson and St Lawrence cats have moved into a new phase of their enforced relationship, with accompanying changes in behavior on the part of certain cats. Here are the visiting St Lawrence cats, Buffy and Sherman. The cats seem … Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts | Leave a comment

Building/moving to a new home – day 104

Building a house is a lot like making sausage Unless you have a strong stomach, you are better off not knowing what goes into it. The final product can be amazing, but the the details of construction are better left … Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts, Country Living, Moving to Floyd, Possibly Helpful Advice | Leave a comment

Feline organizational structures- part 4

In my continuing observation of the interaction of the Thompson and St Lawrence cats, I am struck anew by the similarities with corporate acquisitions. When a large corporation acquires a small corporation, there are expectations by management that are at … Continue reading

Posted in Basic Business Concepts | Leave a comment