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No Interview with Swarovski (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Troubador
- Start date
I always interviewed company CEOs as they are the onlynones who can give frank replies on the record. Everyone else will usually ooze around like an earthworm.
Edmund
Of course they do. I just wanted Birdforum members to know Swarovski hasn't been ignored.
Lee
tenex
reality-based
Yes, it's a peculiar game trying to figure out whether they actually said anything in reply or not, and if so what... rather like politics. I don't quite understand it, because in all those I've read I haven't seen a question technical enough to give away information any competitor wouldn't already have guessed. It seems they want customers, but don't know what to do with actual fans, and may not appreciate how they generate new customers. For the record I had been wondering where the Swaro interviews were (beyond the one with Dobler over the SF of course
) so thanks Lee.
John A Roberts
Well-known member
Hi tenex,
I too am perplexed by the lack of technical candour by those speaking on the record, especially as it's not a real attempt to keep competitors guessing,
since the optics industry will be like any other one
That is, when a new model from a major player comes out, as a matter of routine competitors will buy a couple of units, and:
- firstly do a lot of non-destructive testing to establish base lines, and
- then take one down to the individual components to see what makes it tick (e.g. see the attached image of an EL FP provided by Swarovski),
while keeping the other for future comparison
John
and a version with clearer detail, though with a page fold through it . . .
I too am perplexed by the lack of technical candour by those speaking on the record, especially as it's not a real attempt to keep competitors guessing,
since the optics industry will be like any other one
That is, when a new model from a major player comes out, as a matter of routine competitors will buy a couple of units, and:
- firstly do a lot of non-destructive testing to establish base lines, and
- then take one down to the individual components to see what makes it tick (e.g. see the attached image of an EL FP provided by Swarovski),
while keeping the other for future comparison
John
and a version with clearer detail, though with a page fold through it . . .
Attachments
Last edited:
Tenex and John
I know from my time in industry that in many companies employees are under a contractual obligation to not reveal information that the company defines as 'sensitive'. It therefore does not matter one tiny bit if a competitor already knows the info or can guess or can find out by buying binos and examining them. The only thing that matters is the content of the contract of employment that has been signed. Suppliers involved in the development and / or production of new product are often required to sign non-disclosure agreements so that they too are bound by the secrecy. One of my interviewees has been banned from giving further interviews for having over-stepped the mark in one of my interviews.
So while it can be frustrating that some questions are avoided or only partly answered the reasons for this are not trivial.
Lee
I know from my time in industry that in many companies employees are under a contractual obligation to not reveal information that the company defines as 'sensitive'. It therefore does not matter one tiny bit if a competitor already knows the info or can guess or can find out by buying binos and examining them. The only thing that matters is the content of the contract of employment that has been signed. Suppliers involved in the development and / or production of new product are often required to sign non-disclosure agreements so that they too are bound by the secrecy. One of my interviewees has been banned from giving further interviews for having over-stepped the mark in one of my interviews.
So while it can be frustrating that some questions are avoided or only partly answered the reasons for this are not trivial.
Lee
John A Roberts
Well-known member
While slightly off topic . . .
For comparison with the disassembled EL FieldPro in post #7, also see a Maven B2 reduced to 169 components (not including the rain guard and the objective covers)
It’s from: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a28239744/things-come-apart-binoculars/
As with the EL, besides the primary optical and mechanical components, there's an abundance of seating and spacing rings
In contrast, see the much fewer components of a traditional construction Porro prism binocular: a Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem
The image is from Ant1 at Cloudy Nights: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/540120-service-manual-for-zeiss-jenoptem-10x50w/ (unfortunately, the image is no longer attached to the post)
John
For comparison with the disassembled EL FieldPro in post #7, also see a Maven B2 reduced to 169 components (not including the rain guard and the objective covers)
It’s from: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/a28239744/things-come-apart-binoculars/
As with the EL, besides the primary optical and mechanical components, there's an abundance of seating and spacing rings
In contrast, see the much fewer components of a traditional construction Porro prism binocular: a Carl Zeiss Jena Jenoptem
The image is from Ant1 at Cloudy Nights: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/540120-service-manual-for-zeiss-jenoptem-10x50w/ (unfortunately, the image is no longer attached to the post)
John
