Paintball

[DeTrevni]

Originally Posted by PhileyOFish

Yeah, but I mean WGP has the whole "Most Accurate Marker in the World" because it's closed bolt. I think we all know how that goes.

That's true. I've spent a lot of time correcting people about that one as well...

[janordy]

Smart Parts killed the Excal/Viking and its continuing run as well as further development of e-mags, that alone is enough reason to boycott them for rest of time.

[DeTrevni]

There are some misconceptions in regards to AGD. Tom Kaye himself said they were going to stop making E-Mags. They were terribly cost-ineffective, and weren't turning a profit (which, even with respectable companies such as AGD, was a big deciding factor), so when SP gave them the C&D, they didn't hesitate. E-Mags, as awesome as they were, were doomed from the start.

[cockerpunk]

Originally Posted by Mr. Furious

I don't agree with that. All technology reaches a point where innovation stops and refinement becomes the goal. Look at automobiles, aviation, computers, just about anything with technology in it and you'll see that there are certain milestones and then years of refinement before a new milestone is reached. Paintball markers and loaders are in a refinement stage right now. Sooner or later a whizbang new invention will come about and the revolution will begin again. Smart Parts doesn't stop anyone from doing anything, they just make them pay royalties before they do it.

yeah they did.

for no other reason than now no one wants to go out on a limb to make something new and innovative. in any industry its typically the small companies with nothing to lose and everything to gain make all the huge leaps in technonlgy, but with smart parts in the picture, they cant. they have no reason to even try. so we are left with the big, slow companies who dont care much, becuase they have a name and anything they make will be accepted as god.

also, of any electronic guns ever made, E/X mags and AKA guns were far and away the best shooting guns made. just think what they would ahve made by now if in 2k3 and 2k4 they were making stuff that has yet to be topped?

[relief]

I think we should send a terminator back to the early 90's & stop this whole SP problem before it started........starts.......happened?

[Jordan]

I find that the argument - we'll hit them where their wallets are - is a little stupid considering that most people on this board buy used anyways. How are you supporting SP by buying used SP equipment? That's like saying you're supporting GM by buying that 5 year old Impala from your next door neighbour. No, you're not, you're supporting your next door neighbour.

I like shoebox Shockers, I like Impulses, I'd love an ION, heck, a SP All American is a nice shooting barrel and you can get one used for a tenth of the price of a PPS barrel.

Yeah, their business practices suck, but then again so do those of a lot of major companies - we all still buy Nike products, we all shop at Walmart. Companies like that are a juggernaut that we aren't going to topple any time soon - short of the Gardners developing dementia and deciding that losing millions of dollars is exactly what their business needs, we're going to have to put up with them (and companies like them). You don't need to like it, and you can decide to not buy their product, but there are over 6 billion people on this planet - each one a potential customer -so you're just a drop in the bucket. (I'm using a generic term to describe the average consumer, not the original poster or any subsequent posters.)

Jordan

[idkfa]

Originally Posted by Jordan

Yeah, their business practices suck, but then again so do those of a lot of major companies - we all still buy Nike products, we all shop at Walmart. Companies like that are a juggernaut that we aren't going to topple any time soon - short of the Gardners developing dementia and deciding that losing millions of dollars is exactly what their business needs, we're going to have to put up with them (and companies like them). You don't need to like it, and you can decide to not buy their product, but there are over 6 billion people on this planet - each one a potential customer -so you're just a drop in the bucket. (I'm using a generic term to describe the average consumer, not the original poster or any subsequent posters.)

Jordan

Isn't that the argument that there is no use doing anything because "you are only one person"? That is ridiculous. Groups of like minded people can in fact initiate change, and going along with the flow just because "I cannot make a difference" is ignorant and unfortunate. And no, I do not buy Nike, and I do not shop at Wal-Mart.

[Robertsr]

I don't buy Nike or Walmart.

I don't buy from Nike because $200.00 for a pair of sneakers is idiotic. I don't buy from Walmart because of some VERY snarky business practices that seem to be par for the course for them.

I don't buy from Smart Parts because of their business practices either. I may not be able to change the world with my wallet, but I do make choices that reflect my views.

[Walking_Target]

robertsr reflects my views on that pretty much perfectly.

i refuse to support companies i cannot abide by.

[HP_Lovecraft]

Originally Posted by DeTrevni

There are some misconceptions in regards to AGD. Tom Kaye himself said they were going to stop making E-Mags.

That is not exactly what Tom said on AO. More specifically, he said the E-Mag program was very expensive, comlpex, and time consuming.
He did not want to risk loosing all that investment by being sued by Smart Parts.

To say "They were going to stop anyway" sounds like trying to save face. They hype over the X-Mags was incredible, as well as with the Pneumags.
The bottomline was that AGD itself was no longer profitable, and the company was on its last legs. They had no choice but to give in to Smart Parts, and save what little was left of the company.

I don't agree with that. All technology reaches a point where innovation stops and refinement becomes the goal

Sometimes that is true.

Sometimes innovation stops because conglomertes take over the industry. There are endless examples, but a common one is the beer industry. When the "big 3" bought out the 1,000 or so breweries in the 1950-60s, the end result was the end to variety, an end to innovation, an end to exploration.

Instead, they focus simply on making profit by producing whatever is most profitable.

So the obvious question we have to ask ourself is, is the current plateau because of industry manipulation, or that simply technology has reached that point you talked about.

I think I would agree that in the late 80s, the pump market certaintly plateaued, and in the mid 90s, the mech market certaintly plateaued. But has the electro market plataeud today? Perhaps.

I honest can not think of any real technology improvement in the late 10 years, but I believe that is more because of the conglomerization of the industry, and not specifically because we have "already discovered everything".

nick