The decline of the American small business empire part one · Thursday October 27, 2011 by colin newell
My buddy Chris, and I, sit over coffee most mornings at the University of Victoria’s Finnerty Express – it is my morning hang out. We are often in the company of retired or working Math professors, economists, technicians and even gardeners. There is always a lively discussion on topics as widely varied as politics, religion and events of the day.
Chris had a story recently that was too hard not to share. And it is all about the decline of customer service and small business in America (much of this could apply to Canada as well…) So here we go.
Chris and I are both aspiring musicians, both of us being active guitar players and singers. We actually performed recently in front of a lively crowd of around 100 people in one of the Grad student lounges on campus.
Chris likes to build and modify guitars – for most of us guitar types, the endless tweaking of our instrument is in our blood. In this particular instance, Chris was ordering a neck for one of his prized instruments, an old Fender Telecaster. He was ordering this new component from Seattle – and as it turned out, one weekend recently, he found himself in Seattle, not far from the factory that makes the parts that he was looking for.
So. Brilliant. He was in town and decided to head to the factory store and get his purchase directly. Over he goes. When he gets to the store, somewhere near Redmond Washington, he drives into the parking lot and walks up to the door. Looking in he can see a wall of instrument parts and the desired neck he seeks. There is a sign on the door. “Appointment only – showroom not open!”
Chris sees someone working in the store and beckons him to the locked door. A fellow comes over and open the door an inch. The guy points to the sign. Chris says, “I have come all the way from Victoria and would like to buy one of those necks… I have the cash in my pocket…” Store clerk: “We do not accept drop ins… you will need to call for an appointment…” Clerk hands him a card with the 1-800 number.
Chris backs away and phones the number.
You guessed it. The clerk in the store picks up the phone at the counter. I kid you not.
The clerk takes his information and comes back to the door.
Chris comes into the store and points to the neck he is interested in.
Clerk says: “We do not do direct store sales generally…” “You will have to place an order on the internet…”
Chris repeats, “I have cash in my pocket, I want that neck on the wall… and you have a shipping area in the back… can I pick it up there?”
“the shipping area is for couriers only… fedex, purolator, etc…” the clerk tosses out.
At the end of the exchange, Chris was several feet away from a guitar component that he was ready and willing to pay for on the spot – and was unable to because of a poorly operated business with completely and unflinchingly inept staff.
This is one reason while America is failing. They have lost touch with reality and the ability to do business.
Example two from the beleaguered Chris:
Chris recently bought an audio mixing board from a company in the U.S.
Over the internet.
Audio mixing boards: All of us musicians have one. We often use it to hook up multiple instruments and microphones in a studio or stage situation.
Chris needed a small mixer for performance scenarios. He found the one he was looking for at a decent price. Brand new. When he purchased it online, he took the option for “extended warranty and insurance coverage” — for virtually any situation; drop it off a cliff, it is covered. No worries.
Within a week, his mixer arrives. But it does not work properly.
He calls the help line for the equipment company that sold him the equipment.
Chris tells his story, “The gear arrived but it does not work… it is broken… there are several channels that are dead…”
“Not sure what we can do for you…” says the voice on the telephone…
Chris reminds them, “I bought warranty coverage for this piece of…”
“Ah, says the fellow on the help line…” “you are describing a pre-existing condition sir… it did not fail while it was in your possession! Your warranty coverage does not cover this!”
Say what?
I looked at the mixer for him – it was a simple take apart and I am a qualified technician. By the looks of it, it could not have worked even from the factory – it was defective in that there were cold solder joints and solder bridges from the factory. It never worked. It could never have worked. Shocking.
Anyway – 2 months on and Chris is still fighting via the phone and the internet to get his money back, a refund or something functional.
Another reason why America is in trouble…
Because small business and manufacturing have utterly lost their way.
This is the 1st chapter in what might become a small series in why we are falling down in the area of manufacturing and customer service in North America.
Summer about Victoria 2011 At the digital cinema · Friday August 12, 2011 by colin newell
We visited Cineplex Odeon Westshore cinemas 900 2945 Jacklin Rd in Langford for “Cowboys and Aliens” featuring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.
It’s a Western. And it’s a Science fiction story – two of my favorite genres.
But this is not a movie review.
It is a technology review.
I have not spent a lot of time rambling on the subject of the transition from film projection to digital – there are a lot of people in the industry and in consumer World that bark like otters about this evolution.
My opinion differs slightly.
Starters, modern theaters are too freaking loud. I am clearly middle aged and I pack ear plugs with me to Silver City (and to a lesser extent the other theaters) – because the sound is too loud and it gives me a sonic headache in short order.
It astounds me the number of people that bring children to these noisy shows who have ears that are significantly more sensitive than mine.
Bottom line: Go to any of these shows and you are permanently degrading your hearing and the future of your ability to hear quiet sounds in the future.
But don’t take me word for it.
Digital projection. Cineplex Odeon raves about their ability to download and project digital movies – the savings over film are staggering – and guess what? The savings are passed directly on to the stakeholders at Cineplex Odeon – not the consumers.
There was a time, when film was king, that the only way a theater could make any money was with the concession goods; the absurd lake-sized drinks and waste barrel capacity popcorn selections could set you back a mortgage payment if you were treating the entire family.
The food prices are still stupid but now there is money to be made with the technology. Because it is simpler. And being a person who designs and builds labs and classrooms at a University and actually helps maintain a movie theater (UVic’s venerable Cinecenta [I have worked on the digital and film cinema side of the house]), I know how much stuff costs. And Cineplex Odeon is making a killing on the savings as it were.
And as much as “industry” would like us to believe that digital cinema is “awesome” and sparkles like a jewel – it doesn’t. It is not capable of it. My home Sony blu-ray and LED back-lit Bravia flat screen TV is as capable of showing spectacular video, with breathtaking surround audio. Digital projection onto giant screens has some fundamental flaws – lack of contrast and muted, often dreary color – and jittery scene transitions.
I know this sounds like a bit of a whine. I do come from an old-school movie viewing population where 35MM and 70MM film (and IMAX) was king. My feeling is, the technology is moving forward at a good clip – but it is simply not there yet.
But don’t take me word for it.
Today we drove from Victoria East (Rockland area) to the West Shore cinemas for a Friday matinee – taking surface roads would have made much more sense – The Island highway was inching forward from Tillicum to the Millstream exit – pretty sad. But it was Friday at 3:30 in the afternoon. We made it to the theater with 9 minutes to spare. Would we go again? I would still like to have the “AVX” experience… whatever that is – if the right movie comes along.
Today’s movie was in Cinema 4 – 200 seats maybe… there were, perhaps, 12 people in attendance. Matinee after all.
Final thought. I love the movie going experience. I think it is important for people to get out to movies – to support the economy, develop some social skills as well, eat out and such – especially important for young people and children.
Anyway – enough from me… and enjoy the show!
Victoria Spring 2011 - Ham Radio in the 21st Century · Monday April 18, 2011 by colin newell
As much as I wonder, some times, what I did before the internet (and I am not alone on the sentiment obviously…) – I often wonder what I did before radio was a big part of my life.
Because it was at the age of 12 that a boy friend of my older sister handed me a multiband radio to play with for a few days. It had AM. It had FM. And something called “SW”. And Police Band. Double whammy there. Never heard of SW really – and that I could listen to Police and Fire calls on a radio kind of blew my mind.
Photo above right – The ICOM 703+ All Mode Transceiver keeps me in touch with the world…
Those first few sounds on the “SW” dial are forever etched in my mind – other Worldly, mysterious, cryptic… and the languages; English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese.
I was aware that my pocket sized AM radio was capable of picking up Los Angeles and Denver from my perch on Vancouver Island… but foreign languages? This was wild – and it was one of those moments that I knew would change the way I saw things… forever.
Within a few months my Dad bought be an RCA radio from the late 30’s – that had tubes in it – and SW bands – that worked as well or better than the cheap transistor radio that I had been introduced to. Before long I learned the importance of an outdoor antenna – even if it was a random piece of wire or series of coat hangers strapped together with bailing wire – it all worked. That old radio was pressed into pretty hard service for an antique that had probably anticipated a quiet retirement. And I kind of ran it into the ground with constant listening.
After it died, I built a new radio from a kit from Radio Shack – it allowed me to pick up all the regulars, the Short wave broadcasters that I came to rely on for wildly dissimilar views of my own – Like Radio Beijing and Radio Moscow – but now something called “Ham Radio” – a special circuit in this radio receiver afforded several modes of reception that were heretofore unavailable; Morse code and strange sounding “Single Sideband” reception — an odd off frequency duck sounding chatter that only became intelligible when the dial was adjusted just so.
30 plus years later and I am in the digital age with the Transceiver unit shown above – a product from the company Icom that covers most frequencies of interest and all modes of transmission from SSB (Single Side Band) to AM and FM and Morse code — and more beyond that.
It has a transmitter power of 10 watts – which does not seem like much (and It isn’t) but I have direct conversations from other “Hams” all around North and South America, the Pacific (Tahiti) and New Zealand. Amazing considering that radio energy leaves my balcony mounted radio antennas, bounces around the atmosphere a few times (hitting something 75 to 150 miles up called the Ionosphere) and lands where it lands… thousands of miles away. Amazing.
This weekend I spoke with a Boy Scout troop leader and his charges of young cub adventurers near San Capistrano at their camp site, the U.S.S. Wisconsin Amateur radio club in Virginia celebrating their battleships 67th birthday and a variety of radio operators all around North America.
You might say that Ham Radio is the Worlds first modern form of social networking – and the reality is, you never know exactly what is going to happen or who you are going to talk to when you switch the radio on. Yes, it is an interesting hobby, but it also serves as a valuable public service. In the event of a national disaster or regional crisis, Ham radio serves as a back up grid for the internet, cell phone and traditional telephone communications.
This afternoon I explained some of the principles of Amateur Radio to a young lady that works in my lab at UVic – I think I gave some good answers because she fired some really good questions at me and did not fall asleep listening to the replies.
Yea, it is complicated – but it is not outrageously so that it is out of reach of anyone enthusiastic enough to tackle it – An amateur radio license requires an exam from a certified government examiner; an exam that is as much about technical procedures as it is about some basic electronics. You can do it – yes you can… and be a part of a fascinating hobby and public service.
Colin Newell lives and works in Victoria B.C. Canada – holds the Amateur radio call sign VA7WWV
Happy St. Patricks Day 2011 as best you can · Thursday March 17, 2011 by colin newell
Not entirely sure there is any green in this jacket…
Click on the photo at left for the slightly bigger view – Thanks to British Importers for these fine threads – and even though you have changed your name to the egocentric Philip Nyren Clothing you will always be British Importers.
What do you think? Any green in the jacket? No, me neither.
283 years ago, some guy distantly related to me got out of bed in Cork, Ireland – packed his bags, got on a boat and never looked back. He would turn out to be my great, great, great – several more, great grandfather. Irish? Heck yes. Determined to make a better life in North America. Fingers crossed. Apparently things worked out because he found a mate and part of my family tree branched out.
So I celebrate a little green today.
On St. Patrick’s day 2011 – If you would have told me a few days ago that I would be spending all of my time thinking about Japan and the hazards of the nuclear era, I would have questioned your sanity.
Yet here we are.
The word trifecta would not have been in my dialogue a few days ago either – not being a gambling man.
And yet here we are; Earthquake, Tsunami and meltdown.
Loss of life. Loss of home. Loss of confidence.
Nor would I have looked up the meaning of millicieverts and found it rolling around in my brain after determining how many are OK and how many make you sick – and what life must be like for so many people trapped, homeless and no place to go.
These good people need you now – So do what you can folks. Give to the Red Cross. Help out Japan.
And stay safe.
From Victoria B.C. Canada on the West Coast of North America… I am Colin Newell.
