Re: [Harp-L] B-Radical -- why is it great?



> On Mar 8, 2016, at 9:13 AM, Joseph Leone <3n037@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> 
> 
> I fear that along with his and customers losses, Brad has also lost the harmonica world as a place where he could belong and feel comfortable. Truly a shame.
> As I don't think he has a malicious bone in his body. 
> smo-joe

IMOââ

With the best of intentions, he undertook to produce a superior made-in-America harmonica.  His sun-aimed arrow alighted in the dust.  He knew exactly the result that he was aiming for.  Sadly, he lacked the engineering and business acumen to bring it about. He underestimated the technical difficulties and costs of mass-producing reeds assembled into functioning reed plates. When it turned out that assembling the harps required uneconomical amounts of man-hours, he hired  more people to tweak them, raising his costs and entering a death spiral.   

Unfortunately, his advertising included exaggerated, unsupported claims and metallurgical nonsense.  What may have been over-enthusiasm seemed to me to be deliberately misleading.

As the enterprise encountered these technical and economic problems, he dodged the questions of irate customers (especially at the SPAH B-Rad progress report seminar) and hid behind a screen of proprietary secrecyâ.acts that did not endear him to the people  who placed orders and paid money.

Philâs reference to Hansonâs Razor is spot-on. :  "Donât attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity.â  I would soften this by replacing âstupidityâ with ânaiveteâ.

IF he made a humble, detailed apology; explaining what went wrong, what he was thinking at the time, and what he has learned, I think that the harmonica community might once again accept him. she should answer questions openly.  He could correct these speculations.  It would make an interesting narrative.

Vern

  





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