Why is Creative treating its customers so b

Question

<SPAN>I purchased a Zen Xtra after looking at all sorts of MP3 player options. I like it, BUT the way Creative has handled the firmware fiasco --- it pains me to say --- I will NOT buy Creative anymore. I won't get Creative.<SPAN>
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<SPAN>Any company that lies or rather doesn't deli'ver on its promises --- can't be trusted now or in the future. You are an electronics powerhouse --- act like it --- think customer satisfaction rather than pushing product. I work for an electronics company and consumer electronics are all commoditized --- the only real difference is the functionality of the software on the hardware.
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<SPAN>I like my player and hopefully there will be a firmware update --- maybe not. Eight months is a pretty long time to wait. WIRED Magazine has a Vaporware Award list where you can nominate the biggest software that never was and the Creative firmware definitely has my vote.
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<SPAN>I think Creative is trying to market too many MP3 players and that could be a reason that they don't seem focused on the customers or hardware already sold. Apple is the segment leader because they actually support the products that already in the hands of customers and people actually know about the products. Stop spending all your money on developing new MP3 players Creative and start promoting the players that you already have. No one knows about the products that you already have --- developing new ones every other week isn't gonna get it done.
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<SPAN>Frankly, I tell people that are looking at MP3 players that Creative makes good stuff with the options you want, but if you want support for the product once you buy it --- look elsewhere. The hardware service is good, but software --- firmware/drivers --- is truly inexcusable. Too many products Creative --- it's not helping you; it's making you look irrelevant.
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<SPAN>Word of mouth is everything. Look at the (former) Big 3 U.S. automakers. They built crummy cars in the 970's and they never fully recovered mostly because of word of mouth from dissatisfied customers. I can only hope Creative doesn't do the same.

Answer 1

Let's face it, Zen Xtra customers only want the new firmware because they hope it will turn their players into USB mass storage devices capable of transferring thousands of music files to every computer in the uni'verse.
The operati've theory seems to be that this will cause a cataclysmic paradigm shift in the music industry. Thousands of artists of mediocre talent and zero artisitic ambition will be put out of work. Record labels, producers, lawyers, and a veritable army of other no-talent middlemen will suddenly be faced with the ugly prospect of working for a living. The entire industry of record promotion will be annihilated as promotion will suddenly become worthless, in fact undesireable, as it will identify artists paying to promote themselves as corporate sellouts.
This seems to be a lot to expect for a single piece of PAD freeware. In fact, due to the manner in which the Zen Xtra stores music on its HDD, even the relati'vely paltry ambition of a USB Mass Storage Device may be beyond the scope of the Zen Xtra's design. The fact is that these devices are currently in a state of evolution, and the Zen Xtra may simply be a Neanderthal headed for extinction.
The current top-of-the-line model is the Zen Sleek, which hasn't even been officially released on the western side of the Big Water (which Creative would be advised to remember, is the side that counts). The current North American top-of-the-line model is the Zen Micro, which appears to be receiving the bulk of developmental attention. In other words, if you want free software updates more regularly, you would be better off with one of these newer models.
When compact disc format was introduced, the music industry predicted that prices would drop uni'versally, such that every hobo in Hoboken would be able to walk into a music store and purchase a brand-new CD just like a real human being. This outright lie was easily bought by the general populace. So when Creative promises a software update sometime in 2005, shouldn't we, as the general populace, accept this wholeheartedly? After all, if we accepted an Outright Lie from a group of known charlatans and liars, shouldn't we accept a Little White Lie from a nearly faceless corporate entity in which we have placed so much personal investment and trust?
The bottom line is this: it's free, so wait for it, kiddies. Arts Armageddon is just around the corner.