Re: loop product viability (was: Orvilles to replace EDPs?)

[Travis <tiktok@sprintmail.com>]

While Gibson's made its share of difficult-to-explain market moves, 
keeping the current EDP design probably isn't one of them.  The design 
must have recouped by now, but the cost of coming up with a new design 
using more current technology would be significant considering the size 
of the market.   At some point, some critical component won't be 
available any more, so they'll have to consider whether it's worth 
re-upping for a new hardware design, but I wouldn't say that's a sure 
thing.  The ROI on an EDP Mk II might very likely be lower than Gibson 
wants to invest in, while the entry cost of doing a new design might be 
beyond any large company with deep pockets.

Over the years, I've gotten the impression that Kim and Matthias have 
tons of stories about the struggle to bring the EDP to market and keep 
it there that they can't comment on publicly.  Bringing the late-beta 
version of the Repeater to market (a year late) appeared to kill 
Electrix, and I remember hearing that mentioning the JamMan at Lexicon 
is like hanging a "Kick Me" sign on yourself.  I'm still amazed (and 
pleased) that Boomerang is still around, despite having only one 
(niche) product.

TH

On Sunday, March 30, 2003, at 03:33 PM, erwill@suitandtieguy.com wrote:

> HEY GIBSON!! keeping the decade-old technology inside the EDP alive at 
> the cost
> of moving more units (by continuing to raise the price and barrier to 
> entry)
> will definitely not keep the number of loopers from growing. they'll 
> just not
> be buying EDPs.