Posted for "Chuck Jensen" <cjensen@dts9000.com>:

 Brent Regan wrote in response to:
 
 John Schroeder asks:
 
 <<was D2 performing another service to earn that markup?>>
 
 Yes. D2 was providing direct customer support. Besides being on call
 24/7 to answer questions, they also set up and maintained an extensive
 web site with useful information.

...snip...

 <<Finally, why would they want to want to carry a product (Pinpoint) and
 agree to keeping its manufacturer anonymous?>>
 
 The answer is simple. Performance.  If confidentiality is part of the
 price of being able to exclusively offer a product  that your own, first
 hand, testing has shown to be superior, then it is an easy price to pay.
 You must appreciate that the american legal system scares the *#&% out
 of most of the worlds business population.
 
 ***
 This answer is inconsistent with the answer below.  Since Pinpoint has
 constitently declined to provide performance data and specification,
 then customers are required to rely on "talk the talk" like every other
 product at OSH.  So, as Fred Moreno says, "Show me the data."  This
 should seem to apply equally to Pinpoint, no?
 ****
 
 <<My vote is for Crossbow on this round. They have had problems, but
 have been pretty honest>>>
 
 Some people will buy a car because it is blue and blue is their favorite
 color.  Me, I prefer to pick a product based on its suitability to the
 task and superiority to other comparable products.  If all it took was
 to talk the talk then every product at OSH would the best. As Fred
 Moreno has often said "Show me the data". Anything else is just
 prevarication.
 
 
 ***
 So....where is Pinpoint's data?  "Trust me" is not a product
 specification, no?
 ****
 
 John also seems to be implying that  the ability to keep confidential
 information confidential somehow contrasts with being "honest".  A good
 friend of mine survived to bombing of Coventry (11/15/1940) during WWII.
 Study this event you will have a deeper appreciation of the need for
 keeping a secret.
 
 
 ***
 Honesty is a qualitative judgement.  Where there is little/no
 transparency, it is impossible to say whether someone is being "honest"
 or not, because there is no information from which to judge.  Being
 secretive and covert is not prima facie evidence of dishonesty, but most
 dishonest people are secretive and covert, hence the concern some may
 have and the reason for their unanswered questions.
 ****
 
 cjensen@dts9000.com