Need someone to lead product management at your software company? I build high-craft software and the teams that build it. I'm looking for my next opportunity. Check out my resume and get in touch.

Adam Kalsey

This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.

Personal

Prices anyone?

Freshness Warning
This blog post is over 21 years old. It's possible that the information you read below isn't current and the links no longer work.

17 Jan 2003

It bugs me when I’m reading a product review and there are no prices mentioned in the article. Most purchasers weigh price as a large factor in the decision of whether to buy a product.

Why then, do reviewers make sure to describe features and benefits, pros and cons to the system, and often mention competitor’s products, but neglect to include the price of a product?

The Onkyo MP3 server described in Extreme Tech’s Onkyo Embeds Linux in Your Living Room certainly sounds like an interesting product, but how much does it cost?

How much trouble is it to add in a price? Change the article to say "At first blush, the NAS-2.3 (MSRP $xxx) seems like a CD player." Perhaps it’s a new product and pricing isn’t yet known. So say "Pricing not yet announced" and save me the trouble of trying to hunt down a price online.

At several hundred dollars, I’d be very interested in this product. At several thousand, I would not. So tell me how much the dang thing costs so I can decide if I want to learn more about it.

And while I’m ranting about Extreme Tech’s incomplete review, why do they provde a link to Onkyo’s site, Onkyo’s sub-brand mini-site, a review (in a different magazone) of a similar Onkyo product, but not the product they are reviewing?

Recently Written

Think Systems, not Symptoms
Dec 15: Piecemeal process creation frustrates teams and slows work. Stop patching problems and start solving systems. Adopting a systems thinking approach helps you design processes that are efficient, aligned with goals, and truly add value.
Your Policies Aren’t Your Culture
Dec 13: Policies guide behavior, but culture is the lived norms and values of your team. Policies reflect culture -- they don’t define it. Netflix’s parental leave shift didn’t change its culture of freedom and responsibility. It clarified how to live it.
Lighten Your Process Burden
Dec 7: Everyone hates oppressive processes, but somehow we keep managing to create them.
Product Add-Ons Are An Expansion Myth
Dec 1: Add-ons can enhance your product’s appeal but won’t drive significant market growth. To expand your customer base, focus on developing standalone products.
Protecting your Product Soul when the Same Product meets New People.
Nov 23: Expand into new markets while preserving your product’s core value. Discover how to adapt and grow without losing your product’s soul.
Building the Next Big Thing: A Framework for Your Second Product
Nov 19: You need a first product sooner than you think. Here's a framework for helping you identify a winner.
A Framework for Scaling product teams
Oct 9: The people, processes, and systems that make up a product organization change radically as you go through the stages of a company. This framework will guide that scaling.
My Networked Webcam Setup
Sep 25: A writeup of my network-powered conference call camera setup.

Older...

What I'm Reading