Which industry leaders do you wish weren't in the lead?

[Unspeaked]

So we, as Mac users, are pretty used to having the product we love and truly think is best be passed over time and time again (at least until recently!).

What are some other industry leaders that you wish weren't leading their categories?

For example, I know a lot of designers who prefer InDesign for page layout and Freehand for vector design are forced to use Quark and Illustrator.

Also, Walmart may be the largest retailer in the world, but plenty of people wish that weren't the case.

Or look at beer - Bud, Miller and Coors collectively account for nearly all beer consumption in the US, but some folks prefer Sam Adams or small regional brewers to these watered down lagers.

I know there are some cases where the high sales market leaders are generally loved (Apple and the iPod, Nintendo and the Wii, Coca Cola and its soda, Nike and their shoes), but I'm looking for the exact opposite situations...

[Eraserhead]

Or look at beer - Bud, Miller and Coors collectively account for nearly all beer consumption in the US, but some folks prefer Sam Adams or small regional brewers to these watered down lagers.


Same applies everywhere on beer. A lot of people just like mediocre beer ;).

I'd say eBay, because they don't give a ***** about customer care.

[Unspeaked]

eBay's a good one - and with it: PayPal.

:mad::mad::mad:

[Eraserhead]

eBay's a good one - and with it: PayPal.

:mad::mad::mad:

Well yeah, that's a given. They are probably the worse half.

[Leareth]

Monsanto - need I say more?

[IJ Reilly]

If only to get it out of the way: Microsoft.

[seattle]

Monster cable.

Bose.

[nick9191]

Sony
Tesco and Walmart
Google
Ebay
Sky (In fact anything Murdoch related)
Microsoft to an extent
Apple to an extent (yes I said Apple).

[Eraserhead]

Monster cable.

Bose.

Sony
Tesco
Google

What's wrong with them?

[seattle]

What's wrong with them?

I believe both companies have fine products but just charge way too much for them.

[Eraserhead]

I believe both companies have fine products but just charge way too much for them.

Why not add Apple to that list then?

[IJ Reilly]

In this country anyway, Hershey's.

A poor excuse for chocolate, so pervasive hardly anybody knows the difference.

[seattle]

Why not add Apple to that list then?

I think Apple price markups are fair for the product.

[kuebby]

Monster cable.

Bose.

Totally. If Best Buy carried $10 HDMI cables as well as $100 Monster ones I wonder which one people would buy. And if Bose didn't spend millions on advertising if anyone would buy their speakers.

EDIT: Ooo, I just thought of this, I'm not sure if they're actually the biggest fast food place, but: McDonald's.

[Daveman Deluxe]

I want to say Starbucks, but the thing is that Starbucks is actually a significant boon to independent coffee establishments. That said, it's unfortunate that Starbucks is so pervasive given its relatively poor quality.

[Unspeaked]

I believe both companies have fine products but just charge way too much for them.

Monster is ok, but I really do think Bose products are average at best... of course, there's another thread about that floating around somewhere...


In this country anyway, Hershey's.

A poor excuse for chocolate, so pervasive hardly anybody knows the difference.

That's a really good one, too, that completely slipped my mind.

It makes you wonder how these companies came to such prominence...

(Advertising, probably...)

[tMac85]

I wish target wasnt getting as big as it was. It is slowly approaching Walmart.

Target used to be the place i could go to get my stuff, to escape the trash that is walmart.

Now it seems like when i walk in to Target, im just walking into a red walmart

[thechidz]

the point is Moot... the reason Apple makes such a great product is because they are not the industry leader

[jemeinc]

Comcast.. Not sure if they're the industry leader everywhere, but they are here, and they suck something fierce.. Thankfully I was able to get rid of them in favor of Verizon FIOS and it's been great ever since..

TicketMaster is another one..

[ryannel2003]

Toyota Motor. Absolutely love my Camry, but the new models continue to slip in quality and it shows. Along with that, Toyota's recalls are up and they can't seem to catch a break. At least when General Motors was so far ahead, everybody knew their cars weren't as great vs. the competition and Toyota was just worried about quality. Toyota needs to focus on quality, not if their #1 or not.

[ham_man]

Also, Walmart may be the largest retailer in the world, but plenty of people wish that weren't the case.
The only people who hate Walmart are the people who are rich enough that they don't need to shop there...

[tMac85]

The only people who hate Walmart are the people who are rich enough that they don't need to shop there...


i dont hate wal mart. i just wish it would stop being something its not. Its a low price retailer. Thats it. With that comes consequences.

A lot of time when i walk in to a walmart, even at 2 am, its chaos. There are 3 people working, and they all have bad attitudes, and the store is a mess.

I know this not a case for All walmarts, but it sure is for a lot of them.

[martychang]

Microsoft(do I need to explain? Does Macrumors have the bandwidth for me to explain?)
Intel(can has non-legacy architecture development?)
AMD(x86-64, making you put up with x86 for at least 10 more years)
Ford(Give back Volvo :( )

[mcarnes]

Playboy.