Re: Re: Re: Over-exaggeration?! oh no!
Originally posted by groovebuster Fact is, that the smaller engines wouldn't sell in North America well and that's why you don't get them there.
Smaller engines that wouldn't sell? You mean like every
special edition of the M3 that has come out in the past 14 years?
Why is it that companies don't bother to sell low volume/specialty cars in multiple countries (american car co.s do this too) it's because it costs money to certify them in each country to ensure they are in accordance with that country's laws. Why bother when you only have a few to sell anyway?
The laws affect the availability/price of mass-production cars too, and either we don't get the cars at all, or like in the current m3, we get a version with less horsepower and a more restrictive Cat. (our M3 only puts out 333ps)
Translation? The regulations cause the companies to cripple their product or not sell it at all. I think thats pretty applicable to what i was saying about the Norweigan laws. How? If the law sets technical requirements on devices sold in that country, the users who purchase those devices will eventually pay for those increased requirements, the offending feature will be cut out (if possible), or they won't get the product at all.
Originally posted by groovebuster Maybe you can elaborate a little further how that "international business works"? I am eager to learn something from you!
What a troll! This isn't an international business forum, but I'm sure if you found one, you'd see that doing business across countries involves costs associated with complying with local laws. If you don't think THAT'S true, you have larger issues. Please, at least make an attempt at an argument here, rather than dismiss the point out of hand.
I think the closest similarity in this analogy is that of the SMG gearbox in the m3. In europe there is a feature that allows you to perform a computer-controlled start. I'm sure you're familiar with it, its a pretty cool system, and it's gotten a lot of press. The thing is, you are limited to a certain number of starts before you void your warranty (actually a portion of your warranty), as this type of thing is rather hard on the tranny. In the US version, the feature is still there, but instead of revving the engine to 5k or whatever it is, it only revs to 2.5k before it drops the clutch. Why? glad you asked, because there are laws in the US that say (more or less) that you can't provide a feature that you know your customers will use and you know will void their warranty.
Did BMW go out and improve their clutch for the US version so that we get a better car, as the Norweigian law would imply. IE: better laws make for better engineering? No, they just crippled that feature.
If Apple has to re-tool the iPod to make it fit the laws for that country the cost of the product in that country will likely increase to cover the increase in expense. Remember how Apple had to dampen the audio output for France? What might have happened if that couldn't be done in software? Apple probably swallowed the cost of the softare update, but I doubt they would have been so generous if France required a different type of hardware.
Even for devices that are identical across markets, you make it sound like I must be retarded. You make it seem like the only possible variable costs across countries would be the import tax or the exchange rate. I think you know that's not true, and we don't need to go into each of the laws of every individual country to come to the agreement that there ARE differences, and those differences often cost money.
Originally posted by groovebuster I just had a huge hassle with the Apple Store Europe regarding my order of an iBook G4.
Is that what this is all about?
