Oh I think you’re absolutely right about them being fundamentally different. The point I really wanted to make is that if you aren’t the target market for something, it’s easy to see it as ridiculous. When I saw Arc before I knew more about monome, I thought it was insane to pay that price for four knobs with lights. But when I learned that its intent is to be adaptable and open and flexible and that I am, indeed, part of the target market, it gained a lot more appeal. And there are certainly people who will still scoff at ot, even after understanding what it is. There’s a reason that analog synths and other things with very clearly defined, single purposes are popular.
I just think that the average lines user is probably not at all the target market for this speaker, and so to us it seems silly (at the least) to pay so much to just…rewind the radio. But to some people, namely the target market, it probably seems wonderful. I mean, as others have noted, it sold out. So clearly there’s some market for it.
I also have higher expectations of TE, but they have no responsibility to cater to that. Maybe this is something they are passionate about (and if it took six years, I could only hope it is) and they could afford to follow it and so they did. They have shown us they can do better, but better is very relative.
I want to agree with everyone that this just seems ridiculous though. Mostly because who listens to the radio nowadays anyways? Could not tell you the last time I was in a car and someone had their FM radio on. That’s just anecdotal though.
