Posted by caliman.john on 01/09/08 18:35

I've contacted Max Everett regarding the previous answer he gave about
the contracts, and this is what he had to say about it:

"I suppose I'm a product of the Internet and printed & published
rumors as well. Many sources are stating the contract ends in Feb, but
obviously, not all of them say Feb 2009. Other than many reported
rumors, there never was a contract between the two. We can only
speculate that, with the shear numbers of reports, saying the same
thing, that there actually was a contract. Even store owners make
mistakes, and I'll be the first to admit I'm not always right."

"If these companies wish to share their contracts publicly with the
rest of the world, that would put an end to these rumors. These rumors
aren't just on the Internet, however. They are also in large
publications, printed across America."

"Now, if the 2009 numbers are true, as well as the escape clause,
which is also rumored to be true, what does that tell us? For one, the
whole Internet world already expects a defection. Secondly, this stuff
has already been published all over the Internet, North America, and
probably other parts of the world. Lastly, the end is going to happen
no matter what."

"Paramount recently announced no plans to defect, but the same thing
happened to Warner Brothers. They said, only a few days before, there
were no plans to go blu, but they did, and for several months, there
were rumors that they actually were planning to go blu, also published
in many articles. The rumors turned out to be more truthful than
Warner themselves."

"I know that some people may think that a person that owns electronic
shops would have all of the insider information. Sure, we get
brochures, special promotions, and various other literature about new
technologies and announcements, but this information is available to
just about anyone who wishes to search for it. Also, we can't control
prices or who wins or loses in any television, movie format, video
game format, or any other electronics wars. Maybe wal-mart, circuit
city, or bestbuy has some pull in that sense, but we don't. We also
don't get kickbacks or incentives for promoting one product over the
other, like bestbuy is rumored to be guilty of."

"This reminds me of something that happened with my 13 year old
nephew, who went to bestbuy on one of their sales days to buy one of
their $299 PCs. This was one of the computers they were promoting in
their sale ad. Well, they didn't want to sell him the $200 PC. They
kept telling him that he'd be better off with an almost $3000
alienware PC. He was constantly bombarded, attacked, and almost
pressured in to buying the $3000 system. A 13 year old kid. You know
who would have had to pay for this, right? His parents. How many
parents could afford to buy their kids a $3000 PC, even if they wanted
to? This is not how you should treat your customers. Give people the
information that they need, if they need it, and let them make their
own choices. I felt so badly for my nephew that I gave him a PC from
one of my shops."

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