

HTC bootloader policy a very big deal to a small number of users - gnosis
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20066896-251.html

======
ajpatel
They fail to understand that this small group is actually the first portion of
the bell curve: early adopters. Our friends buy based on our recommendations.

~~~
phamilton
I think the Linksys WRT54G is the greatest example of that.

Initially popular because they could run linux, I've seen countless friends
and family buy the later locked down versions because it looks like the one
that their tech savy friend has.

~~~
gcb
that's a dangerous example, because linksys never put much effort in this
model. signaling that the early adopters or hardcore users are not a desired
market.

~~~
gvb
Which is why I replaced my Linksys with a Buffalo <http://www.dd-
wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Buffalo_WZR-HP-G300NH> and recommended it to my
friends, some of whom have bought their own.

Linksys had really good viral marketing going with DD-WRT. Rather than
exploiting it in a mutually beneficial way, they chose to spit in their
customer's eye by making successive incompatible versions and charging extra
for the "L" model that was nothing more than the original hackable model. I
imagine they made more money short term. Today, I don't recommend Linksys to
my friends, I don't see them as a stand-out brand (which they were with the
WRT54G), and I don't see them as being particularly competitive in a crowded
market.

Hopefully more enlightened manufacturers take heed to the Linksys saga and
_don't_ make the same mistake. This seems to be the case with Buffalo and now
HTC.

