In a message dated 1/26/2002 5:07:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, feldmanbike@yahoo.com writes:
<< Avocet holds the "vaporware" record for the bike business with that computer--they advertised the original one for two solid years before it actually existed. >>
Years ago I wrote a column for the (then) League of American Wheelman magazine named "Crank Mail." This was when Walter Ezell was the editor and the bike Industry thought bike touring was going to be the boom mode to come (Mountain bikes proved that untrue..)
This column was supposed to be a technical Q & A ...but one time I got a letter from a reader asking how come he couldn't find the Avocet computer in the local bike shops while it had been advertised in the mag for some time?
I wrote in response that some companies might be using long lead advertising to build a client base and to gauge consumer interest before actually diving into manufacturing. After that was printed, Avocet got so P.O.ed, they withdrew all advertising from the LAW magazine!!
Dale Brown
Greensboro, NC