Quote - > Quote - Is there a market of more gullible sheep on the planet than the typical Poser/DAZ addict?

Well, I can see your opinion of your fellow users isn't too high.

Nothing personal. I consider humankind the ultimate proof of Sturgeon's Law; it's an educated opinion. And turning on a vendor for "one mistake" doesn't strike me as any more mature that gobbling up every MFD that hits the shelf. As witness the ludicrous lynch party that greeted the demanded release of P5. Poser may never recover the cred lost in that incident, but frankly, neither will the hordes of twits I watched waving their torches and grunting threats.

It's true, I suppose, that a large part of the Poser user-base is hobbyists, though I'm not sure what makes a person a "hobbyist" as opposed to, say, a starving artist, an aspiring CGI technician, and an information engineer with a use for a simple visualization tool. And every hobby I've ever participated in has included the folks who actually are engaged in the hobby and the herds of faddists who are just there because that's where everybody is. Being a hobbyist doesn't require immaturity.

As a general thing that might be called a rule, the indifference of a company to ethics and the welfare of its customers is in a direct ratio to size. Been there, watched, left. As a codicil, many companies realize that telling customers what you really think of them, right to their faces, can threaten market share, so they hire budding used car salesmen and airline attendants manqué to handle the face-to-face hypocrisy. Little companies can't afford that kind of fluff, so the little ones that consist of rip-off artists and customer exploiters don't last long. I would much rather buy from a face than a corporation, because I get to see if I'm dealing with a jerk, thug, or sociopath immediately, rather than having to study on it. And very few of the jerks, thugs, and sociopaths last long as individual vendors.

M