A video interview with Leica M9 product manager.
I think it must be interesting for Leica aficionados who have kept using Leica film cameras, to consider now the M9. Because on the one hand it is clearly the closest thing one could make to the Leica M7... It has no autofocus (it's a rangefinder) or live view or other excesses of the digital age, it's a Leica. Which is what they want, and pay a premium for. And the outstanding Leica lenses work with it the exact same way they do with a film Leica (unlike with the M8, where they were cropped).
And: I am convinced that if you go from the M7 to the M9 with the same lenses, your image quality will make a great leap up. A very significant leap. And you'll be able to shoot in much lower light, the M9 has excellent quality at 2500 ISO. I think this will make it very interesting to those who love the rangefinder experience, at least those who have managed to make it into the computer age so they can handle the files and print them.
Anyway, about the interview, I find it interesting to note the difference in watching and listening to a European executive talking about a big new product as compared to if it had been an American guy. Americans not only make good products, they also know how to sell them. An American exec being interviewed would have been thoroughly trained in how to talk to the press, and he would show great enthusiasm and certainty. This German guy sits there and says "uhm..." all the time, and even when saying things like "the sensor design worked better than we had expected", he mentions it in the same tone of voice as he would say "it comes in two colors".
I'm not saying either way is better, it's just striking how big the difference is. Good sales technique can be very valuable for a company. But if overdone it can also be a turn-off to some people, especially educated customers who know exactly what they want. They prefer to get the facts rather than sales pitches.
An American exec being interviewed would have been thoroughly trained in how to talk to the press, and he would show great enthusiasm and certainty.
ReplyDeleteAmericans have turned unauthenticity into a virtue. Everything in that country is fake. Their religions are fake, their currency is fake, their economy is fake and their political system is fake. They don't produce art. But if they did, that would be fake too.
The people have fake teeth, fake tans, fake muscles and fake boobs. Their foods are fake (with artificial flavours). Their plants are fake. Their education is fake. Even the moon landing was fake.
The saddest thing about it is that the American people themselves no longer even understand the concept of authenticity. They refer to foreigners who don't present fake enthusiasm as "exotic". A movie that deviates from the only storyline they know is "weird". Politically incorrect statements are illegal. People who don't support the fake administration are homegrown terrists.
I once overheard an American woman here in the department store explaining to the clerk that she wanted to buy Christmas traditions. Need I say anything more?
They don't produce art. But if they did, that would be fake too.
ReplyDeleteBut they have, just look at Warhol! ;-)
I once overheard an American woman[...]
I vividly remember that waiter in Dallas who insisted on teaching me how to pronounce Mouton-Cadet (not that great a wine, but the only remotely decent selection they had), even though every person at my table was ROTFL. That was a great moment! :-))
This German guy sits there and says "uhm..." all the time [...]
Seemed to me like the chap is not that comfortable in English, hence the constant hesitation. There might also be some of this very German need to be precise in everything that bothers him, because he knows he can't be while speaking English. Also looks exhausted, and that certainly doesn't help either.
ttl,
ReplyDeleteYou shouldn't hold back, let it out, you'll bust a gut.
You might want to back off a little, seems a touch "overboard". But, being an inauthentic "American", what would I know?
Speaking of sales pitches, just ran across this incredible, amazing one. ;-)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of sales pitches, just ran across this incredible, amazing one. ;-)
ReplyDeleteExactly. Now imagine if the Apple keynote presenters had not once used the words "amazing", "great", "incredible" and "awesome". If they had simply told their audience what the products do and why they made those particular design decisions.
It wouldn't have worked because in American culture enthusiasm has been inflated. You have to utter this many fake superlatives just to present a neutral stance. The audience expects you to be this fake to not sound biased one way or the other. lol.
As one YouTube commenter wrote: "it was fun but sad too! bc they probably has to say it..."
Now imagine if Leica's Stephan Daniel had sprinkled 48 amazings, 62 incredibles, 93 greats and 19 awesomes into his talk. Not only would you have had to puke midway through listening to it, but that would probably have been the end of Leica as a brand.
I'm thinking that ttl was joking. No one would actually believe that stuff, no one is that stupid! ;-)
ReplyDeletettl talks like someone who has never been there and is basing their opinion of a country based on the distorted image of its exported pop culture. Obviously the dick knows nothing of art as there have been many important American artists. (Warhol is not one of them. He had nothing to say.) Also sounds like someone without exactly a great command of English. I don't know where he's from, but it's probably a country that was either once great but is not any longer, or (more likely) somewhere that never did rise out of obscurity. I'm thinking Northern Europe, maybe Scandinavia.
ReplyDelete