HTC bootloader policy a very big deal to a small number of users

reviews.cnet.com

13 points·gnosis··4 comments

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.

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.

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.

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.

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