). it is a pretty nice finished product and is profoundly and i mean profoundly less $$$ than a tunze 6100, uses less than half of the electricty and is about 1/2 the size of a production stream! who could ask for anything more? 
I think your post is somewhat misinformed, and perhaps a little ignorant of how this industry works.
Or to a magnet. I have mine attached to a maget and it works great. The Ball and Socket holder MJMods sells would offer way more aiming options, but IMO, it is a little big.
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As to the above quote, I submit that there is a third thing that may have happened. perhaps they (United Pet Group) are observing the various mods being made and the different websites and allowing these others to do the R&D for them? maybe waiting to see what works and what doesn't before bringing something to market?
Just my 2 cents, but nothing would surprise me in this hobby...
None of these companies, from the largest to the smallest, love anybody. At the same time, I don't have the time or the desire to DIY everything for my aquariums.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8340509#post8340509 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SPStoner
I think your post is somewhat misinformed, and perhaps a little ignorant of how this industry works.
Perhaps, we'll see.
First of all, marineland does not "own" anyone. Marineland is gone. Their facility in Moorpark, CA is being shutdown as we speak. The "brand" Marineland, is now owned by Spectrum Brands, formerly the Rayovac Corporation, along with many other companies, including those pet industry companies I mentioned above.
OK fine, the borg like company thats buying bits and pieces of everything.
Part of what you interpret as a lack of interest in this market by Aquarium Systems, is in fact due to the fact that this company is has now been sold for the third time in the last 7 years. These large corporate takeovers, particularly those by venture capital groups such as owned marineland and Aquarium Systems prior to Spectrum, typically result in massive "streamlining" of operations.
Agreed totally.
new product development is put on hold, and costs are cut everywhere to maximize profitability for the short term investors.
Yep.
Now, with Spectrum at the helm and seemingly in the pet business for the long haul, you will begin to see new R&D and the resulting new product launches. To intimate that Marineland, or Aquarium Systems in particular, do not care about the saltwater, or reefkeeping hobbyists, is just ignorant.
No, you think it is. Marineland, et al do not exist as they did before. They are part of the borg. At some point, the law of diminishing returns kicks in, the they can not cut anymore for short term proficts. By that time, its anyone's bet as to who will remain at those companys. Do you think these years of being owned, sold and cost-cut to the bone was conducive to keeping staff on that is motivated and dedicated?
Whats ignorant is to make an assumption that after being owned and treated like spit for years, that somehow a company is going to be able to get back on it feet again and continue to pick up where it left off years ago and knock out fresh new designs.
Ain't gonna happen, at least I wouldn't bet on it without good odds.
This companies primary profit maker is, that's right, Instant Ocean and Reef Crystals salt. This brand of products is, and has been, almost entirely supported by the profitable salt business for years.
There are a lot of companies that do little but sit on the butts and make what they are good at.
That means jack as far as what they 'might' be able to produce in the future.
All they've shown is that they can produce Maxi-jets and IO/RC salt.
It is not indictitive of anything else.
Also, the larger a company gets, the more expensive it is, and the longer it takes, to bring new products to market.
Only partially correct. Buying a company and absorbing it into the great bulk, cutting out its product in favor of another divisions to reduce competition, and losing brain power as there is no need for duplicate, redundant departments is what happens.
However, not all companies do this, unless they are simply in a position to buy out their competitors and destroy them.
This is no longer a few guys in a room saying "Hey, let's make some stream pumps!" You have feasibility studies, cost and margin analysis, sourcing, packaging design, UL application and approval process, you have to make the molds, source materials, run test batches and work out any quality issues, produce a batch of product, ship on a boat from Asia or Europe, clear customs, go to the US warehouse, ship to wholesaler, then to retail, and finally to consumer. This does not happen overnight.
Wow, are you implying that might take money too do that?
Take all that, double it, and add FDA, European and Saisn FDA equivalents, and you can deal with what we deal with where I work.
The real point is, for large companies, it isn't head to knock up prototypes, etc, etc. Large companies have the $$ to do that without problem. The problem is there is, or has been little incentive to improve on many of these products in our Reef hobby simply because it is soo small.
So rather than say its all about the design, red tape, and production processes, why not just say there is little interest because there is little ROI, comparitively speaking?
If it is this hard for large companies, it sure as heck is as if not much harder for smaller companies to surpass all these obstacles.
Really now, do you think some director at Marineland couldn't have called a meeting a month or two after the MJ-mod came out? Do you think it would have been that difficult to budget a couple hundred grand to get a couple made by RC DIY'ers, or in-house even, and then rip them apart and using superior educational and financial resources crank out a killer sub-model?
There is no interest, plain and simple.
You do know that it runs them around $6 max to make these things in China, right?
Thats why they can ship them to LA, and then to Canada and still sell them at a profit for $17.99.
It is not uncommon in many industries, as I state in my earlier post, for companies to take a "wait and see" approach, letting others feel the market out before investing the large sums it takes to do all of the above. It is not a simple matter of, as you say "having another smaller line making the parts necessary for the prop model. " All that being said, if this company, or any other, believes there is profit to be made by making an item, you better believe they will make it. Publicly held companies are under tremendous pressure for profits.
FWIW, I believe MJ's are made in Italy, not China.
Well, there is tremendous pressure from the public for such things, and the companies responding are Tunze, Seio and probably others. The question is, is for instance Marineland or whoever their owner is, actually actively waiting, or asleep at the wheel?
You may choose to be they are actively waiting, bideing their time. However from their past history of activity, I would really think they are just not interested, asleep.
PS, are they made in Italy, or is a piece or two just snapped on them?
Aside from a business economics lesson I did not need, you still haven't exactly inspired confidence in me that marineland or Pet-borg cares much about this customer base.
As you mentioned it might not be surprising as the pet-borg has probably caused major interruptions within these companies.
That begs the question now then, it Marineland really Marineland anymore, or are they being borg-ified, cut too the bone, to be an almost single product company, like IO, etc?
Rant me that.
second rant is now done
