Sheesh. I go to the UK for three days, come back, and everything's gone to hell.

Actually, I had a very strong sense this was coming. Tipoff?: the fleece. It told me that SonicBLUE's massive, ubiquitous advertising campaign just wasn't pushing headcount past the 3000 mark mentioned here. Even if SonicBLUE didn't stumble on a daily basis over things like eStore, the Empeg in its current incarnation would have continued to present a challenging business proposition, especially in the current economic recession that puts pressure on discretionary/luxury purchases. Multiply 3000 times, say, $1500 average, then multiply by modest end margin percent and you aren't talking about a very large pile of money. Most of the folks who were motivated to spend $1,000-$2,000 for Empeg's capability have already voted with their money -- "exhaustion of susceptibles" in epidemiologic terms. A tuner would have helped, but how much farther it would have helped Empeg penetrate into a consumer population that, on average, abhors complexity remains to be seen.

Dumbed-down, less complex OEM capability does seem to be the way to go. It would seem that there has to be some place for aftermarket applications, though. Otherwise, how to you get Empeg functionality in your Lear Jet? (or my distinctly un-Lear sailboat?)

When my Empeg dies 4-8 years from now, I suppose I'd like to replace it with something as capable as Empeg, but which has the storage (a la Phatnoise) in the trunk/boot, retains all of the display/control functionality of the current Empeg (but permanently installed in the dash), with some hack-ability, and software-based function/codec not tied to frightening media conglomerates (read: Sony and such). Will such a unit be there? I'm doubtful. Will I buy a 2nd "insurance" Empeg right now instead? (I don't know. Money/employment is tight.)

Funny, a few weekend ago I visited for the first time a friend's cabin about 2 hours east of Seattle. On the property he had another unique, capable EOL product -- a Cushman Trackster (try www.trackster.com). Not sure when this little 2-stroke tank went out of production, but there is a very active aftermarket still supporting these with spare parts, bogies, treads, etc. My friends are even planning to trailer theirs to Oregon for a 4-stroke Honda repower. Not sure how many of these were made, but it shows that EOL may not be, well, EOL. I'd venture to say, though, that there are probably 100 times as many as potential Trackster mechanics running about as there are Empeg mechanics. Hugo and Patrick, please eat healthy food and drive safely!

To everybody at Empeg, thanks, indeed, for all the fish.

Jim