yn0t_: Even though it's pretty much accepted that Empeg would be dead if they hadn't been acquired by SOMEONE with some capital,

Agreed. That seems self evident. I wondered, on occasion, if that 'exceptional customer support and service' went too far. Of course, this is 'water under the bridge', but it's something I wondered about at one time or another, and in the end, doesn't really matter, now.

You raise a good point in regards to 'flagship' models, etc. I think your point is valid, "Too often the decisions made are based solely on the short sighted bottom line". In our parents/grandparents day (depending, of course, on your age), companies were often run by the engineering visionaries; and these visionaries seem to have been usurped by the bean counters. Rhetorically, the notion begs the question, "What happened to the idea of providing a well made, well thought out product?" Looking around, these seem to be few and far between; and getting farther. Don't get me wrong here, a company MUST make a profit; that is not at issue. I'm questioning the wisdom of making ALL decisions according to the immediacy of 'The Bottom Line' for this financial quarter.

It seems to me that it is much more difficult to guide a corporate entity, successfully, through the murky waters of 'long term goals' than it is to do so through the (seemingly) easier 'short term goals'.

Hell, what do I know? I'm not a CEO.
So, I could be wrong, of course.