"You bast--d! You're just like all the other guys! You told me I was the most beautiful woman you had every seen and that you could hardly wait to spend time with me. You never even called me!"
"Well, let's face it; if I told you the truth -- that you're pretty average looking and I'm just looking for a hook-up -- you wouldn't have slept with me."
So, what does this have to do with this post? I think our lust for "new and improved" is at the heart of our dissatisfaction with golf companies. We keep saying that they lie to us each year by promising us greater performance, but then never delivering. But the fact is that it is really us demanding that they lie to us.
Each year golf companies whisper in our ear, "Hey, baby, this year's club is longer and more accurate than anything we have ever produced before. And see these weights and hosel adapters? They're going to take you're game to the next level." We look at them, eyes wide in wonder, and say "Oh, I'm going home with you." Then, just like last year, we yell at them, "You bast--ds! You lied to us just to get us to sleep with you!"
Maybe by not producing new products Hireko is saying (like Wishon has said about his designs that are still in production after years) "Hey, there really isn't anything new in golf technology. We have a great line up of clubs and we really have pushed the limits of design in terms of the specifications dictated to us. If we were to sell you a new design, we'd be lying to you. It would be the old design in a different colour and it wouldn't improve your game one bit." But If they say that to us, we won't sleep with them.
Then again, I'm sure Hireko's decision is really driven by market conditions and the fact that they are having difficulty competing with the market machines of the larger companies, particularly in a rapidly declining marketplace. But I choose to look at their decision not to bring out something "new" as a crack in the illusion of new and improved.