Technospam
Feb 27th 2008Wallabynerd alert & rants
It’s that time of the year again - the months before Pittcon. (Which, again, I’m going to miss. Grrr. As soon as I’m “analytical” again…!) Pittcon, of course, is the biggest scientific conference for analytical/industrial chemists, and includes a massive vendor expo: Cool toys demonstrated with prices ranging from $5 to $500,000. (Nice giveaways, too.)
In the last week alone, I’ve gotten spam from five different instrument vendors, announcing or reminding me of what they make and urging me to stop by their booths. The first three were ones I hadn’t actually heard of, so their spam at least served a purpose - now I’m aware of the company when I wasn’t before. Of course, I’m really not in the market for terahertz imaging equipment, so it still won’t mean a sale. The latest one was HORIBA JY, which is definitely not a struggling upstart startup.
Really not liking this recent trend towards spam from instrument vendors. Top-quality instruments aren’t exactly an impulse buy, at least in any lab I’ve ever heard of. If a company makes a great product and knows it, then why spam? It reduces you to the level of someone selling “discount” copies of MS Office - if not still lower.
At least they’re not claiming to be a lawyer acting on behalf of a Nigerian chemist, who recently passed away in tragic circumstances and now they’re trying to pass his lab along to his next of kin.
Is it as bad in other fields? software development?