Archived from groups: comp.periphs.printers (
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I hate to say it, but HP isn't even a shadow of its former self.
They used to make quality products that were built to last, and for the
most part, last they did. In some cases, it may have been bad economy
to do so, because the technology people demanded made these items
obsolete anyway. I have two Laserjet model one printers, which still
work, but with the hard wired minimal 128K in them, they are almost
useless because one cannot print graphics with them. They use font
cartridges to produce the text for the most part. They are basically
beautiful works of engineering, and weight a ton, and probably would
work forever, but they now sit taking up space.
The irony is, as the printers were designed with expansion built in,
making them usable for longer use, the build quality declined, so they
lasted less time.
HP used to be a conscientious company run by the H and P families, and
the people who became executives came from the shop floors and worked
themselves up, so they knew most aspects and the culture promoted by the
company, which was determined by the H and P families. The company
seemed to be ethical, philanthropic, caring, and environmentally aware.
That time appears to be all but gone. The change to HP was when they
decided to become another corporate supplier of consumer electronics.
Lewis Platt got old and tired, and they brought in Carly Fiorina from
Lucent Tech. to revamp the company. Well, she did. With her $1000+
suits and her merger plans with Compaq that made her extremely wealthy,
she managed to get the H and P families removed from the board, fired
many wise and knowledgeable staff, spun off Agilent (the test equipment
division, and HP's origin) and made HP into what it is today, an ink and
paper company that mainly buys a lot of web, TV, print and shelf space
advertising in big box stores so they have a presence everywhere you look.
HP doesn't make many of the products with their name on them anymore.
They hire companies to make product to their specification, and
sometimes they do so poorly. Here in Canada, their customer service is
so poor, that some big box stores no longer carry some of their product
lines at all. Their CEO appears ruthless and questions still remain as
to if the shareholder Compaq merger vote was legitimately counted.
I have been an owner of HP stock for about 10 years. I watched the
stock split numerous times, and then regain full value on those
factional shares, making it one of the fastest growing companies in the
industry. I continued to buy into HP several times, the last being in
2000. I saw HP give free spin off shares of Agilent to their
stockholders that year. But more than anything, I bought HP because it
seems like a company that grew because it made good product and serviced
its clients well.
I am in the midst of selling off all my HP holdings. I should be
divested of them by the end of the year completely. As a result of "the
bubble bursting"??? or more likely the leadership of Carly Fiorina, the
many multiples of money I made on HP and its spin offs, collapsed and
disappeared. I could have made more putting the money in a low interest
savings bond. But that's now why I'm selling my shares now. I could
have done that years ago. I am doing it now, because I have given up on
the corporate management and vision of HP. Yes, they have some very
dedicated workers who are still there, although many have left either on
their own or been forced into early retirement. But, I think HP is now
beyond redemption under the current stewardship, and regardless as to
what happens to their stock value, I do not want to own this company any
longer.
This is no commentary on their inkjet products, by the way. I wouldn't
own shares in ANY inkjet company that is currently on the market. I
think they all need a good head shaking. But I will no longer be an
owner in a company that has slid so far off the skids when it come to a
caring corporate culture and responsibility to their employees and to
their clients. I had a lot of hope for HP when Carly Fiorina took over,
she talked the good talk, but she has shown herself to be, IMHO, bad for
HP and bad for the industry.
Art
grunt wrote:
> I was trying to talk to someone at Hewlett Packard to get information
> on identification and availability of parts for a printer a little more
> than 5 years old. They don't offer support for products older than 5
> years. It seems rather obvious to me that if a company does not expect
> its products to have a chance of lasting 5 years, and then won't sell
> or discuss parts availibility, then that comapany deserve the business
> of no one. That company is Hewlett Packard and I strongly advise
> anyone to not bother themselves with their products.
>
> This was a high-end laserjet printer when it was new, unlike the newer,
> more 'disposable' and cheaper inkjet printers.
>
> Only a fool would buy HP knowing their policy is to make short lived
> junk which they won't support.
>
> Other companies, with other policies and principles, deserve your
> business. HP does not.
>
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