My "simple" worry back to 2008 has come true! Hoya is to close down the Pentax museum!! :-(( Look at the latest report by the Japanese Impress DC Watch:-
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20090630_298511.html
(in Japanese, Google English Translation Here)
The 1000 Pentax cameras will be gone, and so as those collected lenses and accessories, exhibits, illustrations and photos. July 31 will mark a very sad day for Pentax. The museum was established by the Asahi Optical Company back to 1968 in which the full history of Pentax is contained, updated and most of the old and new Pentax items are collected.
I am rather disappointed with the decision of Hoya for their this move and I think many of the Pentax lovers are heart-broken. I think the decision makers are really rather short-sighted and they only know how to cut every Yen of cost that they can acheive to save in their accounts book.
Those Hoya guys have no real sentiments or love, of any kind and none, in the brand Pentax and they have never thought more about such a museum can also help them to promote the brand (and thus sales) or even to promote tourism for their country! (I once wanted to go there but owing to the shortage of time, I was not able to go finally as the musuem is not near the town and must be reached by bus which does not have a frequent schedule - last time I had checked)
Now, our Silent Tribute.. :-|
It's sad but in another hand i remember what Steve Jobs thought about brand museums… can't find the sentence… it's something about if you look too much in the past in this industry your'e done… apple doesn't keep any old machine they just send it to some museum/collector…
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to guess how much Hoya is devoted to keeping Pentax up as a big brand. Marketing-wise Pentax is already the weakest DSLR brand (Apart from Sigma, maybe). Who knows, maybe Samsung will buy Pentax once Hoya has ruined it...
ReplyDeleteI don't even know about such museum. I don't care.
ReplyDeleteBased on the prior comment, the next Pentax model should be named the APATHY.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I discount the fanboy stuff as a factor in Pentax' actual survival. Sports teams move to other cities.
http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/news/latest/20090430_5.html
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2365797/
Although I have quite a collection of Pentax screwmount cameras myself there is no reason for Pentax to have its own museum. I wonder how many people have actually been there?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a rather wise decision. A museum is a "nice to have" not a necessity. And in order to help Pentax survive costs have to be cut. Closing down the museum is a logical and good step.
ReplyDeleteSad to see any museum close down, however you said so yourself "...museum is not near the town and must be reached by bus which does not have a frequent schedule" How many tourists per day then?
ReplyDeleteI think a good idea would be to open a Pentax Virtual Museum, so it accessible globably on the web, and perhaps use web technology such as Microsoft Photosynth
See example:-
http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=a21a3223-bc84-4988-af67-161035355b66