Marketing fads can override objective engineering in product design

Evidence

In contrast, the measured performance in the dipole mode is unimpressive. Why is it there? Because at the time there was a market demand for “dipole” surrounds, generated by THX, and marketing thought it unwise to have a product that did not offer the option. But all were delivered to customers set to “bipole” to encourage use in that mode. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 825

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle: how certification branding (THX) and market demand can drive inferior technical designs, and how manufacturers quietly subvert them.
• XREF: connects to: Postmodern architecture functions as marketing differentiation for office space — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 585