To whom it may concern, and to MR. BOND as well, I'm going to try and explain something to all of you. First off, just like all of you are confused into thinking anyone that touches a pool table ia a table mechanic, let me correct your thought process. If the job requires anything to do with installing something, such as new cloth, new pockets, moving and installing a pool table, installing a new pool table....the key word there is "install" therefore "pool table installer"! You don't call someone that installs new carpet in your house a "carpet mechanic" do you? OK, now you need some work done on your pool table such as pockets tightened, cushions replaced, broke off rail bolts repaired, broken slate repaired, THAT knowledge is different than that of an installers level of expertise, though a "pool table mechanic" can also be an "installer" as well, that don't make an "installer" a pool table mechanic!
OK, now that we've established there's a difference between an "installer" and a "pool table mechanic" let's take a look at the pocket pool table industry, it's divided in to two categories, "residential" and "commercial" pool tables. While the residential industry is flooded with so many different manufacturers there's to many to keep track of, the commercial market on the other hand in this country is devided up only by a few manufactures. In the coin op division you only have Diamond and Valley, and Diamond has done a hell of a job of taking down Valley's market share of this industry over the last 17 years and is here to stay while i can't say the same for the Valley company. Now, that's the coin op commercial side of this industry. The other half of the commercial industry is the so called "professional" pool tables, the 9fts that everyone accepts as the only pool table that really counts, for this conversation anyway...LOL Now, who is manufacturing those size tables and selling them in this country? Well, we have Diamond on one hand and ??? on the other hand? I know most on here are waiting and hoping Brunswick is going to just kick Diamond's ass in sales with their new GC6....but you really need to look at the bigger picture, and that picture is why would Brunswick even care to compete with Diamond in the commercial industry with just ONE pool table, in this country, when there's a whole world out there to sell their GC6 to, that's a market Diamond is currently doing everything they can just to keep up with the demand for their tables as is. Brunswick i guarantee you is more interested in selling pool tables to the residential market rather than worrying about selling GC6's in this country to compete against Diamond in the commercial industry, and once again, they have world wide sales, so why should they be concerned about sales here. The commercial manufacturing industry isn't even big enough to rate the size of a flee on an elephant ass when compared to the residential market place, because that's the elephant in this business!!
Now, in comes MR. Bond, for nothing more than mental masturbation and starts a thread, asking for ideas and ways of improving pool tables, but no clarification as the what market place he's referring to and people start jumping on board like, Oh yeah, that's a great idea and so is that one, and what about this, and how about that. Then iustoberich tells me i have no idea what a "think tank" can come up with that that I'm just Pro Diamond, are you guys all smoking the same shit???? By the fact that Mr. Bond had no idea how to interview the so called MAN from Brunswick, and had NO idea what kind of questions to ask him, then blamed the lack of knowing what to ask on the AZB members because they didn't fill his note book full of quetions to ask either....shows right there no one here on AZB has a clue what they're talking about when it comes to pool tables!!! I'll tell you what, the guy from Brunswick is lucky as hell that i wasn't the one interviewing him, because then everyone would have seen how many questions he couldn't have answered!!
When it comes to changes in pool tables, they're not like next years model of cars, there is no changes made in pool tables as everyone would like to believe there is. Manufacturers produce table models as long as there's sales for that model, sales drop off, the model gets discontinued. All pool tables have a building block foundation, and the further the manufacturers vary from that basic foundation the cost increases, and sales risk being disrupted. There's an average low end market, mid range market, and a high range market. The majority of sales is in the average low end market place as most people that buy those pool tables are not spending their money on a pool table because they love to play pool, they're buying a pool table because they want some furniture in a particular space in a room....and because maybe the kids will like it, and maybe they'll play a game or two once in a while....and because it makes a great laundry folding table.
Now comes the question, even if this AZB "think tank" could come up with even ONE remote idea, that might actually be interesting....who do you think would even be interested in sitting down with you and be willing to discuss it with you? Why don't this "think tank" put their efforts into something that might actually make a difference in this industry....or have all those ideas been exhausted ALREADY?