Spotless

We have always owned an american brand of dishwasher. Be it GE, Maytag or Whirlpool they provided ample room for the large amount of dishes and cutlery that are used in american households. They did not always live up to their "dependability" promises (what do you expect for $400 bucks), but they performed adequately, and were always replaced with another US brand at the end of their life. Last spring our cool Maytag with adjustable racks expired. So I went to the durable goods bible, Consumer Reports, and read through the ratings. The Bosch brand garnered high ratings, but I was leery of anything German sounding for fear of expensive mechanical bills, reminiscent of my experience with an off-warranty Mercedes Benz. But the ratings were too good to ignore, particularly the low noise ratings. So I went to SEARS, where they assured me I could exchange it in 30 days if not satisfied. Armed with that assurance (and an extended warranty just in case), I purchased my first European dishwasher.
Fast forward 6 months. This is BY FAR, the best dishwasher (from a cleaning standpoint) we have owned and the quietest one as well. But its European heritage betrays the fascination with engineering at the expense of human factors that products from Europe can often have. Since Europeans don't eat breakfast for cereal, the racks are not designed for breakfast bowls, and they flip over, shingle or otherwise occupy space that was meant for tall dishes. The capacity must be 20% less than that of a Maytag due to the smaller interior, necessitated by greater insulation to absorb the noise. And the lack of a drying coil leaves much condensation on the dishes at the end of the cycle. So you have to dry the dishes after it washes them (or leave it open for 30 minutes to air dry).
European durable products tend to be technically better than their US counterparts which are designed for value and replacement. But they often lack the understanding of how Americans use these products, causing them to leave many points of market share on the table, right next to my dishes which, by the way, are spotless.

Less Bars in More Places

A wonderful thing this new i-Phone. It truly is remarkable, allowing you to access as many email accounts as you want at the touch of one button (unlike the single minded and inflexible Blackberry), download the coolest apps that can add navigation capabilities, allow you to track Election 08 or simply play hangman at the touch of a button. But this thing of beauty is hitched to an unreliable wireless network, the AT&T network. Lured by the promise of "More bars in more places" I switched 4 phone lines over from Verizon so my wife and I could avail ourselves of this wonderful convergence electronic gadget. And now I can not get a signal in my house unless I am standing exactly in the middle of the master bedroom. I drop more calls than ever. This is a prime example of marketing departments that overpromise and underdeliver. Such poor customer experiences create a sense of deception and diminish brand value. AT&T neeeds to soberly look at its network capability and find the differentiating point that will be relevant and can be fulfilled by their capabilities. No false promises. Until then, I would recommend their advertising team reconsider their tagline and switch to the more truthful "Less bars in more places".