RNC DROPPING SUPPORT FOR GOP 2.0

[Tab]

http://tabjulius.blogspot.com/2007/05/rnc-dropping-support-for-gop-20.html

RNC DROPPING SUPPORT FOR GOP 2.0
By Tab Julius, May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Although no formal announcement has yet been made, industry insiders have confided that the RNC is dropping support for its once wildly popular GOP 2.0. There is no indication that a replacement is in either planning or development stages.

The discontinuation, if true, would mark a heady fall for the once-dominant RNC flagship product. The original GOP 1.0 product was quite popular back in the 1950s, and although its popularity rose and fell with the times, it proved it had staying power in the marketplace. RNC fortunes, however, really took off with the introduction of GOP 2.0 by the RNC chief executive Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

Refined over time, GOP 2.0 reached its peak market power in the years 2000 to 2005. Despite a near-monopoly on the market, no anti-trust claims were ever successfully prosecuted against the RNC for their marketing of GOP 2.0.

Although many market observers were astonished by the seemingly inexplicable staying power of the GOP 2.0 product, few expected the abruptness by which RNC has withdrawn support for GOP 2.0. Although the company's CEO, George W. Bush continues to express confidence in the product, it seems that few others in the organization do.

More distressing, too, for RNC fans, is the apparent lack of a replacement product. It is highly unusual for support for one product to be withdrawn before another is either established or firmly coming to market. New product introductions, if done at all, are usually done in 4 year market cycles, typically in November.

The lack of a replacement places current GOP 2.0 consumers in a particularly difficult position. Most have fully adopted GOP 2.0, and are now faced with either using an unsupported (and increasingly unpopular product), with a reduced support community, or migrating to the leading competitor, neither of which they apparently find very tasteful.

RNC observers and analysts point to the failure of a sister product, IRAQ 2.0 as a leading cause of the demise of, and sudden loss of support for, GOP 2.0. This has apparently confused many RNC followers, as the original IRAQ 1.0 product was a success. The RNC CEO at that time was George Herbert Walker Bush, father of the current CEO George W. Bush. Industry insiders do note, though, that the former CEO has a significantly different management style, and business background, than does the current CEO. Nevertheless, there is frustration with the lack of product support and increasing calls for the CEO of the RNC to step down.

Further adding to the troubles are complaints about product quality - not just its ability to do the job, but shoddy workmanship, questionable components, and an apparent reluctance by the RNC to describe exactly how GOP 2.0 is assembled and works. GOP 2.0 is an open source product, and by definition is supposed to make its workings public, but the current RNC administration has shown a decided reluctance to do so.

It is not clear what GOP 2.0 users will do when support is fully withdrawn. There are rumors of a release of a public, free, stripped-down GOP 2.0 Lite, but whether that will be enough to keep its consumer base happy remains to be seen.

[Hart2008]

1. Dunno, they could revert to GOP 1.0 with Ron Paul. n/t

[The Magistrate]

2. Very Nice, Sir!

Thank you for the laugh.