Options? Name changes? Waiting times?
Based off of what Speed (speedneedle)'s been saying apparently this technology of Berts is worth patenting and potential to bring a revolution similar to the three fin surfboard taking the surf world by storm or foam (and also Bert, Greg have been saying) here and in surfermag. If you combo off the patent sways post, the issues with patents is you must disclose your design to public knowledge.
I’m wondering if the Bert tech is a combination of stuff that’s been passed along various aerospace / naval / mil / knowledge and combined in the right order to build a surfboard. You don’t use same exact technique for a yacht to build a surfboard. Sort of how racing moto gp bikes are built vs nascar racers, they use the same tech, but the way they are built, the methodolgies, and given the construction technique and end performance differences (two wheels vs four wheels, differences in rider set up, like a moto the rider’s body position can lean into turns, and his ergonomics and aerodynamics vs a car etc) between aerospace and surfing . . . if you took same techniques to build a space needle (that aurora mach 6 reentry passenger aerospace plane) you’d crank out dog (low performance) boards. Anyways, back to the patent thing:
Given the high level of intelligence based in sways, it will not take long for sways members to quickly dicipher this knowledge and we all can have Bert tech from our own homes. So possible a big part of this set up is to seal information leaks and cracks. When you get bigger, the key information your employees have gets passed around . . .
Make no mistake, that well over half of errors of Microsoft product is when disgruntled Ex employees passing along key code to hacker groups . . . Of course they aren’t going to admit it, but that happens. The amazing rate of cat and mouse with updates and security loop holes or cracks/serials and copyright / registration is both partly the skill of hackers and coders and due to code being released.
Not only that, is production can be sped up if you throw money and manpower into that. United States found that out in World War II (they know about it before probably). Also you can cover heavy fees associated with ‘ramping up’, such as insurance, legal stuff, accounting.
Think about it. Bert has developed this tech. Imagine if he could R&D it further. A big company(ies) supporting you will help. Make no mistake, IBM cranks out nice microprocessors because they can toss $$ at it. AMD managed to score some tech that IBM used, and ran with their own talent . . . but now they are IBM level.
Not only that both Greg L and Bert have been shunned by surfing, the very people they wanted to help, were the ones fighting them. (If you played Starcraft for PC, they’d be like the dark protoss, helping their homeland while their own people shun and disown them).
Nev is good at marketing, and both Greg L and Bert have been calling out the demise of Clark. When the Demise of Clark came, they both knew the opportunity came. (disclaimer this analogy is no way debasing clark but to put a world view upon it) The Berlin wall had fallen a few years ago with EPS boards coming in. Now the Soviet Union’s glasnost (Clark warning us) suddenly became true as the Soviets regime came tumbling down. Clark had stepped out of the world arena.
Here’s where the name changes. See with marketing, it rides on trends. The surf industry trends are driven by magazines and sales to boys and girls, teenagers, and young men and women. They are as fickle. And so you have Nev, a master marketer . . . hence the name changes.
Options . . . the surf industry is loaded with options. Hence the strong desire for custom shapes and nearly everyone to support local shapers or go shaping their own. Everyone of here in swaylocks are a part of that, or else we wouldn’t be here.
The issues of options within composite sandwich tech is its very new in regards to surfboards. You won’t have options in a budding industry. Like when airplanes came out, you 1/2 HP engines, bicycle chain, cloth, and wood frames. No 10 HP ultralights, or 50 HP Cessnas to huge cammoflaged 8 engine bombers, to arrowhead steath computerized fighters . . . Not yet.
Tennis rackets, hockey sticks, ski poles / skis, snowboarding have well funded industries recognizable by world athletic associations, each commanding awesome sums of money. They have had R&D and the participants of those sports have grown used to the commercialisation (us commercialization). Surfing has been unusual in this respect. Look at the backlash against import / and attempts at commercialization of shaping. You even have two proponents, ‘soul’ surfers and ‘industry’ surfers. Look at how long it has taken for fins to be tested in hydro tunnels, or even double foil. Even getting people to open up to a switching from a different foam / resin. And even then, the pu/pe method is going to be around. It has taken a long time for big company money to be put into R&D of surfboards / fins etc. Even then big shots aren’t even moving (billabong still uses pu/pe tech) fast.
Still applications of ‘tech’ were often rehashed versions of tech tried earlier when such tech was not ready (like popouts in the 70’s, but in the 1990’s popout techniques had matured to the point where it could be marketed and sold to make a profit), and even today aren’t applied properly with large R&D budgets and teams. Like saloman boards (refer to the sways broken saloman thread) but marketing can overcome this stigma. Look at Randy French, its no mistaking his success on financial realm as Fortune magazine shines its lights up on him. But is it proper application? They are using a tried and true model of capitalism, pushing a popular, but lower quality product at cheaper price. Walmart does this.
While Hockey stars or tennis stars aren’t expected by their peers or by legends of the sport to be able to build or know key features of the methods of how their equipment is manufactured, or by their board repair, surfers are expected to know this (at least if you fall in the ‘soul’ category)
Remember that this is a new area. Setting up a surfboard company with performance and quality in mind, not sheer production and just cost savings. Also very open to new technologies and expansion so most surfers can benefit. Harbour surfboards has the same mentality, but yet Rich was going with tried and true pu/pe. But now even he is opening up and doing EPS / epoxy and he is going in another direction. Do not doubt, the passion Greg and Bert have for their technology and developments, and now they are building it up. Sure its going to take time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
Also since Nev is having a heavy influence, he is using surf stars to present the goods, and maybe some refinements to adjust production while keeping some degree of quality, and a fair price.
And remember regular surfers has surfed Berts boards before, just not US surfers. Japanese and Austrailian surfers have. And they are the reasons for the long wait and long lines before. Just like if you went to a theme park and they had this super awesome ride but didn’t make you throwup or get dizzy, but it was just frickin’ awesome but they only had one, shoot there’d be line. As word of mouth spread . . . and people can see the ride from the parking lot . . . Not only that Bert does both longboards and shortboards . . .
Couple of months means two or three or four (official is two, couple going for for dinner is two right? TWin fin). I’m thinking its going to several, like 6 mo to a year. I’ll ride and judge for myself.