The recent thread by a paddler wanting to choose between two boats got me thinking.. ( and yes dinner is burned).
Does a paddler really need to evaluate a lot of variables? Or simply a few.. Perhaps, weight, length, stability, rocker, material, price. Or perhaps less?
In this day it seems the customer is faced with information overload that they would not have been had to deal with forty years ago.
I suspect that many of us started canoeing in whatever our parents had at hand or what we could afford to start with. I also think qualifying questions are important : ie imagining the poster as a customer in your virtual canoe store. But somewhere there has to be a balance..too much info can lead to buyers paralysis. ( happens to me ALL the time in clothing stores).
It also occurs to me that boat acquisiton and discarding is an evolution and the happiness is in the journey rather than having the perfect boat. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find out what qualities really matter to you. I have learned alot about canoes over the years but what I learned first is that I like canoetripping.
At the time it really didn't matter that it was in an elongated frypan.
Does a paddler really need to evaluate a lot of variables? Or simply a few.. Perhaps, weight, length, stability, rocker, material, price. Or perhaps less?
In this day it seems the customer is faced with information overload that they would not have been had to deal with forty years ago.
I suspect that many of us started canoeing in whatever our parents had at hand or what we could afford to start with. I also think qualifying questions are important : ie imagining the poster as a customer in your virtual canoe store. But somewhere there has to be a balance..too much info can lead to buyers paralysis. ( happens to me ALL the time in clothing stores).
It also occurs to me that boat acquisiton and discarding is an evolution and the happiness is in the journey rather than having the perfect boat. Sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find out what qualities really matter to you. I have learned alot about canoes over the years but what I learned first is that I like canoetripping.
At the time it really didn't matter that it was in an elongated frypan.