Talk:Egghead Software

NPOV on Demise commentary

There's seems to be a lot of editorialism without any citing of references or sources to back placing the blame on the company's demise solely with management, or namely one person within management. In particular, phrases like "In the process, he took a $350M business and shortly turned it into bankruptcy," without any references to back this up as fact, certainly seems to be anything but neutral.

Additionally, the writer of this section clearly writes from the opinion and point of view "from the bottom," which I presume refers to front line retail store employees, probably disgruntled at having lost their jobs when the company went entirely online. Surely someone directly employed by the store, or someone writing from their point of view, is NOT neutral. this same writer also notes that some would blame inevitable market forces on Egghead's decline, but then dismissess the argument, again without citing any sources or even explaining why the bad management accusation is the more valid argument. ---Scaredpoet | 05 Jan 2008

I agree with this. The POV is obvious and embarrassing to Wikipedia. I'll do some research and rewrite that section. Everyguy (talk) 12:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't care either way, so I took the liberty of rewriting it MWStowe (talk) 02:50, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

New Link addition

There was a new link added to this article: [1]. I wonder if a POV link is appropriate to put in here.--Samuel di Curtisi di Salvadori 15:43, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't see what the concern is. That link leads to a site where you can order a reprint of a 2003 paper (published in the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management) about the demise of Egghead Software. The abstract of the paper reads:

Egghead Software, Inc. was a successful computer software and hardware multi-channel retailer in the USA until the mid 1990s. Then, in 1998, they closed down their retail operations and Egghead Software, Inc. became Egghead.com – an eCommerce only retailer. This paper presents the key decisions, management changes, and environmental factors resulting in Egghead.com’s ultimate demise. Conclusions are made that can help retail and other sales channel managers and executives learn from Egghead’s mistakes, so that they can increase their market presence, strengthen their relationship with customers, and increase their power in the supply chain.

What is NPOV about that? It looks like a straightforward management case study to me. Pat Berry 03:17, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

FYI - I think the link would be fine if the referenced file were FREE. It's a research resale site that wants $30 USD before you even know if it's neutral or not. For that reason only (the mandatory payment), I recommend removal - EgusHdus 10 Oct 2007

This link is gone. Everyguy (talk) 12:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, the link is gone, but bias IN A SOURCE is not a violation of NPOV. A person editing the article must handle the material in an unbiased fashion, but source bias is something that can never be escaped. That's clearly explained in the basic Wikipedia document on neutrality. I would also like to point out that the fact that a given website charges for access to articles on that site says absolutely nothing about the content of the article and does not prevent an editor from getting access to the article in other ways, such as by visiting or contacting a library that carries the journal.

Poihths (talk) 18:27, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Canadian Stores

There was at least one store in the Vancouver, BC area.

There were actually four stores plus a corporate sales location for a while. Two stores in Vancouver, one in Burnaby and one in Richmond.

--Inkspot58 (talk) 03:56, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

5 and One Quarter Inch Disks

The description of a 1989 promotion in the article says as follows:

"A 1989 newspaper promotion in the Los Angeles area announcing the grand opening of the Pasadena, CA store offered a coupon offering customers a free 5 ¼” 360k disk for showing up - at the time an unprecedented offer. Customers were lined up out the doors and down the block, an indication of the insatiable desire for software in the booming personal computer market."

Yah. That kind of customer reaction would *indeed* have been unprecedented. And quite ludicrous.

My recollection of the state of storage media in 1989 is that in 1989, people would be about as interested in a 5 ¼” 360k disk as we would in 2008 in a CD-R. A year earlier, I had been using 720k 3.5 inch disks, and high density 3.5's were worth maybe a buck or two. But an old floppy (in the literal sense of the word) that was both 5 and a quarter *and* only 360k was already a museum piece in 1989. Those 360k's were in fashion from the early to mid 80's. Does anyone disagree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blinkman77 (talk • contribs) 17:54, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

When I bought the most loaded Gateway tower PC available in early 1993 (back when they were a great company!), I could not get them to add a 3.5" disk drive as the A: drive. (I don't recall if they were even offering 3.5s – I replaced the standard 5.25" with an after-market combo drive – but 3.5" certainly couldn't have been a favored option.) But I'm sure the 5.25" was able to use 1.2MB diskettes. Of course, this is all just reminiscing; we need a reliable source for the promo claim. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 07:14, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

I believe your memory and/or dates are flawed. I purchased an IBM PS/1 in August 1989 and it came with a single 1.44mb 3.5" floppy a: drive standard. (no 5 1/4") Even my friend's 286 had a 1.2mb 5.25" drive for quite some time by then, so yes a 360k floppy was becoming quite obsolete at the time Bwave (talk) 21:23, 6 April 2013 (UTC)

Ummm, how's this for a reliable source? I personally clipped the coupon from the LA Times and went to the grand opening of the 1st Pasadena store, located on Colorado Boulevard. It WAS a madhouse and that free disk was a magic attraction. Later, I worked for Egghead, part-time, for about 6 years, and am well aware of what was going on behind-the-scenes. BTW - Bill Gross, of Knowledge Adventure and now Idea Lab, was actively flogging product. I met his twice; once in an Eggie Employee gathering, and once when he stopped by my store. It's not failing memory7, as some might suggest. Sorry your life isn't as exciting as mine. OldenAtwoody (talk) 16:32, 10 September 2015 (UTC)wharper

Egghead Software Merchandises?

I have an old Eggnotes post-it stickers. I noticed this Wikipedia article doesn't have a photograph/photo. of it, but it has the mug. Is it OK to post it in here (have to take one)? :D — Preceding unsigned comment added by Antdude (talk • contribs) 22:10, 11 September 2011 (UTC)

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