Owner of Alienbees a nut job?

I just saw on a post that someone said the owner of Alienbees is "polarizing" or a nutjob.... Anyone fill me in?

By polarized it means among photographers, we dig our heels in and either jump into the camp of love him or hate him, think...

Mac v PC
Filter v Non-Filter (Protective)

He tends to be very outspoken on any subject he cares about. His products are the absolute best in the world and he will happily provide data (from his own testing and unverified by anybody else) to prove it. Any doubt or dissent about the superiority of his products is responded to as an attack on him, his integrity, his manhood, ...

He is equally outspoken on certain other issues such as illegal immigration.

Full-on from what I've seen on Fred Miranda's site. Not a man that I would want to put my $$ behind.

At least I was able to get a glimpse prior to investment .... was going to go Einstein, etc., but Paul helped me out. Thanks PCB!

All IMHO of course. Research and make the decision that you're comfortable with. I'm just not aligned with Paul's Weltanschauung.

Kudos to PCB for all he does right, my personal experience with the lone White Lightning I had was bad but I'm willing to call it an anomaly. He does have a history of being banned from forums, let's just say he engages in spirited exchanges and leave it at that.

Kinda odd that you have a grand total of 2 posts yet you have an opinion on PCB...something looks odd there.

I don't care one way or the other; I don't own nor use his products. But I can't help but notice that there are some posters who go out of their way to disparage the man and his products.

anodyne wrote in post #11399415
Full-on from what I've seen on Fred Miranda's site. Not a man that I would want to put my $$ behind.

At least I was able to get a glimpse prior to investment .... was going to go Einstein, etc., but Paul helped me out. Thanks PCB!

All IMHO of course. Research and make the decision that you're comfortable with. I'm just not aligned with Paul's Weltanschauung.

I've known several entrepreneurs, not including PCB. The one thing they seem to have in common is a passion for their ideas and how they should be perceived by the market and the world in general.

The only thing different about PCB is that active photography forums give him a place to release the pressure.

That's one reason many business advisors suggest an entrepreneur find professional managers to guide the company as it evolves from a startup to a growth company. PCB apparently has been able to self fund his growth.

Ironically, if PCB the person were taken out of the equation, the company would have to be considered a leader in photo strobe marketplace. Either by a market share yardstick or an innovative technology yardstick. Probably also by revenue.

At the moment it seems that PCB (the company) and Boeing are two companies that are feeling the pain of technology innovation and product launch time tables. Doesn't make either of them bad companies.

Judging a product by the public or other personality quirks of the company's owner seem to be to be mixing oil and water.

But to each his own.

PixelMagic wrote in post #11399538
Kinda odd that you have a grand total of 2 posts yet you have an opinion on PCB...something looks odd there.

Kinda odd that a post count on this forum should be used as a method of evaluating experience or knowledge, especially when the person is saying what they've seen on another forum.

PCB has also been known to get very political in his postings so he doesn't just turn people off with photography related opinions.

I do quite a bit of research prior to putting my $$ toward a purchase. I was ready to drop some money on Einsteins (on the waiting list) and other accessories. I'm just not into the drama he creates for himself. That's all I got, except Go Packers!

PixelMagic wrote in post #11399538
Kinda odd that you have a grand total of 2 posts yet you have an opinion on PCB...something looks odd there.

I don't care one way or the other; I don't own nor use his products. But I can't help but notice that there are some posters who go out of their way to disparage the man and his products.

grabbing the popcorn....

I'm willing to wager that you wouldn't see many low count posters offering an opinion on Buff; unless they are trolling.

At least those posters who incessantly talk about Buff in this forum usually do so under their regular screen names.

krb wrote in post #11399586
Kinda odd that a post count on this forum should be used as a method of evaluating experience or knowledge, especially when the person is saying what they've seen on another forum.

It's not the man behind any equip that counts.
His stuff is cheap and lots of people like cheap.
He may be outspoken but many 21st Century Photogs are so vain.

If you really want to know the difference between cheap and expensive studio flash ...
its ...
1. How safe unit is esp with voltage surges / spikes (MORE copper means more weight, safe, cost).
2. Constant K at all power levels
3. Fast recycle
4. Sturdy frames and stands

If you dont need above or have the bucks ... GO SO VAIN !!!

How does being opinionated make you a nutjob? Don't like illegal immigration? Half the US is very very adamant about it. I don't even know what his opinion is on the topic but am continually amazed at how many people simply disagree with a person and slap a label on him.

He's run a good business, offers a good product (I owned Alien Bees for a long time) and makes jobs for others. Do that before you criticize!

Go Pack is right...I'm not much of a fan of the Packers but I'd rather they win the division than the Bears.

anodyne wrote in post #11399609
I do quite a bit of research prior to putting my $$ toward a purchase. I was ready to drop some money on Einsteins (on the waiting list) and other accessories. I'm just not into the drama he creates for himself. That's all I got, except Go Packers!