A plea to vendors

This has happened to me so many times: I see a new camera advertised that offers a feature I really want, so I call to get a price quote, only to be told, “It doesn’t come out until later this year,” or, “We won’t have a evaluation unit for a few months.”

I’m not going to name the latest culprit - although next time I might adopt a “name and shame” policy - but let me ask this: if I can’t have it now why do you tell me about it now?

I don’t see the business sense. If you’re announcing a better product don’t you think I might delay my purchase so as to get the latest and greatest? And if I need it now, don’t you think I’m going to be rather disgruntled that I have to make do with something fast becoming obsolete?

Let me make this very clear: if you’re going to publicize a new product, make sure you have it available for me to buy.

Or is it just that this is the only way you can think of to drive traffic to your website?