Amazed At How Quickly White’s Discussion Faded

[Steve Herschbach]

10 hours ago, KD8GIS said:

At Steve H, Throwing White's under the bus, discounting them, Kinda like saying a 1964 Mustang is not worthy. 

My comments had nothing to do with how well Whites detectors work, and I could care less what you choose to own. I’m not selling you on anything. It’s like I insulted your wife or something - get a grip. They are inanimate objects. My comments were about the future of the industry, and detectors made by a company that went out of business because it lost the thread of what most customers are looking for are not relevant to that future. I worked with Whites in many ways for very many years, and tried my best to get them to see reality before it was too late. Arrogant mismanagement ran a once great company into the ground, and I’m more unhappy about that than most.

[Joe D.]

   And there is the predicted response from Mr. Steve!👌I must be psychic!!👳‍♂️🤓 

    Now if only I could apply that psychic ability to my detecting, I would be posting a lot more!!🤔😂

   Life is way to short to sweat the small stuff KD8! On to bigger and better finds, with whatever you choose to swing!!🍀👍👍

[Jim in Idaho]

I think one of the things missed in the "reasons" for Whites going out of business is that Whites was a privately held company. The owner, and chief engineer was at, or beyond retirement age. Apparently he had no descendant able, or interested in running the company. I assume Ken White had been aware of all this long before the company closed, and stopped putting money into product development. I can completely understand that. He accomplished an enormous amount, and led the industry in new product ideas for decades. He just finally decided it was time. I refuse to look at this as a "failure" of any sort. I spent my entire life self-employed, and I understand this.

Jim

[cudamark]

On 5/2/2023 at 9:34 AM, KD8GIS said:

(PHRUNT)  "people using their 10 year old Whites detector doesn't keep a business alive"  Strange statement, sure it can be true, But when did you see "Quality" as a bad thing.  In My 40+ years I have updated to newer machines, Kept older machines.  I can say My first White's 5000D Series 2  1980 detector could run any day with todays' detectors.  XL Pro, MXT, Wonderful machines.  Bells and Whistles, Ah yes, When a person gets to know a machine often times most of those bells and whistles don't even get used.... Find the People who "Find the good stuff" What are they doing?  Well you will see a common usage. Low to no discrimination and a sensitivity setting as high as can be used.  Why should I give up what works great for me?  

I started detecting 53 years ago and was a big White's fan for many many years. That said, your statement that the 5000 (or 5900 or 6000di Pro for that matter) can "run any day with today's detectors" is only true if the targets are relatively shallow, the ground mild, and we're not talking wet salt water sand or ocean. Like the analogy of the '64 Mustang compared with today's vehicles.....sure the Mustang will get you the looks, and it may be fun to drive....at least in fair weather, and nobody stops suddenly in front of you, and you don't have to make emergency turns, and you don't mind the less reliability and extra maintenance, and you don't mind the poorer gas mileage, and the lesser performance, etc. Does that make the '64 Mustang a better overall car than a 2023 Mustang? Not hardly....in any area you wish to choose....except maybe looks! 😁 Would I still drive the '64? Sure, for fun, not as a daily driver or a trip where I wanted reliability, safety, and comfort. 

[phrunt]

2 hours ago, Jim in Idaho said:

I think one of the things missed in the "reasons" for Whites going out of business is that Whites was a privately held company. The owner, and chief engineer was at, or beyond retirement age. Apparently he had no descendant able, or interested in running the company.

Perhaps the Whites people should have considered Steve's method of gifting the company to the employees, and sat back and watched it thrive, nothing motivates an employee more than it being their business.  White's would still be alive and kicking, and they could have had stipulation that new employees coming in get a % of the business to encourage new engineering talents and so on.  I think it's a great way to make a business thrive when the original owner no longer needs or wants to be there on the front line although they can still maintain a % themselves and a position in the company more on the "outside"

A computer company I worked for in my early years did that, we had 5% each staff member, It worked well, people were always motivated and cared, and the company grew very quickly.  I moved on and donated my 5% back to them when I left, didn't bother taking it out.

My wife's work was similar although she was in the corporate world and she was given a large quantity of shares each year, as were the other employees there, similar thing I guess but sure kept staff thriving to meet goals to ensure they get their shares, the better they did the more shares they were given.

Without the boss telling people what to do perhaps Whites may have done better, the engineers having the freedom to do what they want to do.

[Jim in Idaho]

Who knows? For all we know, the offer was made and nobody wanted it.

Jim

[Geotech]

When I was there, an employee buy-out was proposed but the owners had no interest.

[Jim in Idaho]

Was that a price issue Carl?

Jim

[Joe D.]

6 hours ago, Geotech said:

When I was there, an employee buy-out was proposed but the owners had no interest.

Always glad to see you chime in Geotech!👍

   This being an oldish post that was resurrected, it's always nice to get a refresher on some info, from one of the original employees! I still own three White's detectors! My modded TDI SL's being my favorite beach detectors now! (One's a backup)! The other i have is a Mxt All Pro, but not for the beach!

   Maybe you can review a bit more history of your experiences while you were there, and what you think Garrett is doing with the remaining tech and ideas!

   If I missed this previously, or am overstepping on bad memories, NDA's, etc, than no need to expound!! Just curious, and may be more suitable for a separate post!🍀👍👍

[Geotech]

Jim, I guess you could say it was price, as the owners considered the company worth way more than it actually was. In the end, the owners (& dependents) didn't want to give up the cash cow.

Joe, I'll not rehash old history, other than to say in all my 50 years of work experience, the 6 years at White's has been my favorite. I wish things had turned out differently. I have no idea why Garrett bought White's, but I suspect we've seen the last of White's tech from Garrett.