Great and free

Just about everything Google does is free. Google search, Docs, Gmail, maps, Earth, and so on. In fact, one of the coolest apps I have ever used is Google Translate. And it's free. Dining at an Italian, French, or Chinese restaurant and can't read the menu? Open the app, click on the camera and point the device at the words. Instantly, magically, the foreign undecipherables convert to English—even maintaining the identical font! How these digital wizards manage to pull this off is beyond me. The fact they do this for free builds trust in their brand. When visitors stop by our Boulder offices and want a tour, listen to the big system, meet some of the PS'ers, we're always happy to accommodate. Do we want to sell product? Sure we do. It's how we keep the doors open and the product innovations flowing. But selling product isn't why we give tours. It's genuinely fun to open eyes and share experiences, build community. And building community benefits everyone. Daydreaming here. One day I would love to be in a financial position where we could afford a downtown Boulder retail shop that didn't make any money. In fact, we wouldn't actually sell anything from that shop. It would be a decked out showroom where anyone, for any reason, could venture in and enjoy a high-end musical experience. A once in a lifetime eye and ear opener that might eventually lead some to upgrade their home sound systems. Someday. Like you and I have done. And weren't most of us introduced to high-end audio by the generous invitation from a friend? I was. Such a showroom would build community. Wine and cheese nights. Small musical ensembles from time to time. Build, build, build. (no, this is not a precursor to us doing that - at least for now)