Monster Cable tries to make it better, drops minigolf suit

Behold the power of bad press: Monster Cable last week decided to drop its ridiculous trademark lawsuit against Monster Mini Golf. According to founder Noel Lee, Monster Cable will drop any opposition to the "Monster Mini Golf" trademark, won't require any licensing fees, and it'll also step up and pay Monster Mini Golf's attorney's fees in an effort to make things right. Of course, it wouldn't be Noel Lee if he didn't caveat his actions with some weird martyr nonsense -- are you ready? "I will say that this is a landmark kind of situation, as public opinion wins over what is the right thing to do for trademark protection of a famous mark. We have made the decision that public opinion, and that of our valued customers is more important than the letter of the law that requires us to prevent the dilution of our mark and risk losing it." Yeah, somehow we just don't believe Noel Lee really thinks that Monster is in danger of losing its mark over putt-putt -- a better paranoia would be the fear that consumers will one day realize that Monster's cables and power strips are just overpriced snake oil.

[Via TechDirt]

[MadMike @ Jan 13th 2009 2:06PM]

BlueJeans FTW!

[Metkis @ Jan 13th 2009 2:45PM]

Why are you so mad?

[MadMike @ Jan 13th 2009 2:53PM]

Not as mad as in angry as I am mad as in crazy.

[makkura @ Jan 13th 2009 3:40PM]

I've been very happy with the monster cables I've bought.
I only have a few, however, and they aren't more than 10ft in length.

I have them for usage in high traffic areas or for portable solutions.
Essentially where the cable have a higher likelihood of being stepped on due to being in a temporary environment or twisted around to get an impromptu hookup running (also for a temporary environment).
In short, places where having a higher quality cable (ie: a 'tougher' cable) is helpful simply to avoid damage and thus replacement.

[MadMike @ Jan 13th 2009 3:46PM]

Makkura: Or you could just throw one of those cable saver mats over the cable when it stretches across a walkway and save a few hundred dollars.

It's not that we have anything against the cables. What we are against are the absolutely absurd prices and then the faulty reasoning behind why they charge those absurd prices. If the Monster cable only cost like 2% or 3% more, we wouldn't care one bit, but at 500% and 600%? We just need to ask, are you f^&%ing kidding me?!?

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jan 13th 2009 4:14PM]

Monster Cable = Stupidity Tax. If you're dumb/lazy enough to just pick a Monster cable up at Best Buy instead of actually doing your homework (finding a better cable for 1/10th the price), then you deserve to get swindled. Social Dawinism, I say.

If you disagree, then call your parents, your uncle, your cousin Roy out in Hoboken, and tell them not to buy Monster, instead of complaining about Monster here in this comments section, where everyone already knows better.

Once everyone knows, the market will take care of Monster.

[d840 @ Jan 13th 2009 4:34PM]

@ smart people play tuba:

I used to think something similar:
"Once everyone knows, the market will take care of Apple."

Unfortunately, it seems I was again underestimating the power of stupidity. Don't make that mistake....

[makkura @ Jan 13th 2009 4:35PM]

True enough, Mad.

My cables were a 'I need a solution now' kind of situations and said mats weren't available to me.
(Not that I couldn't find a place to buy them soon enough but I have transportation issues so couldn't get to another location for them.)

Luckily, most of the Monster cables I have are short so weren't too costly though with an alternative and said mats I could probably have saved an easy $40 to begin with.

[atomicthumbs @ Jan 13th 2009 5:33PM]

Bacon Smelter

[rp @ Jan 14th 2009 1:24PM]

@d840

You would be right, but see you're totally wrong because it works both ways. You can't put out a complete shit product and expect people to be jumping all over it forever. Eventually a fruit company comes along and convinces people that they were better all along, but you have to pay more. People are for the most part not masochists. There's a reason why people don't generally buy Saturns when they can afford something a bit better. If there were a standard cable manufacturer that supplied 90% of the cables and people were generally not satisfied with them, then Monster Cable would have a shot at succeeding.

[casualsurfer @ Jan 13th 2009 2:06PM]

Monster Cable = Waste of Money

[a ham sandwich @ Jan 13th 2009 2:15PM]

well maybe they are now, with most types of cables being digital, but i did swear by them back in the analog days of S Video, especially over long lengths.

[Spiny Norman @ Jan 13th 2009 2:20PM]

"who actually buys their crap products?"

The same people who buy undercoating, fabric protector, and clear coat protector for their automobiles.

[000000 @ Jan 13th 2009 2:24PM]

Here's a list of Monster dummies.

http://www.monstercable.com/famous/

[Stewie @ Jan 13th 2009 2:27PM]

monoprice.com FTW

People who buy Monster cables are funny

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jan 13th 2009 2:28PM]

000000's link has a stupid auto-play video. Fair warning.

Yet another reason Monster sucks.

[Monster Cable @ Jan 13th 2009 2:59PM]

Hey, this is Erik from Monster Cable. To verify this message is genuine, feel free to write to esross (AT) monstercable DOT com.

Folks, the whole "HDMI is digital so the cable will either work or it won't" -- we call bullshit. It's a myth. Please check out this very short (three minutes) video we filmed with our HDMI product manager, Ketch Rogers, for an explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-zbIBERGk4

Basically, HDMI cables transmit digital data over an analog medium, so they are subject to the same problems any regular cable is. On crappy cables, the signal will INDEED degrade resulting in visual artifacts.

[Shinigami @ Jan 13th 2009 2:39PM]

I would have never thought that $3,000 HDMI cable is as good as $30 HDMI cable...
You opened my eyes, mister!

/sarcasm

Now behold the difference: rich people riding a bicycle (having billions of $) and rich people riding Lexus, buying Monster cables, 103-inch+ TVs ect (having millions of $). You know whats the difference? First made money themselves and know its value (and usually are the reason there are "rich kids" that don't know their place, think they own the world, bought it with money, sadly), second got rich by accident, were in the right spot at the right time, do not know the real value of money, spend a lot of flashy things and can get poor easily.
I hope we'll all find the real value of money. Hint: money != value, money == debt.

[CraigJ @ Jan 13th 2009 2:41PM]

Even in the past for analog they were over priced and un-needed. 14 gauge lamp cord is more than enough for runs up to 25 ft for speakers. To avoid cross talk you can simply completely separate the + and - and braid them to make sure the separate conductors ate not parallel. Also, 2 pieces of CAT-5 cable work well. Anyone who says they can hear the difference is probably trying to sell you $2000 speaker cables.

[Goatee Man @ Jan 13th 2009 2:53PM]

@Erik:

Kindly explain to me why unbiased, objective testing has proven time and time again that it makes absolutely no difference whether you use a 1-dollar cord or a 100-dollar cord.

[Mobius_1 @ Jan 13th 2009 3:07PM]

Erik, just because you work for them, doesn't mean you have to be their fanboy. Now get back to work.

[From My Cube @ Jan 13th 2009 3:15PM]

@ Erik, right, you interviewed your OWN EMPLOYEE of course they are going to say the product works better than the competitor!




noob, ill stick to my coat hanger wire which was proven to be just as good as your $$ wire in a blind test

[MadMike @ Jan 13th 2009 3:24PM]

Hey Monster Cable - so explain how a Blue Jeans cable which is just as high quality only costs $4.00 while the same cable made by Monster costs $300.00? You guys are a rip off, plain and simple.

[Beau @ Jan 13th 2009 4:08PM]

Yo Erik from Monster Cable,

How do you sleep at night knowing your career is a complete farce?

[Blacksheep @ Jan 13th 2009 4:16PM]

Hey monster cable guy. I used to be a reporter for an actual newspaper and one thing you have to be aware of in that kind of publication is biased interviews. For example, you don't interview the company accused of polluting a river, take down everything they say and go back and write the story based on their comments. Nope, you take a look at the river, interview the people who live on it and get scientific results on the pollution. Then you have the actual story with the quotes from the company, which now look ridiculous in light of all the facts. Replace "company polluting a river" With Monster and Cable, and you will see the flaw in your own post.

Besides, I live in Rhode Island, where Monster Mini Golf is based, so your little assault on a mini golf course didn't go over to well here. Now I'm going off to play some golf, oh, what's that, they've changed the sign to "Monster Cable Mini-Golf" haha ;)

[adrian @ Jan 13th 2009 4:29PM]

Moster Cable = Con merchants.

[MonsterErikLol @ Jan 13th 2009 5:13PM]

@Erik

As a masters in dsp let me point out a few obvious problems with the video that you posted:
1) I tried to post a comment on youtube debunking your stupid video and my comment is pending approval - nice! Censorship.
2) Ok, the signal won't converge at the center; wtf? The major reason for any distortion of the signal would be parasitic capacitance in the cable itself; true, the length of the cable will increase the capacitance, however it would only cause a SLIGHT upward shift in the curve and not convergence to the center. This means there wouldn't be issues differentiating a 1 from a 0.
3) HDMI uses ECC so a few mixed up bits won't mean anything.
4) The amount of data being sent through a hdmi cable is constant and dependent on the frequency (165/340MHz). If the cable was gonna go crazy and cause "speckles" on the screen it would be non-freaking stop because at the relatively high frequencies of 165/340 Mhz you will trigger the worst case scenario of "1-0-1-0-1..." repeatedly.
5) BlueJeans!

Only few scenarios where monster cable would make a difference:
1) your took your "other" branded cable home and pissed on it.
2) you need a 100+ feet long cable - even then I am sure there are a lot of alternatives.
3) Using it makes you feel baller

[Stefan @ Jan 13th 2009 5:35PM]

Here is the unbiased testing between a cheap and a monster cable.There is NO difference

[charliex @ Jan 13th 2009 7:03PM]

Hi this is Charlie from Ver1zon,

You can prove its me by calling 611 and asking for me. I call BS on this don't need an expensive telephone network or modern infrastructures to get calls properly, if you click on prontube you'll see our product marketing manager doing some things that defy any rational explanation other than he needed the money, however scientistists*2 have proven that our telephone network which uses Wires(tm) is at least as good as or better than using two tin cans and a piece of string*1


"Ver1zon telephonic systems, we're better than the worst example out there", its science people !



*1 unless its awesome string, in tests 8 out of 10 cats preferrred the string over FIOS.
*2 scientistists although one ists better than actual scientists may never have actually existed and we reserve the right to change them to whatever we feel like at any time, including redefining the meaning of the word unlimited, and replacing them with people we found off the street or just generally down on their luck, or the product marketing manager if he runs up debts in atlantic city again.

[jpw21683 @ Jan 14th 2009 9:47AM]

Hi Monster Cable Erik,

I watched the YouTube video and found it to be informative. And you didn't shove the "OUR BRAND IS THE ONLY HIGH-QUALITY CABLE" garbage literally, but it was assumed.

I posted a comment on YouTube and was dismayed so see that it requires approval. No wonder the only comments so far are glowingly positive.

As a service to you, so you don't have to trouble yourself with deleting it, I've copied-and-pasted my submitted comment below.

---------------------------------------

"Thanks for the informative video, Ketch! It gave me flashbacks of my electrical engineering classes.

Cable quality DOES matter to an extent, but as long as you are getting the full picture (no sparkles, drop-outs, artifacts) then there is no improvement that can be made with a "higher-quality" HDMI cable.

I've installed a handful of ceiling-mounted home theater projectors with 25+ ft high-quality HDMI cables, 1/5th the cost of comparable Monster Cables, and have never had any issues."

[pika2000 @ Jan 13th 2009 2:07PM]

Would Monster cable do this if the issue was not brought to news by blogs and the internet?

[Electromodo @ Jan 13th 2009 2:43PM]

It would and it does. Monster Cable is suing more than a hundred companies, actually all of them who have"Monster" word in either their name or trademark name. They even sued Monster.com, Monster Energy Drinks and Monster Inc. movie and got a settlement.

Don't believe it? Check:
http://ttabvue.uspto.gov/ttabvue/v?qt=adv&qs=monster%20cable%20products&page=1

This Noel Lee wants the word "Monster" to belong to him only. Kinda like a world domination.

I supported Monster Mini Golf and I am so glad they took over the worst patent troll ever!

[Electromodo @ Jan 13th 2009 2:46PM]

I misunderstood your question and I meant to say: Monster will continue beating a sh.t out of everybody who uses the word "Monster", if not a publicity and a support from Internet community.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jan 13th 2009 4:36PM]

If actual monsters attacked, would Monster Cable sue?

Might be the only way to stop them!

[tamosius @ Jan 13th 2009 4:59PM]

How about monster trucks? hm....

[vf34wrx @ Jan 13th 2009 2:08PM]

"I will say that this is a landmark kind of situation, as public opinion wins over what is the right thing to do for trademark protection of a famous mark."

As if public opinion isn't already turning/hasn't already turned for those more informed shoppers.

[scape @ Jan 13th 2009 2:11PM]

who actually buys their crap products?

[Wolfticket @ Jan 13th 2009 2:30PM]

Idiots, mostly. That is why they are so successful.

[ZeroCorpse @ Jan 13th 2009 2:40PM]

It's two groups of people.

1. The uniformed layman electronics shopper, who unwittingly trusts the salesman at Best Buy/Circuit City/etc. These poor folks can't be blamed. They're going to a retail store to get the information they need, and they aren't computer/AV savvy enough to do the research. It's not stupidity; They just think "Why should I study all this techie stuff when I can pay someone to advise me?" and in doing so, they are advised to get the overpriced stuff. I can't blame these people for their ignorance. If I went to a doctor and he told me I had a "brain cloud", I wouldn't be able to refute him without a second opinion because I'm not trained to know the difference. It's the same thing here. We're all tech nerds, but the average HDTV or computer customer isn't.

2. The eternally stupid and easily ripped off. These are the people who have been TOLD that Monster Cable is a scam, shown tests that prove it, and they STILL insist that they can see/hear a difference between Monster and a monoprice cable. These are the people who are still convinced that "Head On" actually cures headaches (it's just a stick of wax with some camphor in it). They're the placebo crowd. They believe the hype, and then simply cannot doubt it once it's disproven- possibly because they've already invested their emotions in the belief that IT REALLY WORKS, and they can't let go of that blind faith.

[John Datserakis @ Jan 13th 2009 4:46PM]

the second group sounds like apple fanboys lol

[tony @ Jan 14th 2009 3:36PM]

@ZeroCorpse

You mean "Head On" doesn't actually work and I've been waxing my forehead all this time for nothing?!? Damn it! Where's my attorney?!?

Hehe...

[Verythrax @ Jan 13th 2009 2:11PM]

Ok, but why just now, Engadget?

Old news, and you guys didn't add any new info to the mix... =/

[Nilay Patel @ Jan 13th 2009 2:27PM]

We wanted to follow up and complete the story, but it honestly wasn't that important to us during CES.

[Verythrax @ Jan 13th 2009 2:32PM]

We'll that's true, I forgot about the CES trailer internship ;)

Good job on the coverage, anyway!

[Ian @ Jan 13th 2009 2:11PM]

YAY for the mini golf course!!!

plus i just wanted to say i saw a 5' HDMI cable from monster thats cost 300 dollars. gold plated and ultra high speed. yea lets just leave it at that.

[000000 @ Jan 13th 2009 2:19PM]

They have a 75 foot HDMI cable for.........

700$!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG.

http://www.monstercable.com/productdisplay.asp?pin=3831

[BratPAQ @ Jan 13th 2009 2:16PM]

a tad bit too late, the damage have been done, im sure they lost a lot of their customers, and also future customers who arent aware of them, until this issue.

[waterwagen @ Jan 13th 2009 2:25PM]

I'm done with them, that's for sure.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Jan 13th 2009 4:38PM]

Meanwhile Monster Mini Golf got some free press. Yea!

[digitalh @ Jan 15th 2009 2:24AM]

Ditto. At this point, Monster won't put a shine on their proverbial turd, no matter how much they polish it. Still stinks to high heaven. DIE, MONSTER! DIEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!