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The feeling one gets after seeing ZOOM products is their dedication to coming up with imaginative products consistently. They say it's not just a matter of having advanced technological skills but also the sense and desire to employ them creatively and imaginatively. This is what seems to distinguish ZOOM from other brands.
Masahiro Iijima takes a humble view of his company's rapid rise to fame. "We never really had any stated intention of trying to play catch up to our rivals but when I look at some of the products that other companies are coming out with, it seems as though a lot of them are putting out products that our based on ours. So I do sometimes get that strange sensation that we're no longer the hunter but the hunted."
And to the question of how difficult it must be to continue churning out new products with the same high levels of originality as in the past, Michihito Nozokido had a sanguine response.
"We've got to really wrack our brains. We might think that that we'd eventually run out of ideas. But when we look at washing machines, for example, their basic function hasn't changed. They wash clothes. And yet, new machines come out every year. Compared to washing machines, I think we probably have a little easier time generating new ideas."
So what's next for ZOOM?
"Our fundamental desire is to help those who want to be able to make music in as close to a live performance. That has never changed. To do that successfully means we - and that includes our engineers as well - can't just be thinking about designing hardware and then writing software applications for them. We need to feel like we're inventing new Musical Instruments. A lot of people who enter our company actually choose ZOOM because they love the guitar, an instrument. That's something you wouldn't see probably if our image was simply one of a manufacturer of music aids." Says Michihito Nozokido.
Apparently, Masahiro Ijima agrees more. "Let me just say to any engineers out there who read this and think they'd like to join us. While we have hired people for their advanced background in hardware and software engineering, we require that our people be music lovers before they're engineers, and that they love musical instruments. If you're merely interested in only listening to music, quite frankly, it's unlikely that you'll get the opportunity to work in our real development."
As long as that philosophy remains strong, ZOOM should find no difficulty in continuing to create the attractive and innovative products capable of inspiring new musical ideas in its users.
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