Quoted from Rum-Z:

Gary Stern is that you?

Quoted from Homepin:

I don't think his video is "whinging" at all. It isn't a simple matter of "if you don't like it, don't buy it" - many buyers are not technically savvy and are buying without having any way of knowing what lurks underneath that might bite them.
Knowledge is power and buyers should be as fully informed as possible before shelling out AU$10K ++ for a toy!
He merely points out facts in the video. Things that any wise purchaser could easily find out if they only knew what to ask.
Stern could very easily fix this issue - here is what I posted on AA:
******
Stern could fix this problem VERY easily.
The SPIKE system is sound, in principle. I think where it fails is there are far too many variants of the same board. I put this down to teething problems.
The system should be designed so there there is a main host board and then perhaps two or three node boards that are UNIVERSAL and fit EVERY model.
They have to stop having different boards in every machine and even different versions of the same board in a single title - that is nonsense plain and simple and totally negates the benefits of having a system like this.
They also need to get real on the replacement cost of a throw away board.

Quoted from Chicoman:

I don't think you could be more wrong. The guy is a seasoned veteran plnballer/vendor/hobbyist and he is comparing the two systems SAM & Spike and he sheds some light on both systems and their pros and cons to both.
Stern created Spike to create a better bottom line...and he explains what they've done to cut costs but improve on quality. The the Spike system does have drawbacks...such as the playfield lights, etc.
I really think the video is informative and well done. I certainly think Stern should take some of the feedback they get from their vendors and the consumers so they can improve on future projects. At least give the illusion that they care. I understand it's all about the bottom line for them but they need to remember it's consumers that drive this business for them....they need to pay more attention to how it's effecting them because without them their business wouldn't be as robust and profitable for Stern. With all the other smaller pinball companies out there it wouldn't take much for another company to take the lead so to speak when it comes to pinball manufacturing.

Quoted from Kiwipinhead:

So he knows what he's talking about then

Quoted from iceman44:

Yep.
Then again, the haters will never acknowledge that fact.
Either way, I don't care, I know what I have compared to the rest of my pins.

Quoted from Reality_Studio:

It's not a matter of laziness, it's a matter of ability. I had a flipper that would bounce around on one of my games, a quick google search said to replace the coil so I did that, basic part swap and fixed. The ship didn't work on my POTC so I took it apart, replaced some parts, reassembled it and it worked. Marquee light didn't work on one of my arcade machines even after replacing the starter and lbulb, so I replaced the ballast and done, it worked. I can do those types of fixes because they are purely mechanical and very isolated repairs, basically replace nearby broken part with new part, put back together, done.
Fixing boards though can be notoriously difficult. Some like to make it seem like it's always a simple part change and done, but often it can take many days to figure out wtf is going on, and if you don't have experience fixing boards then good luck. Case in point my aforementioned vidiot board on Baby Pacman. I called a few places and they all had no interest in repairing one of mine that was broken because they are a nightmare to deal with if you don't have experience with them, and that included one well known repair shop out east. I had to find a specialist dude on klov that focuses on just those boards and he fixed it. Same with pinball boards, the amount of time and effort it can take to fix one simply exceeds my abilities. Also you have to understand not everyone wants to spend their spare time fixing things, there's often other things I'd rather be doing. Life is short enough as it is to spend weekends diagnosing board errors. If you're into that sort of thing then cool, but not everyone is.
Cost wise, it's like anything else. If I can afford it then I'll buy it, if not then I won't. As I understand it node boards are $200 or so each, I didn't think they were $1000. But regardless if something is out of my price range then I just don't buy it. It's not like there aren't a million other ways to spend my money to be entertained.