OK -- now I get it. Suboptimal design is no big deal -- the end-users just develop after-market work-arounds and take a chill pill so we can ignore the glitch. You've heard of the notion that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease?" It looks like the new consensus is that "the squeaky wheel can be remedied with earplugs."
I'm not saying that the oil tube design on the Honda 2000 is the biggest problem in the world. But I am saying that it is an odd anomaly in an otherwise well-engineered product.
There are so many products and services (websites, for example) in which beta testing has been neglected prior to rollout. One would think that market pressures would "incent" (new verb!) enterprises to strive for excellence, but I guess "good enough" is good enough.
And if the glitch proves to be a significant problem, the company can just redesign the flaw in later releases, as Honda has apparently done in some of its most recent generators. Beta late than never.
