One of the videos in the earlier thread I posted was created by the folks at Engadget.com and they sent it to Kryptonite to see what the company plans to do about this serious flaw with their products. They weren’t real happy with the reply they got:
Engadget reader Chester Bullock decided to toss Kryptonite the link and video we posted about picking their Evolution 2000’s lock with a plain ol’ Bic pen. And we can’t say it wasn’t a good idea, but what we were hoping for was something a little more drastic than just being slightly less than amused, and plugging a bunch of new products.
So what did Kryptonite have to say? Here’s the text of the reply:
We understand there are concerns regarding tubular cylinders used in some Kryptonite locks. The tubular cylinder, a standard industry-wide design, has been successfully used for more than 30 years in our products and other security applications without significant issues.
The current Kryptonite locks based on a tubular cylinder design continue to present an effective deterrent to theft. As part of our continuing commitment to produce performance and improved security, Kryptonite has been developing a disc-style cylinder for some years. In 2000, Kryptonite introduced the disc-style cylinder in its premier line of products, the New York series. In 2002, Kryptonite began development of a new disc cylinder system for both its Evolution and KryptoLok product lines, which currently use the tubular cylinder design. These products are scheduled to be introduced in the next few weeks.
We are accelerating the delivery of the new disc cylinder locks and we will communicate directly with our distributors, dealers and consumers within the coming days. The world just got tougher and so did our locks.
In short they said, “Dude! That TOTALLY sucks! It’s a good thing we’ve got a bunch of expensive new products that are totally way better that you can buy to replace the expensive flawed ones we sold you earlier!”
Say, isn’t that the same approach Microsoft takes? No, not entirely. Microsoft at least tries to fix their expensive flawed products before pushing you to purchase totally new and expensive flawed products.
Posted on 09/16/2004 at 04:26 PM 
If their marketing department wants to make lemondae out of this lemon, they’d at least institute a trade-up program for people with vulnerable locks.
That would get those locks off the street, re-build some customer loyalty and aid in the sales of new locks,
This company, like many others before it, faces a crisis and that can either make or break ‘em. Wise marketers revise the spreadsheets and take the long view.
--Dave