[Photoskeptic]

Several things hit me after reading Puts opinion. You know what they say about opinions...
I believe the RF style is still viable due to the quality of the lenses and the size of the overall package. What's killing Leica at the moment is the price of the M8 and value for money. A sad fact of globilization is cheap labor. Someday China will rule the world due to their cheap labor force. The United States has lost productivity and sold off most of it's well known brands to Asian work forces because companies are only interested in the bottom line. This is simply 21st century economics. Sadly the Hermes connection led to Leica becoming a fashion accessory for the very wealthy. There is this large niche market, ie: Ferrari and even more expensive marques for the well-heeled. But this sort of thing only goes so far. However, it seems to me that if Leica is to survive it will be through Panasonic and it's Asian work force.