Is the kinetic method a thermodynamic method?

The kinetic method is examined from the point of view of a proponent of a complementary and sometimes competitive technique, threshold collision-induced dissociation. Limitations in the kinetic method and assumptions that have not been thoroughly examined in the literature are pointed out. A case study involving recent experiments in the author's laboratory is used to illlustrate the importance of including entropic effects in the data analysis, even for systems where the ligands are fairly similar. The author concludes by encouraging the use of the advanced kinetic methods outlined by Cooks et al. in the accompanying Commentary.