on 7/23/02 10:06 PM, Gavin Williams at gavinwilliams_at_mac.com wrote:
> BTW i just found an article that really pissed me off:
> http://www.usc.edu/isd/publications/networker/98-99/v9n5-Summer_99/sidebar-new
> ton.
> html . How could someone say the Newton isn't functional!!
I wouldn't lose my temper over this. The truth is that, his observations are
mostly correct, his analysis is wrong. I don't remember the article, or
where it was, but it basically stated that revolutionary products may open
new markets, but they seldom succeed. It is their successors that succeed,
because the people have become acclimatized to the concept by then (my own
words). As an example, look at how the Palm market has begun to dry up. Why
is that? I opine that it is because, in the final analysis, although people
thought they wanted a simple device, when it comes down to it, they really
wanted something more powerful. They just didn't know it until they tried
the cheaper, smaller, more popular toy. Unfortunately, there remains on the
market, no suitable substitute to the bottom-of-the-line that every
remaining product represents. They are all based on the less-is-more theory.
The only product that represented a robust alternative is dead, killed by
Jobs, when everybody thought that the Palm was the wave of the future. It
turns out that it may not be, but now nobody is in position to fill the
gap--with the possible exception of Microsoft, but they still haven't gotten
it right, or maybe people are too leery to let them try. :-)
I wonder if Jobs realizes this, and if he and Apple are doing something to
address this new, and lucrative niche, or should I say, ground swell?
-- Jon Glass Krakow, Poland <jonglass_at_usa.net> <glasshaus5_at_aol.com>'A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader." -- Samuel Adams
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