There are too many companies who get really famous because of the fact that they looked at the market, saw the need, and filled it. There was a need for the iPod. Apple filled it. Joy of joys. People used to take their CD-players and tape players around, but many couldn't get the full use out of them because they could only hold one CD. Radio was too restrictive because you couldn't choose the content. Enter the iPod. Nice stuff!
Enter the knockoffs. The companies that can't read the market, because they're too big to have real risk-taking guts.
Then the iPod gets big and Apple somehow loses touch with the market. It's a rarity (except for long trips and sharing with friends) that people say, "Man, I wish I could watch a video clip right now." Or at least wanting it to the point that they would pay money for each clip that they put on it. Full Movies, yes, but ESPN recaps, no (though, a few bucks for all ESPN recaps this month would be very impressive).
Step 1: Read the market
Step 2: Find what the market needs
Step 3: Do it
Step 4: Profit
Step 5: Lose the market view
Step 6: Make a new product to ride on your popularity, with a market that doesn't exist yet
Step 7: Cross your fingers
But then again, if they weren't willing to fail, they'd be in the ranks with the big dogs that we tend to not like because they don't take risks (they just copy others). So, uh, even though I won't buy one, best of luck to them. If the market isn't there, at least their operating system rocks:-)
Luke
----
Help your boss understand you: Send them to ChristianNerds.com (The Free Online Computer Encyclopedia)
I don't think just about everybody wants those things. I think, for the most part, "just about everybody" don't realize options in computers.
The average user doesn't realize that fans can be quieter, or that a computer even needs to run cooler.
The average user just says, "That's the computer." when looking at the case. They don't think of a way that it could be better in any way. Sure, slashdotters do, but "just about everybody" isn't one of us.
The average user doesn't know how to plug things in (I just tell people plug things into the hole that it fits in and then plug the speaker in the hole with a picture of a speaker next to it and then they get it on their own), but they don't think of wireless everything. I tell (middle age adult) coworkers that my computer has a wireless mouse and keyboard and they're very impressed. They don't think of extrapolating like that.
The average user doesn't know what a USB key is.
The average user doesn't know much about hardware inside the computer at all (my website, ChristianNerds.com has a question and answer section, where they email me questions about computers and I try to answer them, and I get at least one person every week asking what a printer is... A Printer! "Um, it's the thing that prints out your stuff onto paper."). The average user doesn't know enough to know what else to want. They like faster and they like flashier graphics. That's about it. Oh, and music.
Man, I hope that they get rid of the right ones. I've talked to their CRS's while lookin' to buy two different laptops and about 80% of the ones that I talked to were really knowledgeable... just that one that wasn't seeming to know what he was doing, but he at least passed me to someone who did, so I'd still count it as a good call.
There's too many other companies that I don't buy from specifically because of the fact that their Customer Service Representatives don't fully understand their own product (not talkin' about down-to-the-chip, but at least be able to tell me positives and negatives about using this technology over that one that the competitor has).
I'm about a month from being able to buy myself a new laptop (wanting them specifically, because their stuff is linux-friendly), so I hope they still have someone useful by the time I want one.
Luke
---- "Help your stupid friends not be so stupid. Send 'em to ChristianNerds.com."
I run a website (http://www.christiannerds.com) that's supposed to teach computer basics to people who don't know much about computers at all.
Anyway, we've got IE down to like 79% now. Guess it sorta' goes to show you that if you actually WANT to learn about computers, you're alot more likely to choose Firefox (15%) or Mozilla (3%).
Slashdot Mirror
There are too many companies who get really famous because of the fact that they looked at the market, saw the need, and filled it. There was a need for the iPod. Apple filled it. Joy of joys. People used to take their CD-players and tape players around, but many couldn't get the full use out of them because they could only hold one CD. Radio was too restrictive because you couldn't choose the content. Enter the iPod. Nice stuff!
:-)
Enter the knockoffs. The companies that can't read the market, because they're too big to have real risk-taking guts.
Then the iPod gets big and Apple somehow loses touch with the market. It's a rarity (except for long trips and sharing with friends) that people say, "Man, I wish I could watch a video clip right now." Or at least wanting it to the point that they would pay money for each clip that they put on it. Full Movies, yes, but ESPN recaps, no (though, a few bucks for all ESPN recaps this month would be very impressive).
Step 1: Read the market
Step 2: Find what the market needs
Step 3: Do it
Step 4: Profit
Step 5: Lose the market view
Step 6: Make a new product to ride on your popularity, with a market that doesn't exist yet
Step 7: Cross your fingers
But then again, if they weren't willing to fail, they'd be in the ranks with the big dogs that we tend to not like because they don't take risks (they just copy others). So, uh, even though I won't buy one, best of luck to them. If the market isn't there, at least their operating system rocks
Luke
----
Help your boss understand you: Send them to ChristianNerds.com (The Free Online Computer Encyclopedia)
I don't think just about everybody wants those things. I think, for the most part, "just about everybody" don't realize options in computers.
The average user doesn't realize that fans can be quieter, or that a computer even needs to run cooler.
The average user just says, "That's the computer." when looking at the case. They don't think of a way that it could be better in any way. Sure, slashdotters do, but "just about everybody" isn't one of us.
The average user doesn't know how to plug things in (I just tell people plug things into the hole that it fits in and then plug the speaker in the hole with a picture of a speaker next to it and then they get it on their own), but they don't think of wireless everything. I tell (middle age adult) coworkers that my computer has a wireless mouse and keyboard and they're very impressed. They don't think of extrapolating like that.
The average user doesn't know what a USB key is.
The average user doesn't know much about hardware inside the computer at all (my website, ChristianNerds.com has a question and answer section, where they email me questions about computers and I try to answer them, and I get at least one person every week asking what a printer is... A Printer! "Um, it's the thing that prints out your stuff onto paper."). The average user doesn't know enough to know what else to want. They like faster and they like flashier graphics. That's about it. Oh, and music.
Luke
Man, I hope that they get rid of the right ones. I've talked to their CRS's while lookin' to buy two different laptops and about 80% of the ones that I talked to were really knowledgeable... just that one that wasn't seeming to know what he was doing, but he at least passed me to someone who did, so I'd still count it as a good call.
There's too many other companies that I don't buy from specifically because of the fact that their Customer Service Representatives don't fully understand their own product (not talkin' about down-to-the-chip, but at least be able to tell me positives and negatives about using this technology over that one that the competitor has).
I'm about a month from being able to buy myself a new laptop (wanting them specifically, because their stuff is linux-friendly), so I hope they still have someone useful by the time I want one.
Luke
----
"Help your stupid friends not be so stupid. Send 'em to ChristianNerds.com."
I run a website (http://www.christiannerds.com) that's supposed to teach computer basics to people who don't know much about computers at all.
Anyway, we've got IE down to like 79% now. Guess it sorta' goes to show you that if you actually WANT to learn about computers, you're alot more likely to choose Firefox (15%) or Mozilla (3%).
Luke