With “cloud” computing and “applications as services” are we not sort of / kind of moving back in that direction? I don’t need a powerful computer, just a good internet connection.
My first job, after college, was at a tech writing company that turned out to be amazingly behind the technology curve (considering its product). Although PCs had already been out for a few years, and we had one in our engineering department that we had been using for over a year, our management suddenly discovered that they existed. They got excited when we showed them what we could do with a PC – so excited that they decided they should make money teaching others about this new-fangled machine… so they set up a rudimentary course that they would teach at a hotel conference room…
They only got two paying customers – there were very few people as late to the party as they were, and the advertisement indicated that the content wasn’t very deep (you could get more information for free by just talking to a PC salesman at the mall). But they’d already paid a nonrefundable deposit on the conference room, so it was “Forward HO!”
They recruited employees of our company to attend the lecture, to make it seem a lot more popular than it was… I was not invited because they feared I might ask questions they could not answer (they even gave attending employees questions that they were supposed to ask). As an example, I suggested a question about modem speeds – they didn’t know what a modem even was…
Their charade failed, and subsequent offerings got no takers. Another “big money making idea” by our executives had bombed… yeah, they were out of business a few years later.
Aladar30 Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Poor Musser. They used him and then abandoned him.
Kirk Barnes Premium Member almost 3 years ago
Lagging is their niche…
garcoa almost 3 years ago
Cleary a visionary. Maybe not a good one, but a visionary nonetheless.
scottartist creator almost 3 years ago
My Dad briefly worked with a startup company that tried the same thing, and, like Musser, did not see what was coming.
rickc1 almost 3 years ago
I still have stock in such a company. I believe they are soon to unveil an OS to compete with Windoz 95…….Oh the thrill.
DawnQuinn1 almost 3 years ago
Just ask Atari’s Nolan Bushnell. He turned down Steve Job’s offer of a third of Apple for $50,000.00
Indianapolis Smith almost 3 years ago
With “cloud” computing and “applications as services” are we not sort of / kind of moving back in that direction? I don’t need a powerful computer, just a good internet connection.
Plods with ...™ almost 3 years ago
Shoulda kept with it. Amazon Web Services is making a killing.
ferddo almost 3 years ago
My first job, after college, was at a tech writing company that turned out to be amazingly behind the technology curve (considering its product). Although PCs had already been out for a few years, and we had one in our engineering department that we had been using for over a year, our management suddenly discovered that they existed. They got excited when we showed them what we could do with a PC – so excited that they decided they should make money teaching others about this new-fangled machine… so they set up a rudimentary course that they would teach at a hotel conference room…
They only got two paying customers – there were very few people as late to the party as they were, and the advertisement indicated that the content wasn’t very deep (you could get more information for free by just talking to a PC salesman at the mall). But they’d already paid a nonrefundable deposit on the conference room, so it was “Forward HO!”
They recruited employees of our company to attend the lecture, to make it seem a lot more popular than it was… I was not invited because they feared I might ask questions they could not answer (they even gave attending employees questions that they were supposed to ask). As an example, I suggested a question about modem speeds – they didn’t know what a modem even was…
Their charade failed, and subsequent offerings got no takers. Another “big money making idea” by our executives had bombed… yeah, they were out of business a few years later.