Friday, March 27, 2009
When Little Is New
This opinion piece about new technology is on the mark. There isn't much new in terms of software programs we need to do work. Yet, software companies are driven to do upgrades in order to sell new versions of their programs. PR practitioners and marketers stretch to find attributes that users "must have" when users hardly use them. The era of software invention is largely complete.
So, how does one market when this has happened? It is a challenge, especially when a software company has a dominant share, such as Microsoft. The goal, it would seem, is to pay close attention to customers and to add features that might arise over time without coming up with entirely new versions. That goal isn't as profitable as selling a new package, but it is more honest, and it doesn't earn one the reputation of being a "black-mask" company extracting revenues from helpless customers.
So, how does one market when this has happened? It is a challenge, especially when a software company has a dominant share, such as Microsoft. The goal, it would seem, is to pay close attention to customers and to add features that might arise over time without coming up with entirely new versions. That goal isn't as profitable as selling a new package, but it is more honest, and it doesn't earn one the reputation of being a "black-mask" company extracting revenues from helpless customers.
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