Things aren’t always as they seem at first glance
Two way conversation is always better than two one-way conversations. So, it’s been nice to politely discuss what us as a manufacturer have worked through and to hear and discuss the reactions of others.
One of my friends did some research (Thanks, you know who you are!) to discuss some other notable projects that did not go as people had planned or maybe as they originally thought. Borrowed liberally from Wikipedia :
Unobvious Path to Success
- Lucozade (originally a drink for sick kids, now a sports drink)
- Dell (taking the retailer out of the middle helped succeed)
- Marlboro (originally marketed as a ladies brand, cowboys made them sell)
- Flush Toilets (Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for flushing water closets and was ridiculed. His plans for flying machines and military tanks were also considered nonsense.)
- “American” cheeses (previously synonymous with individually wrapped slices of some icky yellow substance… in last 30 years American cheeses have won awards, are offered in European restaurants, I’ll eat them now, etc.)
- Viagra (originally for relieving high blood pressure, now …)
- Jacuzzi (originally for arthritis patients, remarketed as luxury item for the wealthy)
- Computers (Originally thought to only be a market for 4 or 5 in the world)
- More than 640K RAM (An oldie but goodie)
- The Internet, circa 1991 ( I remember my father telling me in 1988 to stop wasting my time with that Usenet/Internet thing - nothing will come out of it)
And some not so lucky - still defended by some, but didn’t make it to the big time:
Big Hype
- Betamax
- eBook Devices
- Kodak Disc Cameras
- New Coke
- Apple Newton
- Yugo
- Ford Pinto
- Segway
- Zima
How about a few things that are coming that are already provoking thoughts?
Controversial Now
- Nintendo Revolution (Controllers, size, no HDTV)
- Playstation 3 (Will it perform like Sony says)
- DRM (Relevent in the last month)
- The films of Michael Moore
Share your thoughts in the comments. Any other classic products in any of those categories?