What would you call......

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June 29th, 2015 at 10:07:22 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Since FedEx will not let me get my new phone tomorrow I cannot start the courier gig today. So lets have some fun. Perhaps some others can add more of these.


What would you call the first automobile company to use an assembly line?

Oldsmobile


What would you call a tech company that entered the market 4 years after multiple competitors did?

Google


What would you call a restaurant with no plates, tables, or waitresses?

The first McDonald's


I could only think of a few, any more?
The President is a fink.
June 29th, 2015 at 10:48:32 AM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
Musing on the tech company

Important to note that Google came in 4 years after in the search area, but the internet was still very young. There's quite a history of tech companies eating the forerunners lunch: facebook over myspace, for one. Twitter was not the only short message media (jaiku, for example, though that was about same time as twitter was founded). The barriers to entry can be pretty low into some spaces. Though once you get a certain level of momentum, building a better mousetrap ain't going to get you to turn users over quickly.

Oh, another one: MS Word over WordPerfect. And Outlook over Lotus Notes. And Excel over Lotus123 (and others). MicroSoft, for all it's faults, has done a very good job of reinventing other people's products and making them better. I've used Notes, it's terrible. WordPerfect was better than Word... until they failed to get on the Windows train. Excel is a masterpiece... some of the early spreadsheets were good, mind, but Excel is worth the price of Office alone, for the value I have had out of it. Apple has never managed to compete in that arena.
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
June 29th, 2015 at 11:37:18 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: TheCesspit
Musing on the tech company

Important to note that Google came in 4 years after in the search area, but the internet was still very young. There's quite a history of tech companies eating the forerunners lunch: facebook over myspace, for one. Twitter was not the only short message media (jaiku, for example, though that was about same time as twitter was founded). The barriers to entry can be pretty low into some spaces. Though once you get a certain level of momentum, building a better mousetrap ain't going to get you to turn users over quickly.

Oh, another one: MS Word over WordPerfect. And Outlook over Lotus Notes. And Excel over Lotus123 (and others). MicroSoft, for all it's faults, has done a very good job of reinventing other people's products and making them better. I've used Notes, it's terrible. WordPerfect was better than Word... until they failed to get on the Windows train. Excel is a masterpiece... some of the early spreadsheets were good, mind, but Excel is worth the price of Office alone, for the value I have had out of it. Apple has never managed to compete in that arena.


Yes a history, but just making a point. Came up when a buddy said WMT can't be dethroned, I argued that they are probably already on a downtrend and that their peak was probably in the 2002-2008 year range.

You forgot Lotus 1-2-3 over VisiCalc! Lotus took hegemony in spreadsheets before WP did in word processing, that used to have many entries. WordPerfect 6.0 was so bad that it was one big reason MS took over. I also believe MS tolerated piracy for a few years to help run WP and 1-2-3 out of the market. At one time it was easy to get a pirated copy of MS-Office. No more.

I would use OpenOffice instead but my clients demand otherwise. *sigh*
The President is a fink.
June 29th, 2015 at 1:22:02 PM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
I forgot about Visicalc as it was before my time (I was using Borland's spreadsheet for a while whose name I forget. And Protext for word processing. No-one really remember that.

MS were smart in that they ignore students copying their business software. No need to chase them, as this year's students are next years office workers. Very smart move. And WP 6 was awful, I had to write one long dissertation on it, and would have rather stabbed myself in the thigh than do another.

I don't like Open Office. The spreadsheet application is horrible. It's word compatibility was nasty, but I believe it's improved. But, working in the software industry, I know the effort that goes into a decent piece of software and can't deny MS getting $150 from me for the suite.
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
June 29th, 2015 at 2:20:50 PM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: TheCesspit
I forgot about Visicalc as it was before my time (I was using Borland's spreadsheet for a while whose name I forget. And Protext for word processing. No-one really remember that.

MS were smart in that they ignore students copying their business software. No need to chase them, as this year's students are next years office workers. Very smart move. And WP 6 was awful, I had to write one long dissertation on it, and would have rather stabbed myself in the thigh than do another.

I don't like Open Office. The spreadsheet application is horrible. It's word compatibility was nasty, but I believe it's improved. But, working in the software industry, I know the effort that goes into a decent piece of software and can't deny MS getting $150 from me for the suite.


VC before my time also, learned about it in business classes. It is a good lesson and trivia question.

I understand paying the $150, but for home use if I can get away with OO I did so. Resumes, letters, small spreadsheets. What I do I could do with a 15 year old version of Office. But when I sent it and a client gave a WTF on the formatting, I knew I had to bite the bullet.

I believe, though, that freeware is a wave of the future. I also believe software is going to get smaller and micropriced. $15 for good software that does the one thing you need. Even $150 for my deed plotter. Reality is most users only use a few features.
The President is a fink.
June 29th, 2015 at 3:01:26 PM permalink
TheCesspit
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 23
Posts: 1929
Quote:
VC before my time also, learned about it in business classes. It is a good lesson and trivia question.

I understand paying the $150, but for home use if I can get away with OO I did so. Resumes, letters, small spreadsheets. What I do I could do with a 15 year old version of Office. But when I sent it and a client gave a WTF on the formatting, I knew I had to bite the bullet.

I believe, though, that freeware is a wave of the future. I also believe software is going to get smaller and micropriced. $15 for good software that does the one thing you need. Even $150 for my deed plotter. Reality is most users only use a few features.




Not sure we need these spoilers... :)

Yeah, I brought Office for $150 figuring it would last 3-5 years. $30/year is a bargain... as MS are moving to a subscription model. And that is the future of software, the subscription model.

Charge people monthly or annually. It works well for companies bottom lines once they get traction. I don't think it's going to get cheaper. Software that has a niche needs to have certain income stream, or you can pay for the people involved in making it: software engineers, support staff, product owners and the rest ain't cheap. Micro-billing software only makes sense if you have a huge hit. Those $4.99 apps on the iPhone need to sell 100,000s to make back the investment. It's all about the hits. For every Angry Birds, there's 100s of apps that sold 32 copies at $2.99 and lost someone a tonne of cash.

Subscriptions let you keep your user base engaged, and also let you keep them on the latest, maintainable version. There's a lot of savings that way for both sides. Even on the simpler software I use, I can't think of any that is even $15/year. The lovely text editor I work in a lot is $35 (eternal licence to that major version). Or there's free apps. Freeware is here now, and not a future wave... it's been around for years, and will fill in a big niche. Just remember, that programmer wasn't paid, and has no incentive to make sure the thing you got works, or to respond to keep it working when it breaks. That model works for many areas, just not all of them. I am sure you'd not want to freeware out your legal work, I don't freeware out (much) of my Software QA work....

It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die.... it's called Life
June 29th, 2015 at 3:29:03 PM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136

Quote: TheCesspit
Not sure we need these spoilers... :)


Was thinking that myself, but just one more

[spoiler]

Quote:
Yeah, I brought Office for $150 figuring it would last 3-5 years. $30/year is a bargain... as MS are moving to a subscription model. And that is the future of software, the subscription model.

Charge people monthly or annually. It works well for companies bottom lines once they get traction. I don't think it's going to get cheaper. Software that has a niche needs to have certain income stream, or you can pay for the people involved in making it: software engineers, support staff, product owners and the rest ain't cheap. Micro-billing software only makes sense if you have a huge hit. Those $4.99 apps on the iPhone need to sell 100,000s to make back the investment. It's all about the hits. For every Angry Birds, there's 100s of apps that sold 32 copies at $2.99 and lost someone a tonne of cash.


I see subscriptions for companies, less for individuals. MS knows that the individual can as I did, switch. In a way the personal license is almost just the white meat, corporations really carry the weight. And corporations are more open to licensing as if they staff up or down they can add or drop. A place I was at used a software called CASPER which they were trying to phase out. I was one of the few groups they still paid the license for, the vendor was killing them on the price I was told as they had nothing to lose.

Quote:
Freeware is here now, and not a future wave... it's been around for years, and will fill in a big niche. Just remember, that programmer wasn't paid, and has no incentive to make sure the thing you got works, or to respond to keep it working when it breaks. That model works for many areas, just not all of them. I am sure you'd not want to freeware out your legal work, I don't freeware out (much) of my Software QA work....


I know it has been around. What I mean is back to the "sharing" economy. Open, collaborative work is here to stay. A software designer working on OpenOffice does it to build cred for more specialized stuff. More and more that will happen IMHO. As to me, I would use OO Freeware for spreadsheets in my legal work in a second. The features I use are the same I used in other work 15+ years ago, OTOH, I willingly pay for my deed plot software. I pay because it works the best of anything I have found. I swear the vendor is one guy working out of his living room. I don't care, best stuff, helps me solve problems.


The President is a fink.