<<What SparQ did to Jaz last year, ORB is poised to do again this
year. >> SparQ developed a high capacity drive with an average price point and went under. Neither technology, high capacity, nor price was the main issue according to IOM as to its failure. failure was due to 1) test market failure, i.e., they designed a drive whose (a) capacity was too high, (b) price point too high, and (c) marketed to the wrong audience - the average consumer. Average consumers primarily needed 1) ubiquitous, at most, 100mgb disks, 2) price point, 3) reliability. SparQ didn't fit for specialists in graphics as they were already using, primarily, a Jazz. For specialists price was not the main issue but rather ubiquity, reliability, and functionality. this remains true today.
ORB is another SparQ - it fits neither the consumer nor the specialist. |
