from INNOVATION

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

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Because time and information are your most valuable assets,
INNOVATION offers a weekly summary of trends, strategies and innovations
in business and technology, giving you an executive briefing on the future.
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LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE PENTIUM MESS
After watching the PR nightmare endured by Intel the past few weeks, many
high-tech corporations will be double-checking their products in the future
before bringing them to market. Some companies are even thinking about
raising prices to compensate for the potential cost of replacing defective
products. Although fixing a problem can be particularly burdensome for
hardware firms, which must shell out big bucks to replace a defective
component, the Pentium lesson is not lost on software makers. Microsoft,
for example, is delaying its Windows 95 rollout until August just to make
sure it's got a fool-proof (and critic-proof) product. (Investor's Business
Daily 12/22/94 A3)




SOCIAL FRAGMENTATION OR MARKET SEGMENTATION?
Noting that information technology supports decentralization, autonomy,
individualism and fragmentation, marketing expert Regis McKenna says that
social fragmentation and market segmentation are two sides of the same
coin. McKenna quotes a David Rieff article in Harper's (August 1993)
claiming that "the multiculturalist mode is what any smart businessman
would prefer... Capital is not only increasingly willing, but increasingly
eager to let in blacks, gays and any other marginalized group. Eureka, more
customers!"  (Upside, Jan.'95, p.37)






PASSING NOTES THE 90s WAY
The latest fad in girls' communications is a simplified electronic
organizer that sells for between $30 and $80 in toy stores. The pink and
purple devices enable messages to be sent between two compatible machines
via an infrared beam (like the one in remote control devices), which could
put a whole new spin on note-passing in class. With beepers already banned
in some schools, the organizers present teachers with a new challenge in
maintaining classroom control. "I would have to weigh the benefits in terms
of children becoming literate with 21st century technology versus the
potential for disruption," says one cautious principal. (Wall Street
Journal 12/21/94 B1)


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