Hi Tom and all, Just adding to what Tom is saying here. This is a little long, so I hope you will all stick with me.
This is also why I am a proponent of Apple's model. Apple iterates existing products along a trajectory that eliminates the perceived obsolescence technique. They only update the physical or user interface designs of their products infrequently, and there software upgrades are designed to improve the experience, rather than change it. The iPhone is a prime example. While Apple has added new features and capabilities to it, the system looks and works very much the same as it did when they first introduced it in 2007. This year, they are planning a UI overhaul, but even that has more to do with aesthetics, and the actual layout and functionality is expected to stay exactly the same. Since Apple does this, they keep older products on the market, steadily dropping their price as the cost of the older components goes down, but they still make a point to update the older products with software updates. For example, iOS 6, the current version of the software for the iPhone, still runs on the iPhone 3GS with most features working, even though the 3GS went on sale four years ago. This is quite remarkable in this industry. Macs are handled in much the same way. I used the same MacBook as my primary machine for 6 years, and it ran perfectly fine with the latest OS up until the day I replaced it. And boy, let me tell you, that thing took a beating. Taking this further, Draconis could have thrown some new sounds into ChangeReaction 2 and called it a new game, with basically all the same features and play of the original game, and tried to get users to upgrade that way. Instead, we wanted to give them something to make upgrading worth the cost, such as essentially two new games in addition to the original, a built-in tutorial system, etc. We're taking our model from Apple's lead which, despite Dark's protestations, is actually designed to benefit the users first and foremost. Apple's main philosophy is that, if you put the users and their experience first, customers will come to you. So far, it is working very well for them, and it is the philosophy we are employing as well. On Apr 30, 2013, at 2:13 PM, Thomas Ward <thomasward1...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Charles, > > that's close enough. However, I don't believe anyone said it was right > or particularly. fair. That's just the way business generally works. > > For example, when I took a marketing class in college we studied a > marketing technique called perceived obsolescence. The way it works is > you take an existing product and you find a way to repackage and > resell it to the customer without having to spend much on developing a > new product to replace it. > > So let's say you purchased a brand new computer from Del with an > almond colored case, keyboard, mouse, and flat screen display. Six > months later Del has parts left over from that run so they put them in > a brand new case that is smaller, painted black, and has a matching > USB keyboard, wireless mouse, and flat screen monitor. The > motherboard, hard drive, sound card, etc inside the computer is > exactly the same as you purchased but because of the nice new case, > keyboard and mouse you might think you are getting something new when > it is the same product in a slightly different form. > > A lot of what Microsoft does is for the same reasons. I don't know too > many people who likes the ribbons in Microsoft Office and File > Explorer etc but it looks different. I figure the primary reason they > do it is because of perceived obsolescence. They can take a product > like Wordpad, which has been around for years, and make it new just by > taking out the menu bars, replacing them with ribbons, changing a few > other user interface elements and packing it on their new OS as an > updated version of the software when in reality the software hasn't > changed. There isn't anything new we didn't have before like a spell > checker, grammar checker, thesaurus, whatever, but it looks new and is > marketed as such. > > Cheers! --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.
