The Invisible Computer: Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the Solution

http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/norman.htm

The above link provides the first chapter of a 1998 book by Donald Norman, a well-known expert on the usability of high and low tech tools. The excerpt describes the way Thomas Edison produced the first phonograph. Even though he had produced the first product in this area, and even though this product was technically superior to a competitive product, the competitor won the market.

Questions:

1. In what ways was Edison's product technically superior to the competitor's product?

2. How is this story related to the history of more recent technologies?

3. One of the author's headings is "Technological Change Is Simple; Social Cultural, and Organizational Change Is Hard." Explain why you are or are not convinced by what the author says about this topic.

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