>As for brand names, I think they will come more and more to mean
>_everything_. After all it has happened with cars it will happen
>with computers. 21st century personal computers are rapidly
>converging on a relatively fixed function, internet access unit with
>data composition and retrieval capabilities.
Anyone that is familiar with automotive history from the turn
of the century up until the late 1950's should be able to see the
parallels in the two industries...it's just happening quicker due to
the faster product cycles with microcomputers.
>No doubt the auto industry had a very similar time of it and today
>cars are largely identical except for things like body styling and
>number of cup holders. So what used to be special and unique, is now
>common and mundane.
My only problem with that analogy is that automobiles are
fairly fixed as to what you can use them for, while computers on the
other hand are bounded only by the imagination and talent of the
programmers.
Jeff
--
Home of the TRS-80 Model 2000 FAQ File
http://www.cchaven.com
http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lakes/6757
Received on Thu Sep 06 2001 - 15:19:23 BST