Not sweet reading for debt junkies.

kabayiri

I never did think ShurAlan as an inspirational entrepreneur, and now he has proven it.

American kids will all be taught in school that success on the scale of Facebook/Google et al is within their grasp. They aim big, and occasionally they achieve big.

What does ShurAlan want for our kids? Yeah, run a market stall - maybe in time your own corner shop.

There are English audio companies with clear markets and world class products respected across the globe. Some have been in operation well before Amstrad churned out a tape chewer.

Suffice to say, Amstrad product will occupy pride of place in the recyling bin in years to come.

...oh, I agree, the @mailer phone was a pile of carp and had this naughty habit of 'phoning home' at peak rate for its updates. Underhand eh?

kabayiri

ILW wrote: »

The earlier Amstrad products were a brilliant concept.

Basically it was to put a cheap music centre in a casing that made it look like an expensive hifi system. They sold millions by supplying what the customer actually wanted. (or thought they did).

iPads and Sony Walkmans are groundbreaking concepts.

Amstrad product is marketing over quality.

FTBFun

On a completely unrelated topic (hmmm.....), the Apprentice candidates have just been announced.

http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/apprentice-line-revealed-103231582.html

If I was being cynical I'd say Siralan has piped up just before his new TV show has started to get some publicity.

ILW

kabayiri wrote: »

iPads and Sony Walkmans are groundbreaking concepts.

Amstrad product is marketing over quality.

Totally agree, but it worked a treat at the time

andy.m_2

kabayiri wrote: »

iPads and Sony Walkmans are groundbreaking concepts.

Amstrad product is marketing over quality.

Edited for accuracy:

Apple are pure marketing over quality, Sony Walkman's were a ground breaking concept.

ILW

andy.m wrote: »

Edited for accuracy:

Apple are pure marketing over quality, Sony Walkman's were a ground breaking concept.

Odd one the Walkman, the technology had been around for years, it was just repackaged into a brand new product.

FTBFun

andy.m wrote: »

Edited for accuracy:

Apple are pure marketing over quality, Sony Walkman's were a ground breaking concept.

I disagree with this - I thought the same until getting an iPod touch as a Christmas parent and was an immediate convert after that.

kabayiri

ILW wrote: »

Odd one the Walkman, the technology had been around for years, it was just repackaged into a brand new product.

It was the arrival of a mass market Integrated Circuit amplifier which operated off a 3V rail. It opened up the potential to run small music players off a couple of AA batteries.

The walkman was the first to introduce personal music in such a portable format.

The iPod was also groundbreaking in that it heralded the arrival of mass storage in a portable music device.

You could argue that iPhones and iPads have seen the arrival of a whole host of "me too" products, and therefore opened up new market.

I'm not sure Apple is pure marketing.

System

kabayiri wrote: »

I'm not sure Apple is pure marketing.

That's generally something non-Apple owners say to justify a purchase of an alternative product

ILW

kabayiri wrote: »

It was the arrival of a mass market Integrated Circuit amplifier which operated off a 3V rail. It opened up the potential to run small music players off a couple of AA batteries.

.

That is sort of true.
If you open up a pre walkman hifi cassette deck, you have a casstte drive, a small pre amp and not much else apart from a PSU to convert mains down to a few volts and a lot of air in a big box. The concept was great though as it took very little engineering.