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> Norwegian doctors get one 3.5″ floppy in the mail from the government [..] every month. For a long time this applied to all of them, but for about the last de

> Norwegian doctors get one 3.5″ floppy in the mail from the government [..] every month. For a long time this applied to all of them, but for about the last decade a secure electronic option has been available. Problem is, a lot of doctors love their MSDOS-based electronic journals and haven’t switched yet. > The government seems to finally close down floppy distribution at the beginning of 2016, forcing any remaining doctors over to newer electronic patient journals. Sadly, the chosen strategy is just to offer paper printouts instead, requiring error-prone rekeying at the doctor’s office. It seems like these guys have a potential business in selling a device/appliance to bridge the "secure electronic option" to floppy gap (without relying on paper): Basically make doctors do this work themselves. A laptop (running locked down Linux for security reasons) and a USB floppy drive. You can easily charge 10x hardware cost, so no need to skimp, and you can support by exchanging the entire setup via post.

amelius 11y ago
The problem could be that the solution must be "open", so there is no potential for lock in, hence not much money to be made.
- mseebach 11y ago
  It's not a huge, long-term business, for sure. There are only n doctors still running the DOS app in the entire market, and that number will only ever shrink. The lock-in is provided by the extreme niche-ness of the market the conservatism of these doctors. These floppy-guys have a unique position in the market, they know exactly what to do -- they are basically the only ones who can credibly pitch these doctors at all. Once they've bought a solution that actually works, is stable and compliant etc., these doctors are not going to shop around to save maybe $1-2000/year (or whatever you can charge in maintenance), it's simply not worth their while and the risk. Remember, these are not scrappy little outfits, they have cash to spend, and they will spend it if you can supply stability and continuity.

amelius 11y ago

The problem could be that the solution must be "open", so there is no potential for lock in, hence not much money to be made.

mseebach 11y ago
It's not a huge, long-term business, for sure. There are only n doctors still running the DOS app in the entire market, and that number will only ever shrink. The lock-in is provided by the extreme niche-ness of the market the conservatism of these doctors. These floppy-guys have a unique position in the market, they know exactly what to do -- they are basically the only ones who can credibly pitch these doctors at all. Once they've bought a solution that actually works, is stable and compliant etc., these doctors are not going to shop around to save maybe $1-2000/year (or whatever you can charge in maintenance), it's simply not worth their while and the risk. Remember, these are not scrappy little outfits, they have cash to spend, and they will spend it if you can supply stability and continuity.