4 ms·

This in 1989? It seems the product was way ahead of its time. So why did the product (and the company) fail?

duncanawoods 7y ago
You could laminate this post and wave it around the whole history and future of computing. Success is the magic combination of “it’s time” and great marketing. Too big a jump with too many compromises like performance, quality, novelty or cost, and it’s dead on arrival. If what you’re doing is genuinely novel then prepare to be a footnote in someone else’s success story.
ncmncm 7y ago
It was pretty expensive, and Wang didn't want anybody else in its garden.
michaelt 7y ago
Nokia had a cell phone that could browse the web and edit spreadsheets in 1996. Microsoft had Windows CE on smartphone-sized 'personal digital assistants' in ~1998, and Windows XP tablets in ~2002. Meanwhile, the iPhone didn't come out until 2007, and the ipad until 2010. It's only with hindsight we realise the importance of things like capacitive touchscreens and stylus-free operation; and the fact spreadsheet editing wasn't actually a must-have feature for a smartphone.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  It's sad that the pendulum likes to swing so hard the other way. Stylus is a nice and underappreciated input method.
  - nradov 7y ago
    Samsung sells millions of Galaxy Note devices with a stylus.
    - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
      But you don't really need it to use it. One son bought the latest one, was handing the old one to his brother to use when the stylus popped out. He said "Huh. I didn't know that was there". Had used it for 2 years without noticing the lack.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      That's the underappreciated part. Also, I found that stylus makes a world of a difference in case of 2-in-1 devices. A touch-enabled laptop is a gimmick; add a stylus, and you may just start using the touch screen quite a lot.
cbm-vic-20 7y ago
Dr. An Wang designated that his son to run the company when he (Dr. Wang) died. His son was a terrible businessman, and quickly drove the company into the ground. This was right around the time that most other computer companies in the 495 and 128 belts around Boston died off, as speculators moved on to the California/SV gold rush.
- wenc 7y ago
  Wikipedia has the story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Laboratories#Decline_and_fall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Laboratories#Decline_and_...
  - howard941 7y ago
    Thanks. Had a handy link to a site with an image of the veritable 2200 http://wang2200.org/ http://wang2200.org/
- adriantam 7y ago
  Passing on the business to sons and daughters is the habit of the East Asia, as well as the reason for businesses to fail. I am from Hong Kong and we keep laughing at a handful of local banks of staying in the 1960s for this reason. Similarly in Japan, but they find a brilliant way to work around this tradition: Business owners adopt adults as sons so that they can pass on the company to the right hands.
tootie 7y ago
I had voice dictation software for my Windows 3.1 PC in the early 90s. Most of this tech has been proven for a long time, but it's taken decades to figure out how to make them usable and useful.
- omarhaneef 7y ago
  yes, sometimes small features are big features. For instance, voice dictation software still has an error rate, so it has to be very easy to edit on the fly. You can't go through three different directories to start voice transcription, and then stop it and go back and so forth. But finding the right UI is labor intensive.

You could laminate this post and wave it around the whole history and future of computing. Success is the magic combination of “it’s time” and great marketing. Too big a jump with too many compromises like performance, quality, novelty or cost, and it’s dead on arrival. If what you’re doing is genuinely novel then prepare to be a footnote in someone else’s success story.

ncmncm 7y ago

It was pretty expensive, and Wang didn't want anybody else in its garden.

michaelt 7y ago

Nokia had a cell phone that could browse the web and edit spreadsheets in 1996. Microsoft had Windows CE on smartphone-sized 'personal digital assistants' in ~1998, and Windows XP tablets in ~2002. Meanwhile, the iPhone didn't come out until 2007, and the ipad until 2010. It's only with hindsight we realise the importance of things like capacitive touchscreens and stylus-free operation; and the fact spreadsheet editing wasn't actually a must-have feature for a smartphone.

TeMPOraL 7y ago
It's sad that the pendulum likes to swing so hard the other way. Stylus is a nice and underappreciated input method.
- nradov 7y ago
  Samsung sells millions of Galaxy Note devices with a stylus.
  - JoeAltmaier 7y ago
    But you don't really need it to use it. One son bought the latest one, was handing the old one to his brother to use when the stylus popped out. He said "Huh. I didn't know that was there". Had used it for 2 years without noticing the lack.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    That's the underappreciated part. Also, I found that stylus makes a world of a difference in case of 2-in-1 devices. A touch-enabled laptop is a gimmick; add a stylus, and you may just start using the touch screen quite a lot.

cbm-vic-20 7y ago

Dr. An Wang designated that his son to run the company when he (Dr. Wang) died. His son was a terrible businessman, and quickly drove the company into the ground. This was right around the time that most other computer companies in the 495 and 128 belts around Boston died off, as speculators moved on to the California/SV gold rush.

wenc 7y ago
Wikipedia has the story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Laboratories#Decline_and_fall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Laboratories#Decline_and_...
- howard941 7y ago
  Thanks. Had a handy link to a site with an image of the veritable 2200 http://wang2200.org/ http://wang2200.org/
adriantam 7y ago
Passing on the business to sons and daughters is the habit of the East Asia, as well as the reason for businesses to fail. I am from Hong Kong and we keep laughing at a handful of local banks of staying in the 1960s for this reason. Similarly in Japan, but they find a brilliant way to work around this tradition: Business owners adopt adults as sons so that they can pass on the company to the right hands.

tootie 7y ago

I had voice dictation software for my Windows 3.1 PC in the early 90s. Most of this tech has been proven for a long time, but it's taken decades to figure out how to make them usable and useful.

omarhaneef 7y ago
yes, sometimes small features are big features. For instance, voice dictation software still has an error rate, so it has to be very easy to edit on the fly. You can't go through three different directories to start voice transcription, and then stop it and go back and so forth. But finding the right UI is labor intensive.