DesktopLinux: Linux Beyond the Desktop

“Imagine a machine that dominated its industry, was produced
essentially unchanged for almost 20 years, generated billions in
profit, and completely transformed life and business. The PC? No,
the Model T. And it went from “wired” to “tired” overnight.

“As we explore Linux on the desktop, we can learn from the
lesson of the Model T. After nearly 20 years in production,
customers started to want different things from their cars. Some
wanted performance, some wanted luxury, others wanted safety, cargo
capacity, or any of a number of other attributes.

“Ford wouldn’t give it to them. The company steadfastly stuck to
their ‘any color, as long as it’s black,’ one-size-fits-all
mentality. (Even if Ford had wanted to, though, their vaunted
assembly line actually inhibited their ability to offer new
products. It was optimized to only make Model T’s.) Today, we’d say
their business model wasn’t flexible enough…”

Complete
Story