If you have been watching the news about the "apparent" demise of the CrunchPad, you have been witness to what appears to be a mess. How could Mike Arrington, the visionary behind this fabled device, have messed up the management of the media so badly? Or did he?
Admittedly, Arrington looks sort of like a goofball right now, with his design partner, Fusion Garage, apparently running amuck and about to hold their own press conference next Monday. But consider this. What if you really didn't have enough money to complete the project? Or what if you simply wanted to whip the media and other folks into a frenzy right before you came out with something in order to stimulate initial sales? What if you needed to divert attention from the fact that you really weren't delivering exactly what you said you'd deliver for the price you initially said you would? If any of these scenarios were true [and I'm not saying they are, wink-wink] then you might just concoct this type of media circus. And believe me, Arrington is just the guy to pull something like this off.
So we'll see. We'll see if my predictions are right or wrong. We'll see if someone actually ships a robust tablet that costs $199 $299 $399 or, as they are saying now, "$399-ish"...which in my book is more like $499, which is exactly my bottom-end prediction for the Apple iTablet. Now a company like Arrington/FusionGarage might just be willing to sacrifice margin early-on to get market share, so I would not be surprised to see initial pricing pretty aggressive. But I stand by my predictions.
This may be as it appears. It may simply be a bunch of buffoons stumbling around messing up a good idea because they are letting their emotions get in the way. They may be incapable of balancing hype and reality. They may actually be practicing What Not to Do. Or, it's just possible it's all part of the plan. If so, they are not messing up. It's simply Marketing 101.
For now, we'll simply have to wait and see.
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2 comments:
The CrunchPad fiasco seems like it has underlying pinnings as to its demise which are being hidden under the tenants of a failed partnership.
Either way, whatever the reasons, the Arrington and FusionGarage relationship is a lesson to all early ventures entering into a partnership. Clear ownership and responsibilities must be addressed and documented prior to any engagement. While it is a difficult conversation and many would opt to keep a good working relationship rather than jeopardize it over negotiations,it is essential to ensure the tail end success of any product.
Hi Michael,
Yes there are conspiracy theories swirling about, and there may be some truth to them, but I agree with your last statement. If people rely upon "best intentions" and verbal agreements in business, they are running a big risk. So when things start to involve real money, you better get something down in writing. And in any event, settling things in the court of public opinion is never a good idea.
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