day 6

parable of an innovator 3: gene autrey rides into town

Quote from the Historical Almanac of the U.S. Senate, Pg.147: "On April 26,1882, the President of the United States warned the Senate that an alarming state of disorder existed in the territory of Arizona, where robbery, murder, and resistance to law have become so common as to cease causing surprise. President Chester A. Arthur blamed these disorders on 'armed bands of desperados known as cowboys,' and called on Congress to enact legislation permitting federal military forces in Arizona to be employed as a posse comitatus to bring law and order to the frontier." Scene: Tom Mix and Apple founder Steve Jobs compare notes in Stardom Heaven. Tom says to Steve, "Where did you screw up, Steve?" A bearded Jobs relies, "I forgot to have children." Our parable continues. The long-lasting cowboy star of the early movies and radio was Gene Autrey. Gene took the innovative ideas of early pioneers like Tom Mix and turned them into an industry. While Tom Mix squandered his lead, Gene Autrey methodically built an industry. Autrey had the business sense to create an industry out of a career. Decades later, Gene Autrey, Inc., still owns many radio and TV stations in the United States. Microsoft may not be innovative, but Bill Gates and his court jesters know how to build an industry. Instead of holding on to the DOS, Windows, and Windows NT operating system, Microsoft practically gives it away. Give away the razors, sell lots of blades. Like Tom Mix's successor Autrey, Microsoft is a franchise outfit. By setting and frequently changing the industry's standards, Microsoft forces everyone - EVERYONE IN THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY - to play by their rules. Microsoft exerts a force on other companies - perhaps more than it does on itself. This is the stuff of an industry builder. What does this teach us? (Every parable must give sage advice). A company makes point products - products that fill a niche, or target a certain group of spenders. An industry is a group of symbiotic companies that alternately compete and cooperate to fill the diverse needs of an entire industry. Apple executives never allowed the Mac to be an industry standard. Their stupidity, like Tom Mix's drinking habit, hampered the development of the MacOS AS AN INDUSTRY STANDARD. Meanwhile, mediocrity reins supreme in the PC industry.

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