[They] did more […] than just introduce a new keyboard. A new keyboard alone would have been an anticlimax, as [they] realized. Computer manufacturers have been making good keyboards for years. So [they] also promised to give a free keyboard to all current owners of […], and to those who buy remaining inventories of […] with old keyboards. This generous offer was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. Plenty of computer companies have made mistakes in the past, but very few have offered free retrofits on such a scale. Still, the offer wasn’t solely an outburst of altruism. It both protects and reinforces [their] all-important reputation for dependability and service. And as [their] publicist confided, it’s also [their] way of acknowledging that it should have designed the […] with the new keyboard in the first place. Compute! Issue 53, October 1984, regarding IBM’s PCjr

[They] did more […] than just introduce a new keyboard. A new keyboard alone would have been an anticlimax, as [they] realized. Computer manufacturers have been making good keyboards for years. So [they] also promised to give a free keyboard to all current owners of […], and to those who buy remaining inventories of […] with old keyboards.

This generous offer was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day. Plenty of computer companies have made mistakes in the past, but very few have offered free retrofits on such a scale. Still, the offer wasn’t solely an outburst of altruism. It both protects and reinforces [their] all-important reputation for dependability and service. And as [their] publicist confided, it’s also [their] way of acknowledging that it should have designed the […] with the new keyboard in the first place.

Compute! Issue 53, October 1984, regarding IBM’s PCjr

🔗 Sat, May 2, 2020 at 2:36pm