20/20 Foresight
You've got vision, but do you have the grit to use it?
In 1993, Jon-Erik Prichard was working as the creative director
for an ad agency that worked with telecommunications companies. One
of the main thrusts in the industry at the time was wireless
communications. Then one day, "It all just came to me,"
says Prichard, 38. He realized combining wireless technology with
speech and handwriting recognition software would result in a truly
mobile computer with user-friendly communications features. People
could use this computer any time, anywhere without bothering to
hook up to a modem or a networking cable, even forfeiting the need
for a keyboard or a mouse.
In November 1999, Prichard introduced his Qbe Personal Computing
Tablet, a product that Prichard says his company, Aqcess
Technologies Inc., "can't make fast enough to meet
demand." The company is now shipping 5,000 units per
month.
At 14-by-10-by-1.6 inches, the Qbe is sleek, snappy and just
slightly larger than a tablet of paper. The entire device is a
full-sized screen that has speech and handwriting software, a
stylus for moving the cursor (or writing) on-screen and even a
digital camera with video-conferencing and still-photo
capabilities. It requires no keyboard, no wires and no mouse
(though all three are available for people wanting to work at a
desk in a traditional office setting).
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Prichard began by selling a business version that was in the
$4,000 range. The market responding fastest to the Qbe has been
real estate, where employees are always on the road and frequently
need to convey visual images to customers. A consumer version at a
lower cost is expected to be released late this year and will be
priced under $2,000. This new device will allow consumers to do
everything from read a downloaded book in bed to comparison shop on
the Net while browsing at the mall.
Of course, most of us can see the benefits of the Qbe
immediately, which is why the product appears to be a runaway
success in today's market. But to get the product out in 2000,
Prichard had to commit to the idea in 1995...before the Internet
was popular, before Palm Pilots were on the market, even before the
first effective speech and handwriting software had been developed.
Almost everyone thought he was insane. In fact, most people
didn't believe many of the future technologies Prichard was
counting on would ever exist. But Prichard made that transition
from potential kook to bona fide genius by being right on target
with his big vision.
Don Debelak is a new-business marketing consultant and the
author of Bringing Your Product to Market(John Wiley
& Sons). Send him your invention questions at dondebelak@uswest.net.
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