Why Successful Companies Might Want To Listen More To Their Critics
When I was at school, the Encyclop?dia Britannica was considered the trusted reference encyclopedia.
To own a complete set cost hundreds (thousands?) of dollars. Even though it was printed on fine sheets of paper, the Microp?dia, Macrop?dia and Prop?dia weighed more than I did. If you were a school or library and wanted to remain current, you had to dole out more cash to ‘upgrade' to the new edition every couple of years. An army of salesmen went door to door, to convince ordinary families that having Britannica on their bookshelves was a goal worth laying away a significant part of their paycheck, far more important than buying a color TV or stereo system.
They were a formidable ‘IBM' of knowledge. Even when Britannica made tentative steps into digital in the 1990s, you still had to fork over a ton of money for a CD-ROM or online subscription. This was despite emerging competition from far less expensive products like Microsoft’s Encarta (sound familiar?)
One day, in a fit of spiteful pique, I emailed the company and told them how ridiculous their business model was in the new digital economy. Once I found their email address, that is. I said information wants to be free, and in the near future people will use vast online libraries of information rather than buying cumbersome physical books that rapidly became out-of-date.
How impertinent of me. I received a terse and irate response. Thank your for your interesting letter, the email said, but we’ve been publishing encyclop?dias for over two hundred years. We think we know a little bit more about the business than you do. The world wide web I spoke of would never replace the leather-bound luxury and authority of the word’s most respected and comprehensive encyclopedia. People would have the Britannica on their bookshelves for generations to come. So basically, go die in a hole somewhere.
I wish I had kept that email. Wikipedia is now the world's global encyclopedia. Nobody uses '?' in written communication. People learn about unfolding events on Twitter, Facebook and (unfortunately) FOX News. Door-to-door Britannica salesmen are a relic of the past, since the final printed edition in 2010. The online edition is freemium, supported by advertising. Some of the content is even crowdsourced. If you want to, you can upgrade to the premium edition for $70 a year. I don't know anyone that does though.
I’m still waiting for an apology. Or at least a free subscription...