Que vadis?
The furious pace at which innovations are brought to market is inevitable in an industry that thrives on competition.
However, as Plastic Logic has discovered to its cost, perfecting designs in such a fast moving market means that time becomes a significant addition to the bill of materials.
Plastic Logic unveiled the Que e-reader at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year, backed up by investment of around $200million. Since then, it has been plagued with delays and, while the design process continued, the market dramatically changed.
Devices such as the Kindle e-reader and, notably, the iPad effectively usurped the Que. Plastic Logic has now abandoned the project but still plans a 'successor' to the Que. What will the new approach be? Only time will tell.
