| Description |
1 online resource (xiv, 256 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Machine generated contents note: I Introduction -- 1 The High-Technology Bandwagon -- 2 A Bandwagon Tour -- 2.1 A Guide to the Tour -- II Bandwagons: How They Work -- 3 Bandwagon Demand -- 3.1 Equilibrium User Sets -- 3.2 Demand as a Function of Price -- 3.3 Metcalfe's Law -- 3.4 Dynamics of Complementary Bandwagon Effects -- 4 Bandwagon Supply -- 4.1 Monopoly versus Competition -- 4.2 Interlinking -- 4.3 Solving the Start-Up Problem -- 4.4 Incentives of Suppliers to Interlink -- 4.5 Supply Coordination with Complementary -- Bandwagon Products -- 4.6 Technical Standards -- 4.7 Proprietor Services versus Customer Equipment -- 4.8 Mature Services -- 4.9 Predatory Pricing -- 5 Summary of Results of Bandwagon Theory -- 5.1 The Cheat Sheet -- im Case Studies -- 6 Fax -- 6.1 Lessons from Case Study -- 7 Early Telephone -- 7.1 Pricing of Exchange Service -- 7.2 Interlinking -- 7.3 Lessons from Case Study -- 8 Picturephone -- 8.1 Picturephone as an Intercom Service -- 8.2 Constructing a Self-Sufficient User Set -- 8.3 Actual Outcome -- 8.4 Lessons from Case Study -- 9 Compact-Disc Players -- 9.1 Technological Standard -- 9.2 CDs Not Available -- 9.3 Small Libraries of CDs -- 9.4 Subsequent Developments -- 9.5 Other Digital Players of Recorded Music -- 9.6 Lessons from Case Study -- 10 VCRs -- 10.1 Early Developments -- 10.2 Early VCR Use -- 10.3 Beta versus VHS -- 10.4 The Bandwagon -- 10.5 The Hollywood Assault -- 10.6 The Videocassette Business -- 10.7 Videodisc Players -- 10.8 Lessons from Case Study -- 11 Personal Computers -- 11.1 Early Application Software -- 11.2 The Rise of the IBM PC -- 11.3 The Decline of the IBM PC -- 11.4 The Role of Apple -- 11.5 The Rise of Intel and Microsoft -- 11.6 Microsoft's Pricing -- 11.7 Recent Applications Software -- 11.8 Linux -- 11.9 Java -- 11.10 The Role of Misjudgments -- 11.11 Lessons from Case Study -- 12 Television -- 12.1 The Emergence of Television -- 12.2 Color Television -- 12.3 High-Definition Television -- 12.4 Lessons from Case Study -- 13 The Internet -- 13.1 Size and Growth of the Internet -- 13.2 Telecommunications Technology -- 13.3 Evolution of the Computer Industry -- 13.4 Telecommunications Prices -- 13.5 The Development of ARPANET -- 13.6 Other Packet-Switched Networks -- 13.7 NSFNET -- 13.8 The Internet after NSFNET -- 13.9 Externalities and Transactions Costs -- 13.10 Current Internet Usage -- 13.11 A Final Reflection -- 13.12 Lessons from Case Study -- IV Conclusions -- 14 Summary of Results -- 14.1 Start-Up Problem -- 14.2 Vertical Integration -- 14.3 Bandwagon Markets without Interlinking -- 14.4 Agreeing to a Technical Standard -- 14.5 Government Intervention -- 15 Final Remarks -- Mathematical Appendix -- Notes -- Glossary of Economics Concepts -- Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms -- Bibliography -- Index |
| Summary |
Economists use the term "bandwagon effect" to describe the benefit a consumer enjoys as a result of others' using the same product or service. The history of videocassettes offers a striking example of the power of bandwagon effects. Originally there were two technical standards for videocassettes in the United States: Beta and VHS. Beta was widely regarded to have better picture quality, but VHS could record longer television programs. Eventually the selection of Beta cassettes shrank to zero, leaving consumers no choice but to get on the VHS bandwagon. The most successful bandwagon, apart from telephone service, is the Internet. In this book, Jeffrey Rohlfs shows how the dynamics of bandwagons differ from those of conventional products and services. They are difficult to get started and often fail before getting under way. A classic example of a marketing failure is the Picturephone, introduced by the Bell System in the early 1970s. Rohlfs describes the fierce battles waged by competitors when new services are introduced, as well as cases of early agreement on a single technical standard, as with CDs and CD players. He also discusses the debate among economists and policy analysts over the advantages and disadvantages of having governments set technical standards. The case studies include fax machines, telephones, CD players, VCRs, personal computers, television, and the Internet |
| Analysis |
INFORMATION SCIENCE/Technology & Policy |
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INFORMATION SCIENCE/Internet Studies |
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SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY/History of Technology |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-246) and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
High technology industries -- United States -- Case studies
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BUSINESS & ECONOMICS -- Industries -- Service.
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High technology industries
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Hoogwaardige technologie.
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Bedrijfstakken.
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United States
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Verenigde Staten.
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| Genre/Form |
Case studies
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Casestudies (vorm)
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Case studies.
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Études de cas.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780262256889 |
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0262256886 |
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9780262254304 |
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0262254301 |
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0585436126 |
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9780585436128 |
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