Quote:
Originally Posted by murg
Encarta was a means to another end. That end was satisfied in Microsoft's business plan when CD readers in computers became ubiquitous. And Microsoft made billions of a side-effect of their business plan.
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The lessons of Encarta are twofold: when technology enables a new product line/business model, embracing it will be more profitable than actively resisting it; and when technology obsoletes your product line/business model, it is more profitable to let it go (the cold won't bother them anyway) instead of fighting to prop up the fading business.
The international publishers are wise to be looking for ways to grow their native market ebook business; Smartphones and tablets are not going away anytime soon so they might as well take advantage of them.