Will Microsoft's New 'Ultra-Mobile' Computer Fly or Flop? Past Experience Offers Some Clues

KNOWLEDGE @ WHARTON: Although Microsoft recently unveiled an 'ultra-mobile personal computer,' or UMPC, in a move to fill a market niche between laptops and handheld computers, it remains to be seen whether this latest innovation from the software giant will be a hit or flop. While Microsoft is following a "build-it-and-it-will-sell" strategy with the UMPC, technology history is littered with innovative products that never found a market, say experts at Wharton. As Wharton professor of operations and information management Eric K. Clemons puts it: "Build-it-and-it-will-sell strategies are a mixed bag."