Individual Inventors High Tech Innovations
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You’ve got vision, and the grit to use it
By Don Debelak
This article originally appeared in Entrepreneur magazine in the early 2000s.
Note: The product had a strong start and was PC World’s product of the year in the early 2000s but the company got overwhelmed by Apple Tablets. Apple started work on their tablet in 1985 so it can’t really be said that they derived their product form the Qbe. The story below is from Qbe’s victory at Comdex 2000.
Santa Ana Company Honored at Comdex
January 05, 2000|MARC BALLON
Beating out such industry titans as Sony and Hewlett-Packard, a Santa Ana computer company in November took home top honors at Comdex in Las Vegas, one of the biggest computer trade shows in the world.
Aqcess Technologies’ Qbe (pronounced “cube”), a lightweight, wireless personal computer shaped like a tablet, won PC Week’s “Best of Comdex Award” in the desktop, mobile and hand-held device category.
“It’s given us a tremendous boost in the marketplace and makes people stand up and take notice,” said Jon-Erik Prichard, Aqcess’ president.
Slightly larger than a yellow legal pad, the Qbe can be used anywhere. It features instant Internet access and a built-in digital camera. The company, which says it has pre-sold 12,000 units, believes the product will become especially popular among consultants, salespeople and students.
This web site has an article talking about the history of the tablet and it mentions the Qbe as the first modern tablet. http://theinstitute.ieee.org/technology-focus/technology-history/a-bitter-pill-or-a-better-tablet
High Tech Inventions start with practical experience
In 1993, Jon-Erik Prichard was working as the creative director for an ad agency that worked with telecommunications companies. One of the main thrusts in the industry at the time was wireless communications. Then one day, “It all just came to me,” says Prichard, 38. He realized combining wireless technology with speech and handwriting recognition software would result in a truly mobile computer with user-friendly communications features. People could use this computer any time, anywhere without bothering to hook up to a modem or a networking cable, even forfeiting the need for a keyboard or a mouse.
In November 1999, Prichard introduced his Qbe Personal Computing Tablet, a product that Prichard says his company, Aqcess Technologies Inc., “can’t make fast enough to meet demand.” The company is now shipping 5,000 units per month.
At 14-by-10-by-1.6 inches, the Qbe is sleek, snappy and just slightly larger than a tablet of paper. The entire device is a full-sized screen that has speech and handwriting software, a stylus for moving the cursor (or writing) on-screen and even a digital camera with video-conferencing and still-photo capabilities. It requires no keyboard, no wires and no mouse (though all three are available for people wanting to work at a desk in a traditional office setting).
Prichard began by selling a business version that was in the $4,000 range. The market responding fastest to the Qbe has been real estate, where employees are always on the road and frequently need to convey visual images to customers. A consumer version at a lower cost is expected to be released late this year and will be priced under $2,000. This new device will allow consumers to do everything from read a downloaded book in bed to comparison shop on the Net while browsing at the mall.
Of course, most of us can see the benefits of the Qbe immediately, which is why the product appears to be a runaway success in today’s market. But to get the product out in 2000, Prichard had to commit to the idea in 1995…before the Internet was popular, before Palm Pilots were on the market, even before the first effective speech and handwriting software had been developed. Almost everyone thought he was insane. In fact, most people didn’t believe many of the future technologies Prichard was counting on would ever exist. But Prichard made that transition from potential kook to bona fide genius by being right on target with his big vision.
Though he struggled for six years against seemingly impossible odds, Prichard believed in his ideas and never doubted that his product would be perfect for the market once it was ready. Here is a breakdown of the trials and tribulations he endured and the way his vision “saved” him:
Year One. “I financed this entire year from my savings,” Prichard says. “At the end of the year I had some cardboard models and a plan.” He also had some foretelling stories about future technology. “I talked to a lot of people and most couldn’t see my vision at all. But every now and then I found someone who understood my vision and believed in me.”
Year Two. “I received some financing but was still working without a salary,” Prichard says. It was a tough year, with Prichard running low on resources but nonetheless managing to put together some working models and demonstrate his vision.
Years Three and Four. Prichard spent these years further developing the product, deciding what markets to focus on and setting up a plan for launching the product. He finally raised enough money to start taking a salary.
Years Five and Six. Prichard started to pre-sell his product through press releases, attending trade shows and via his connection with Ingram-Micro and Tech Data, distributors for his vertical markets. In addition, Prichard worked to finalize production details and lined up financing to produce his initial production run and launch the Qbe.
Year Seven. With the Qbe well-established, Prichard turned his attention toward the consumer market-place. He created a smaller, lighter version of the Qbe designed specifically for everyday use. This competitively priced model will be made available in October. Furthermore, Aqcess recently reduced the price of its Qbe Cirrus model to $2,999.
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