It may seem strange to lump technology and fashion together, but both types of innovation depend
for their success on consumers changing some aspect of their values or lifestyle. For example, the
market success of the IBM Thinkpad hinged in part on a novel cursor control in the middle of the keyboard
that required users to interact with the keyboard in an unfamiliar way. The new design was so
controversial within IBM that managers had difficulty believing the enthusiastic reaction to the cursor
control in early focus groups. As a result, the company underestimated demand – a problem that contributed to the Thinkpad’s being in short supply for more than a year