In a funny way, a Year 2000 debacle really did come to pass. In one way, it did seem as though the clock had been turned back to 1900. In the early part of the last century, the motion picture and automotive industries were new. At that stage of their development they were driven by technology rather than by design and marketing. The revolution that we are experiencing in information technology at the beginning of the 21st century is at that same stage.

The focus recently has been on time to market, not on the quality of the thinking behind the business plans and products themselves. In the rush to market, critical considerations have often been neglected. We are now seeing the result: businesses that fail and products that people won't use.

As a result, we believe we are entering a new stage in the design of technology, the post-.com era. We are already starting to notice that there is more careful planning, longer lead times and more concern with doing things correctly the first time. Increasingly, we expect that successful companies and products will rely not only on good marketing but also on useful, usable and good-looking design. We believe that forward-looking companies are already working this way.