The "Jobs" Era

A colleague and I were recently discussing why Apple is so successful, no matter how outrageous their products may seem. In fact, a blogger commented that if he had not betted against Steve Jobs ten years ago, he'd be a rich man. I agree. Everyone thinks the Amazon Kindle is fantastic, but you will not find as much pomp or hear as much chatter about it as you will about the iPad.

No matter what is said though, two facts remain true. First, bad publicity is better than no publicity. Whether the review is good or bad, most readers eventually end up on the Apple website, hoping to experience the iPad and make up their own mind or form their own unbiased opinion. The point is, they end up on the Apple website...the Apple shop!! Brilliant, isnt it? The second fact is this, Steve Jobs has discovered the secret to the future. Information at the fingertips. This very thing might be where the entire success of www.maduqa.com lies.

Being able to trade, to send and receive information relevant and to do so conveniently almost anywhere in the world is priceless. It eliminates the need for a physical premises (will legislation accept this in the laws governing registration of businesses? It will be interesting to see how this develops), gives both buyers and sellers access to each other almost instantly and reduces the opportunity cost (try to search for a 1993 royal blue toyota celica with 17" wheels and a twin cam V6 without a search engine, in Nairobi's car bazaars!) and hence increases convenience exponentially. Who would not want to be a part of this? Online trading has the potential, when combined with instant cash transfer (MPESA), to become the future of buying and selling. The secret? Information at the fingertips.

To be fair though, this is not a new idea, and www.maduqa.com is not the only website doing this kind of thing. Amazon has been doing it for years, so has ebay and others. Many Kenyan companies have also emerged and joined the playing field. So why would Maduqa succeed when everyone knows the potential of this industry and is therefore joining it? What makes it different? What does Maduqa do better than anyone else? Why would I shop or own a shop at Maduqa? I would love to hear what you think.

Back to Steve Jobs - being the ambitious and successful man that he is, he recently decided to tackle the sports wear market with a series of innovative and futuristic products. His first challenge? Performance running shoes. This move however caused ripples amongst the U.S. public and eventually was debated in Congress. After passing its ruling, Congress released a statement. It had instructed Jobs and the company through the Security Council to abandon the project. The reason? "possible promotion of anti-american / anti-nationalist values..." After further investigation, the real problem was discovered. It lay in the name that had been proposed for the new running shoe...iRan!

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