There's a recurrent type of ad that shows up every few years in the tech world - the

Welcome, seriously.

submited by
Style Pass
2021-07-16 16:00:08

There's a recurrent type of ad that shows up every few years in the tech world - the "Welcome, seriously." ad. Maybe it shows up due to hubris or fear. It happens when an incumbent enters into a new disruptive market after startups have already started to establish themselves. The startups feel the need to respond publicly to this new threat.

Apple was the first company to launch this campaign, as far as I can tell. This ad was published in the Wall Street Journal in 1981. IBM had just announced it was entering the personal computer market. While IBM's PC didn't end up disrupting Apple's business, it did provide the licensing opportunity that catapulted Microsoft out of obscurity.

In 2015, Apple announced Apple Music. Rdio, a now-defunct startup, tweeted out this message back to Apple. Unfortunately, the ad signaled trouble, and by the end of the year, Rdio was out of business, and Pandora acquired the remaining assets from the company.

Leave a Comment