evolutionary path that prevents them from falling too far behind. Telcos need to abandon the concept of the rigid, fixed product and instead embrace a packaging concept that is much more flexible, especially in the area of technological upgrade and downgrade. Chapter 23 Computer Leases and Upgrade Guarantees Good examples of how this philosophy is penetrating the business world can be found in the personal computer market where several PC manufacturers have begun to offer upgrade-guarantee programs. Consumers lease computers (instead of buying them outright), thereby affording access to the latest technology. As innovations become available, the rentals are automatically and painlessly upgraded for a fee. Automotive Lease Programs This computer leasing program for consumers is not too different from the automotive leasing programs that became SO popular just a few years ago. These programs, like the computer lease programs, are based upon a simple premise. Consumers are not interested in owning and managing a fleet of cars (nor in running a computer operations center). They merely want transportation (or computer power) and anyone who is able to reduce their risk and minimize the administrative and bureaucratic overhead required to gain those benefits will get a large number of loyal customers. Minimizing the Telco Customer's Risk and Hassle There are an unbelievable variety of avenues that the telco can investigate to make its product offerings easy to access, risk- reduced, and administratively minimized. The individual strengths, weaknesses, and market positions of each of these firms will dictate how well these avenues work and which options the individual telco decides to leverage. Developing Products That Sell Other Products Another way to approach the product development discipline is to prepare people for the purchase of product upgrades in the future. In the old days of manufacturing and consumerism, product developers invented the concept of planned obsolescence (creating products that need to be replac