T O A S T E R S

If IBM made toasters... they would have one big toaster where people bring
bread to be submitted for overnight toasting. IBM would claim a worldwide
market for five, maybe six toasters.

If Xerox made toasters... you could toast one sided or double sided.
Successive slices would get lighter and lighter. The toaster would jam your
bread for you.

If Apple made toasters... they'd claim their toaster was compatible with all
brands and styles of bread, but when you got it home you'd discover the
Bagel Engine was still in development, the Croissant Extension was three
years away, and that indeed the whole appliance was just blowing smoke.

If Hewlett-Packard made toasters... they would market the Reverse Polish
Toaster, which takes toast and gives you regular bread.

If Sony made toasters... the Toastman would barely be larger than the single
piece of bread it was designed to toast, and it could be conveniently
attached to your belt.

And of course if Microsoft made toasters... every time you bought a loaf of
bread you would have to buy a toaster. You wouldn't have to take the
toaster, but you'd still have to pay for it anyway. Toaster 95 would weigh
15,000 pounds (hence requiring a reinforced steel countertop), draw enough
electricity to power a small city, take up 95 percent of the space in your
kitchen, would claim to be the first toaster that lets you control how light
or dark you want your toast to be, and would secretly interrogate your other
appliances to find out who made them. Everyone would hate Microsoft
toasters, but nonetheless would buy them since most of the good bread only
works with their toasters.