Legal Research

"The Platform is Changing"

This post was written by Jordan Furlong: "Seth Godin calls it the WordPerfect Axiom, and he's exactly right: When the platform changes, the leaders change.

WordPerfect had a virtual monopoly on word processing in big firms that used DOS. Then Windows arrived and the folks at WordPerfect didn't feel the need to hurry in porting themselves to the new platform. They had achieved lock-in after all, and why support Microsoft. In less than a year, they were toast.

When the game machine platform of choice switches from Sony to xBox to Nintendo, etc., the list of bestelling games change and new companies become dominant. When the platform for music shifted from record stores to iTunes, the power shifted too, and many labels were crushed.

Again and again the same rules apply. In fact, they always do. When the platform changes, the deck gets shuffled. ...  Insiders become outsiders and new opportunities abound.

This is happening, right now, in the legal services marketplace. The platform for legal service delivery is changing, and if you're standing on it -- and most lawyers are -- you're going to find it very difficult to keep your balance..."

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Source: Law21ca, 17 March 2010. © 2008 Jordan Furlong, reproduced with permission of the author

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on March 22, 2010 (boomark / email).