New Products
New Products
Predicting the success or failure of a new product based on what engineers and programmers are saying about it
[A two-column table illustrating this. The headings are actually standing above the table.]
If they say... It means... "It doesn't do anything new" The product will be a gigantic success. "Why would anyone want that?" "Really exciting" The product will be a flop. Years later, its ideas will show up in something successful. "I've already preorded one" "Wait, are you talking about <unfamiliar person's name>'s new project?" The product could be a scam and may result in arrests or lawsuits. "I would never put <company> in charge of managing my <whatever>." Within five years, they will.

This comic points out an apparent paradox in product performance: Many products that are criticized by techies when first announced go on to great success, and many that are heavily hyped are total flops. The product in question may be a reference to the Apple Watch , which was announced around the time of this comic's release.
The title text imagines a product that fits into the second, third and fourth categories:
Kim Dotcom is a controversial entrepreneur and convicted fraud . He changed his surname to "Dotcom" because of the dot-com stock market bubble that made him a millionaire. He fits perfectly into the mold of someone well-known to programmers and engineers (as well as New Zealanders), but perhaps not so much to your average Joe.
Taken together, these imply that an untrustworthy and potentially malicious company has an exciting new idea that may eventually come out in successful form, gains control of a large amount of medical information, but ultimately result in lawsuits not just from investors but from misled consumers (category 3). Because the initial release will be a flop (category 2), there is some time to prepare before the successful use of this idea becomes a reality (also category 2), at which point that or some other company will gain control of a large amount of people's medical something (category 4). Once this happens you could expect dramatic repercussions; this is why the title text suggests to dig a bunker while there is still time.
Predicting the success or failure of a new product based on what engineers and programmers are saying about it
[A two-column table illustrating this. The headings are actually standing above the table.]
If they say... It means... "It doesn't do anything new" The product will be a gigantic success. "Why would anyone want that?" "Really exciting" The product will be a flop. Years later, its ideas will show up in something successful. "I've already preorded one" "Wait, are you talking about <unfamiliar person's name>'s new project?" The product could be a scam and may result in arrests or lawsuits. "I would never put <company> in charge of managing my <whatever>." Within five years, they will.
