Cambridge University's LSAT Logic, PDFs, and eBooks

Being an LSAT blogger, I read a lot of tech news (the NYTimes Tech news RSS feed is awesome).

I follow the Amazon Kindle, the iTunes music store, Twitter, Facebook, etc., and I don't really know why.

Actually, I do know why.

Aside from just thinking about how it all applies to LSAT Blog, I try to figure out why companies act the way they do. I think about their motivations and the pros and cons of their decisions.

After all, when someone's in the boardroom of a tech company promoting their project, they're making assertions:

"We can beat our competitors on this."

"This item will be successful."

"We're uniquely positioned to promote this."

These assertions (aka conclusions) must be supported by evidence if they're going to have any chance of convincing the big bosses at these companies to put some money behind the particular project. Basically, arguments exist in the real world (duh).

Cambridge University and LSAT Logic
I recently read that a Cambridge University-backed company called Plastic Logic (wiki) created the digital display for an ebook-reader called the QUE proReader:










My first thought: "Good for you, putting the word 'logic' in your company's name. I like you a bit more already!"

However, this doesn't mean their product's a good idea, of course.

Let's assume, for argument's sake, that the Que ProReader is a newcomer to the market of ebook readers and that the others have all been around for at least a year.


Minor problem:
The product's name has the word "Que" in it, which makes me think of the Spanish word for "what." (It's pronounced like the letter "Q", though.)


Major problem:
There's a lot of competition. Aside from the Amazon Kindle pictured at the beginning of this blog post, there are some other players in the market.

There's the Barnes & Noble Nook:












There's the Skiff Reader, which bends:






















And there are a bunch more - too many to go into, really.

Clearly, Plastic Logic won't be able to distinguish the Que ProReader by distributing photos of disembodied hands holding their product.



What sort of information, if true, would strengthen the Plastic Logic employee's argument for creating yet another ebook reader? (All of the following would.)

Their ebook reader has characteristics and capabilities the others don't.

They have better marketing/distribution channels.

Their product is cheaper to produce than the others.

Most people who will eventually buy an ebook reader have not yet purchased one.

Members of the public who already have ebook readers might still buy another.

People want to read books, PDFs, etc. on small handheld computer-like thingies.

The Que ProReader has the unique capability of also allowing the user to print out multiple copies of whatever they're reading.


What sort of information, if true, would weaken the Plastic Logic employee's argument? (All of the following would.)

Their ebook reader doesn't have any unique characteristics or capabilities.

They don't have better marketing/distribution channels.

Their product is not cheaper to produce than the others.

Most people who will eventually buy an ebook reader have already purchased one.

Members of the public who already have ebook readers will not buy another one.

People don't want to read books, PDFs, etc. on small handheld computer-like thingies.

The Que ProReader does not have the unique capability of also allowing the user to print out multiple copies of whatever they're reading.


What sort of information, if true, would help us evaluate the Plastic Logic employee's argument for creating advertisements that feature disembodied hands holding their product? (All of the following would.)

Whether surveys and studies have shown that people are scared of ads featuring disembodied hands

Whether companies improve their sales by mimicking the advertisements of their competitors

Whether ads that feature disembodied hands cause the viewer to picture themselves as the owner of the ebook reader being advertised