I often look at innovative products on the net, for example:

http://www.youtube.com/v/X813eTuZJkc

Then, I am brought up short by what I call the Ambassador syndrome.

Simply put, this is the ability to get some gadget, vehicle, or appliance maintained, and repaired, easily. If you buy a Lamborghini, the chances of your roadside halli mechanic being able to fix the car if it stops are….not good! It would then become a “push”paka vimAnA…

(if you don’t know what a pushpaka vimAnA is, see

here

wouldn’t it be nice to have one of those?)

Ambassador

you will have no difficulty in keeping it running!

When the

Reva Electric car

was first launched, this was what kept me from buying it…even today, in Bangalore, the electrical outlets needed to charge the car are few and far between, though the number of Revas on the road has increased exponentially.

I feel bad that many good innovations fail in the marketplace because of the Ambassador factor…but that’s real life! Unless a product is backed up by a strong maintenance/repair infrastructure, it’s doomed….and the paradox is that building up that infrastructure before marketing the product might be expensive and unwise, as the manufacturers of the

Matiz

know to their cost!