While you never get a second chance at a first impression, a second impression can be more potent than a first one. So it often is in tech, where the first release of a device’s software often has functional gaps and shortcomings that are often addressed and sometimes promised in subsequent releases. Even in the world’s largest tech companies, the early reception of a product can have an outsized weight on its future in the constant battle for development resources.
The past few years, for example, have seen the demise of such product lines as Meta’s Portal video calling devices, Amazon’s Halo health devices, Google’s Jamboard smart whiteboard, and (unofficially) a slew of Microsoft’s Surface family devices, including the Studio desktop, Duo smartphone, headphones and earbuds.
