Apr 29, 2011

Why Laptops?

Why Panasonic?

Sometimes, I forget my age — I remember when the Titanic sank. Today’s young officers don’t know why most agencies use laptop computers in their patrol cars. They also don’t know why the Panasonic brand is so widely used.

In the olden days police cars didn’t have computers; some had Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs). These MDTs had tiny screens showing orange block-type letters and they all came from Motorola. I know none of us would admit to watching Cops … but if you did, you’d occasionally see MDTs there.

Mobile computers didn’t exist.

Mobile printers? Forget it!

The only portable computing solutions were laptops, and the marketers at Panasonic were geniuses. They predicted computers would become widespread in cop cars and they gambled — creating the Toughbook brand. For the first few years of their existence Panasonic priced Toughbooks so cheaply they were nearly give-aways. No other manufacturer could compete with their low prices.

Panasonic created a great brand and then proceeded to buy the market with untouchable pricing. Voila! In the field of cop car computing, Panasonic is equivalent to Kleenex in the tissue business.

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