FLEXIBILITY IN DESIGN - Title Page - MIT

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de Neufville + Scholtes D R A F T September 30, 2009• Step 4: Plan for eventual implementation of the chosen flexibilities, both by arrangingmaking arrangements with the stakeholders in the process, and then by monitoring theconditions that would indicate whether and when they should implement the designflexibility.Box 1.6 illustrates the process.Box 1.6 about herePart 1: Chapters 1 to 3 <strong>Page</strong> 10 of 69
de Neufville + Scholtes D R A F T September 30, 2009Box 1.1____________________________________________________________________________Technological surprise: the Iridium fleet of communication satellitesThe case of the Iridium fleet of communication satellites illustrates the sensitivity of technologicalprojects to rapid changes in context. This system was a superb technical development – but amiserable financial failure.Iridium originally consisted of over 60 satellites that communicated with each other and anypoint on earth. It provided consumers with wireless telephone service from any location to anyother, provided they took the 3-pound satellite phone outdoors. Motorola designed Iridium in thelate 1980s and deployed it a decade later. By that time, it was commercially obsolete -- cell phonetechnology had swept the market.Iridium went bankrupt and sold for $ 25 million dollars, about ½% of the $ 4 billioninvestment. 2Technological surprise: global positional system (GPS)The United States military originally developed GPS to control long-range missiles. The heart ofGPS is a fleet of satellites constantly beaming signals, like lighthouses in the sky. Receivers canautomatically triangulate these beams to locate themselves very precisely. Such chips are nowcommonplace in civilian applications. Aircraft can position themselves accurately when no radar isavailable for example. Cell phones have them. Drivers and hikers use them to find their way inremote areas.GPS has created tremendous opportunities and value in ways unsuspected by the originaldesigners. Because they did not anticipate this tremendous commercial success, they did not buildthe original GPS with any capability to benefit from it – they did not incorporate any way to charge afee for this service!____________________________________________________________________________Part 1: Chapters 1 to 3 <strong>Page</strong> 11 of 69
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