Acrobats and Aardvarks

"Customers with complaints or problems are the greatest opportunity for any business: help out a customer who cares enough to call you (rather than abandon you without a word), and you’ve probably just created a customer for life, and an evangelist for your company.

"Marketing has long believed this, and gradually the concept is being absorbed by the technologists who create software systems. The most interesting part of CRM today lies in the area of Customer Service and Support, CS&S. This is where the acquisition cost of the customer is either preserved or thrown away."

See Dovetail Software Blogs

Not sure that it ever went away. Engineers are returning to their roots.

"We live in an era where the answer to almost any question is just a click away; where technology fuels business in a way that our predecessors could scarcely imagine, and where communication and the transfer of data get faster every day. However, while many enterprises and SMBs would like to adapt new technologies to their needs, many still cling to one outdated, outmoded machine: the Box PC."

-From The Power of the Blade


For more, see PC Blade Daily.