Question

Identify the letter of the choice that BEST completes the statement or answers the question. America Online *It has been more than a decade since America Online (AOI) has been even a minor player in the Internet Am world. However, in an effort to reposition itself as an online heavyweight, AOL recently unveiled Alto, a new product that it hopes will revolutionize e-mail. In general, nearly all e-mail platforms have the same layout. In Alto, the e-mail inbox list is located on a small vertical column on the left third of the page, while the other two-thirds of the page are occupied by what AOL calls "stacks." Messages and multimedia are instantly categorized and sorted into visual stacks according to their content. Daily deals, social notifications, business transactions, photos, and attachments each have their own stacks, and users can create their own customized stacks as well. Instead of a bloated inbox, then, Alto provides a simplified, organized, visually dominated e-mail experience. Alto does not require users to sign up for yet another new e-mail address (though the option to create a new @altomail.com address is available). Instead, users can simply sign into Alto using their existing credentials for Gmail, Yahoo, .me, and other accounts. According to David Temkin, AOL's senior vice president of mobile and mail, Alto is fully intended to be a disruptive and innovative product in market that has grown somewhat complacent. As Temkin says, "Email hasn't had a serious rethink really since Gmail came out. We wanted to take a swing at that and not be tethered by the existing 20 million or so people using AOL Mail." Early reviews of Alto are quite positive, though the product certainly faces an uphill battle in the crowded e-mail market.

Answer 1

1]

(c) - addition to existing product line. This is because Alto is still an email product.

(a) is incorrect - Email applications are not a new-to-the-world product. They have existed for a few decades now.

(b) is incorrect - It is not a new product line because AOL already has AOL Mail.

(d) is incorrect - A repositioned product is an existing product that is marketed differently.

(e) is incorrect. It is not a lower-priced product.

2]

(e) - all of these.

Doing just one of these is not sufficient for a successful product.

3]

As per the diffusion of innovation theory, the first adopters of new technology are called innovators.

(e) - Innovators.

4]

(b) - user can login using existing email accounts. This speaks for Alto's trialability as anyone can easily try the new product.

The other factors are true, but do not speak for Alto's trailability.

5]

Email is at the maturity stage because the revenues and growth of email products have peaked.