• New York Times, Fast Company, Monday, November 15, 2010 10:45 AM

Damon Darlin tracks some marketers who are building brand loyalty into their expensive consumer electronics products by ensuring that they are not obsolete before they burn out. Apple's iOS 4.2, which Fast Company's Chris Taylor takes a sneak peak at, might be a case in point. Taylor is delighted with the way Apple is uniting all its mobile devices under one OS and improving app management on the iPad.

Apple has been allowing users to download upgraded software to its old phones for some time, even as it releases new hardware that have features like a front-facing camera so users can make video phone calls. That's smart marketing, Darlin believes: "While Apple's existing customers were locked into contracts, they didn't need to spend the duration seething with envy and resentment."

TiVo has done something similar by including Netflix streaming and the Pandora music service to its five-year-old Series 3 digital video recorder even though TiVo sells newer products -- the TiVo Premier and Premier XL. "Certainly people value it," says TiVo vp for product marketing Jim Denney. "When we don't update it, we hear about it. They pay attention to the fact that service gets better."

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