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One of the key elements of our ZapMail plan was our belief that the costs of the various components in the system would decrease year after year. This became very tenuous with the continuing deterioration of the yen-dollar exchange rate, reducing the ability of our Japanese vendor to deliver subsequent versions of the ZapMailer at steadily decreasing prices. And, the Challenger space-shuttle tragedy caused an immediate increase of more than 50% in the cost of launching satellites and drove up by 400% the cost of satellite-launch insurance. . . .

[In addition,] several new low-cost, high-performance facsimile machines have entered the market and are receiving wide acceptance. While this might have offered opportunity in some respects, it also posed a threat to the ZapMail project.

While my theories on entrepreneurship and innovation certainly have not changed, in the case of ZapMail, it was very much like the old cliche: discretion is sometimes the better part of valor.

EDITOR-NOTE:

Our October interview with Federal Express Corp.'s Fred Smith contained his upbeat prediction that the company's investment in ZapMail would eventually pay off. Smith reviewed transcripts of that interview over the summer, but late in September, Federal Express announced it was zapping ZapMail. In a letter to INC., Smith explains the factors that prompted the turnabout.