Tiny details can make a difference.
I was reading an article talking about the demise of the OS/2 system. This was meant to be IBM's answer to Microsoft (Windows). IBM dedicated massive amounts of resources to create a fairly robust operating system. Even with their might, they were ultimately unable to defeat their smaller, more nimble competitor.
Even their marketing campaign was unable to avoid fairly critical errors. At some point along the way, they settled on a name for their system, "Warp." They certainly meant to invoke the Star Trek version of travel faster than the speed of light. They were so confident that this wonderful name would capture the public's imagination that they printed the release materials and launch packaging. Unfortunately, no one cleared that with the copyright owners. Once they were unable to secure the rights to use that meaning in their campaign, they were forced to learn the other meaning of the word.
These little lessons are reminders that it's often the small items that determine the fate of very large enterprises.
Here is a link to the OS/2 article: Half an operating system: The triumph and tragedy of OS/2 | Ars Technica
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