The innovation I’d most like to see is not a snowmobiling accessory but an alternative to snowmobiles, permitting more people to have fun on snow without the expenses and other drawbacks of snowmobiling. For example, in 1996 I made a motorized toboggan that was more fun to ride than any snowmobile I owned. It would also be fruitful for Ski-doo and the dwindling number of other snowmobile manufacturers to deeply ponder exactly what it is about the riding experience that makes traditional snowmobiling fun. In my opinion, while modern snowmobiles are technically better than ever before, they are often less enjoyable to drive and less able to sustain long-term participatory pleasure, which is reflected in precipitous sales declines and an alarming loss of dealerships in my area, ensconced in prime snowmobiling territory. If you study neurology and psychology (as a medical doctor, I have) and connect relevant dots with the real world, it suggests ways to optimize fun. Unfortunately, manufacturers oblivious to this unwittingly undermine their success by making changes that lessen the enjoyment of snowmobiling, predictably resulting in an efflux of customers who voted with their wallets, sending a strong signal that manufacturers perennially ignore.
The innovation I’d most like to see is not a snowmobiling accessory but an alternative to snowmobiles, permitting more people to have fun on snow without the expenses and other drawbacks of snowmobiling. For example, in 1996 I made a motorized toboggan that was more fun to ride than any snowmobile I owned.
It would also be fruitful for Ski-doo and the dwindling number of other snowmobile manufacturers to deeply ponder exactly what it is about the riding experience that makes traditional snowmobiling fun. In my opinion, while modern snowmobiles are technically better than ever before, they are often less enjoyable to drive and less able to sustain long-term participatory pleasure, which is reflected in precipitous sales declines and an alarming loss of dealerships in my area, ensconced in prime snowmobiling territory.
If you study neurology and psychology (as a medical doctor, I have) and connect relevant dots with the real world, it suggests ways to optimize fun. Unfortunately, manufacturers oblivious to this unwittingly undermine their success by making changes that lessen the enjoyment of snowmobiling, predictably resulting in an efflux of customers who voted with their wallets, sending a strong signal that manufacturers perennially ignore.