<person, jargon> (IBM) A customer who can be relied upon to
buy, without fail, the latest version of an existing product
(not quite the same as a member of the lunatic fringe). A
1993 example of a heatseeker is someone who, owning a 286 PC
and Windows 3.0, goes out and buys Windows 3.1 (which offers
no worthwhile benefits unless you have a 386). If all
customers were heatseekers, vast amounts of money could be
made by just fixing the bugs in each release (n) and selling
it to them as release (n+1).
[Jargon File]
(1996-03-12)
Nearby terms:
head-strict « heap « heartbeat « heatseeker » heat sink » heat slug » heavy metal
