frankly the correspondence between edward and tom has got me chuckling in my seat.... and tom's analogy with the honda v/s bmw thing heheh.

Anyway with that aside i'll be as straight forward as possible and may be a bit blunt but it is what i think about this new flashware that Tom is proposing to introduce into the lift truck market.
I use the term flashware because in my mind being in this industry since 1977 this is innovative but is it really necessary? Tom is appealing to those in this industry that like shiny flashy things to show their customers, the real need for it is irrelevant.

As a salesman that he is trying to be, all his points could be considered valid ones but are they honestly strong enough to make the sale?
It all depends on who's buying and their motives for wanting such a service.
Sure there is a huge difference between learning something on a computer and doing it in real time on a machine. I fly R/C controlled airplanes and i have had the opportunity to do it both ways, for real and also i bought a simulator program and learned how to fly them that way also. Now the big question is was it very helpful compared to doing it for real with a radio in hand and a plane on the other end of that signal up in the air? I would say somewhat but not near as much as having 'hands on' flight time.
You cannot feel what a computer is doing and compensate for environmental scenarios that come up during flight time the way you can out on a flying field. You are basically using hand to eye co-ordination and trying to get the plane to go where you want it to and do maneuvers you want it to.
With a forklift training program you can achieve the same goal but in the end it is the 'real time' on the lift driving and operating it that is going to be most helpful to the operator. The training program perceptions will not be the same. When the operator is 'on' the lift driving it around perceptions will be considerably different.

So in a nutshell is this training program Tom is offering really needed? No not really but with the age of computing coming to the forefront of society and across every market there is progressing in leaps and bounds day by day i'm sure there might be a place for it in the short term. But as computing goes.... i've seen alot of neat things come and go and were not really necessary. Flash in the pan entrepreneur ideas that just didn't cut it in today's market expectations.

Is it a good tool to make money off of? That all depends on who's buying and it might be in the short term. I'm sure as people get this and realize it is just an added step in the process of training their operators that can actually be done in real time on the warehouse floor their attitudes may change about the 'need' for this.
I'm sure it will be some nice 'eyecandy' to sell companies with large fleets that have the time they can dedicate to their employee training program.

By the way... a BMW is a piece of crap... had a BMW tech tell me this once, Honda's aren't much better either, had one of their tech's tell me as well...
As for the girl part of it? BMW girls are high maintenance just like the cars and Honda girls... well... it's a coin toss... heheh ;o)