Don’t be everything to everyone. This is important to remember for people, businesses and in this case, software. Have an opinion. Be loved and hated. Be a strong brand.
This interview/discussion between Walt Mossberg (Wall Street Journal: Technology) and Jason Fried (37signals) covers a lot of good points. And many of them apply to much more than software development. It is worth watching even if you couldn’t care less about software.
A few takeaways:
It is good to say no. Helps keep your idea/product/business simple.
WWSJD - What Would Steve Jobs Do? Probably say no. This had helped lead to Apple’s success.
A company should have an opinion.
Being hated & loved is better than being (UMA) universally moderately appealing (I just created a new acronym).
Consider your customer’s experience first. Open source projects often fail, in the consumer market, because the customer experience is not considered first. Open source software is built from the code out, instead of the interface in.
“Leopard is shipping in October. Basic version, $129. Premium version, $129. Business version, $129, Enterprise version $129. Ultimate version, $129. It’s all the same… most people are going to buy the ultimate version.”
Microsoft looks to have made a huge step forward in Graphical User Interfaces and how we interact with computers by announcing it’s new “Surface” hardware/software.
Microsoft Surface represents a fundamental change in the way we interact with digital content.
With Surface, we can actually grab data with our hands, and move information between objects with natural gestures and touch.
Surface features a 30-inch tabletop display whose unique abilities allow for several people to work independently or simultaneously. All with out using a mouse or a keyboard.
The first surface products are not scheduled to arrive until Winter 07, so we’ll have to wait and see if this new user interface can live up to it’s promises.
I came across some nice pictures and descriptions of Microsoft’s upcoming Vista OS on Amazon the other day. I’ve heard it before, but had never seen it for myself - it is beautiful (very curiously…a lot of “similarities” to Mac OS X). I was going to write a post on this myself, but NY Times Tech writer David Pogue just did it for me…
If the description so far makes Vista sound a lot like the Macintosh, well, you’re right. You get the feeling that Microsoft’s managers put Mac OS X on an easel and told the programmers, “Copy that.”
Honestly, I can’t really blame the Microsoft designers. Apple has done a great job with OS X. It is natural to emulate great design. But, honestly with all the money MS has dumped into this project, maybe it could have been slightly more original? Although, I should and will reserve my final judgment until after I use it.
Overall the article is not a bad review for Vista. After all, Microsoft has had five years to work on the new OS. Hopefully it does not turn out to be a pretty-faced, resource hungry beast with all the same underlying problems as the previous Microsoft Operating Systems.
Can’t wait for the Apple Leopard OS, due this spring - which will undoubtedly lead to at least a few “why didn’t we think of that” moments for the Vista team.
Maybe Microsoft’s Zune is late to the game. Maybe the Zune needs help catching up with the iPod. But, is it really necessary for this morning’s Today Show to place the new Zune (released today) next to Apple’s 4th Generation 2 bit grayscale 160×128 LCD iPod?? This 4th Generation, pre-Color Photo iPod, was running the show way before the Zune release. In fact, it was released more than more than 2 years ago in July 2004.
It seems the newer 5th Generation 2.5 inch color screen iPod would have provided a much more accurate visual comparison for Today Show viewers. Also interesting is that they chose to use the iPod Mini (released in January 2004!) later in the segment, rather than the new “thinner than a number two pencil” iPod Nano.
I was puzzled why a ‘credible’ morning news program would visually mislead customers - then at the end of the segment Matt Lauer reminded us viewers that MSNBC and the Today Show owned at least partly by Microsoft…and it all made sense.
Those that have read other blog posts on this site may or may not have realized that I prefer Apple, but this kind of reporting is just poor form. Every viewer can’t be expected to geek out and notice things like this and they may just come away deciding to buy their daughter a Zune just because “it looks newer”.
