User experience is everything, hardware not so much
Summary: Inspiration comes from many sources, and Twitter is a great source. Today Michael Gartenberg sent a simple tweet that captured the very essence of gadget design that hardware makers need to learn.
Inspiration comes from many sources, and Twitter is a great one. Today Michael Gartenberg sent a simple tweet that captured the very essence of gadget design that hardware makers need to learn.
Typo aside, Gartenberg hits the nail on the head, as does Joshua Topolsky in an editorial on Engadget:
It won't be a debate about displays, memory, wireless options -- it will be a debate about the quality of the experience.
Josh's editorial is an excellent examination of the message Apple is sending to debunk the historical belief that super hardware = better gadgetry. Apple has proven time and again that the user experience is the primary thing on any product that will get millions of mainstream consumers to purchase and enjoy using the gadget.
I discussed this in the inaugural episode of the Good to Go show with Noah Kravitz. The geek factor -- faster processors, gobs of RAM, etc., are not what matters in gadgetry any more. The user experience is everything, from the way a device handles users' common tasks to how pleasant that experience is perceived by the device owner.
Throughout my career of covering mobile technology, I have tested almost every smartphone and mobile computer that has hit the market. To get the reaction from "normal" (non-techies) folk, I have always handed the gadget currently under the microscope to each of my family members. Invariably, even though I point out that the device has all of the top features of the day, they play with it for a while and then hand it back to me, along with a comment such as "I don't like the way it does Facebook". Game over for that device with regular people. Apple understands that and competitors better learn it, and fast.
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Talkback
Yeah like some of us haven't been
Pagan jim
Yes, the funny thing is though, Apple never figured it out on the destkop.
User Experience was always key to Apple
However when IBM the then GOD of everything business related choose MS to provide the OS for PC's everyone and their mother went with DOS and eventually as IBM faltered MS gained the title. So Apple had a difficult job first competing on hardware specs which it never quite wanted to nor did very well and try and unseat the IMAGE of a false God first IBM then MS. Even "IF" Apple managed to gain and keep ahead on "specs" it would still have to face the idea that it's User Experience was no match in the publics eye to the perceived whims of a god. The point of the article is user experience no price is NOT the key factor, nor are features, or specs. The iPod became king and remains so not because of features many a competitor pumped out MP3 players with many more features. Not on price many a competitor had more features and were less expensive.. No the answer was and is user experience. As more people have become aware of this factor Apple has sold more computers as well:)
Pagan jim
Yes, user experience was always key at Apple, but, they ALSO tried to
But others want the spec to make something more usefull to them
Think about it - take the number of iPads sold and dived that by the numbers of computer users and that will tell you what percentage view the iPad's user experience as all they need.
Now, as like with the iPhone where others went with a competing product, that shows that many people wanted something beyond what the iPhone had to offer.
Specs and user experience is the combination needed to get everyone, not just a small percentage.
iPads are for different use scenarios, and, it is a luxury item. Not
RE: User experience is everything, hardware not so much
I was reading books on my WinMo touchphone3 XDA in 2002 with Office, email and games. I could also write on it. It even worked outside. Now I have a WP7 phone with even higer resolution and if I sit in an easy chair I read it on off my 52 inch LCD connected to a Win 7 computer.
None of these require an expensive brick.
The point is that there are different use cases, and different form factors
DonnieBoy, did you understand the response
Mr. Farrell claimed a combination of both would be enticing to many. All you countered with is that some people use it to read, so a tablet like the iPad needs no specs others are looking for.
You are the one looking ridiculous at the moment
:|
But, when will Apple apply this to notebooks and desktops??
Um my 27" iMac gives me a killer
User Experience. Still it is a computer and computers have had to push the "specs" end of the race because well I guess the early models did become over whelmed and seem slow as time went by. So "specs" became the selling feature... However as video cards, processors and memory all became more powerful and dirt cheap the NEED for speed began to get less. That said if you read many a response on these kind of sights you'll see a lot of posters who's mind set is still stuck in the late 80's and early 90's where "spec" is king.... I mean everything to them. They just don't get it at all.
Pagan jim
But, look at the market share difference in tablets vs desktops. On tablets
The "specs" game may be over
Sure it worked a few years ago back when 90% of the PC's sold were all Windows and the only distinguishing difference between vendor 1 and vendor 2s products were: price and specs. User experience really didn't matter much because they were ALL the same: Windows. The Mac has a better experience, IMHO, but it was still a specs game and Apple had to play it to even get a look by consumers. I don't think specs are completely irrelevant they are just a lot less relevant because the format is new. The software of old isn't going to transfer over and the higher specs mean nothing if the experience is mediocre.
Imagine a dirt cheap Apple all-in-one with quad core A6 chip, with a better
How about a 27" iPad on a stand, with keyboard, no mouse, quad core Arm,
RE: User experience is everything, hardware not so much
RE: User experience is everything, hardware not so much
Not so
To you perhaps but certainly not everyone or I would guess as many as you might think. Why is Android #1? First of all is it? Second of all maybe because the people who want an Apple phone can't either afford one or get one so go with you know the "other" guy who kind of looks a little like the phone I really want:) Just saying. Still my point is this if a product is feature packed to the point where I as a consumer realize I"m not going to be using such features because of the difficulty to get to many a feature, said features have no value to me. User Experience is still king even more so in a feature packed device.
Pagan jim
Here's a third option
Where a product is feature packed to the point where I as a consumer realize I'm going to be using such features because they aren't difficult to get to many a feature, said features have a great value to me.
That could be the reason behind Android's success?
RE: User experience is everything, hardware not so much