On 26/07/2011, at 12:20 PM, Igor Stasenko wrote:
>>
>> Say, for example, like making a telephone that is vastly more easy to use
>> than all other telephones on the planet. Now, for tech geeks, it's not
>> really *that* much easier to use... For example, when the iPhone came out, I
>> got one, and the only really useful and different thing in terms of
>> technical specification and features that I could do that I previously
>> couldn't do easily was synchronise my contacts... but everything was quite a
>> bit EASIER to do. In the process, Apple are pushing next gen technologies
>> (next gen for the public is not necessarily next gen for us, mind :)). Mind
>> you, it comes wrapped around their bank account, but it's still coming.
>>
>> Look at Twitter for an example of what people like... this is a ridiculously
>> clear example... it simply allows people to write small messages to whoever
>> is listening. Brilliantly simple, brilliantly clear. Most people want to do
>> this, and so it is popular. The thing with twitter is, though, they're not
>> using this popularity at all. They don't really know what to do with it.
>>
>> Now, what we want to do is make something compelling enough such that it
>> "goes off like a rocket". Smalltalk was designed pretty amazingly well, and
>> it had an amazingly large amount of influence, but if you ask most
>> programmers what smalltalk is, they usually haven't heard of it... contrast
>> this to asking people about Java, and they know what that is. :) You even
>> ask them what Object Oriented programming is, and they know that, but you
>> say "Heard of Alan Kay?" and they give you a blank look. Ask them about
>> Steve Jobs and everyone knows all about him. Hell, what other company has
>> fanboys keeping track of their ADS?
>> (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/07/24/new-apple-ipad-ad-well-always/ )
>>
>> What I'm trying to get at here, is that I see no reason why something free
>> can't be popular (facebook? twitter?), but for that to take place, it has to
>> provide something that you simply can't get elsewhere. The advantage the web
>> has had is that it has moved quite quickly and continues to move at whatever
>> pace we like to go at. Nothing else has come along that has outpaced or out
>> innovated it FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF THE AVERAGE PUNTER. So what is needed
>> is something along the lines of Frank, which when people see what is
>> possible (BY USING IT ONLY, I'd wager), they'll stop using everything else
>> because they simply can't go back to "the old way" because it feels like the
>> past too much. :)
>>
>> Make something better than all the user or developer experiences out there,
>> and developers like me will evangelise the shit out of it... and other users
>> who care about things will jump on the bandwagon, curators of experience
>> will jump on board, and overnight, a Windows 95 like experience will happen
>> (in terms of market share effect), or perhaps an iPod effect will happen.
>> Remember, it has to be "just better" than what is possible now, so if you
>> make something "infinitely better" but just show off how it's "just better",
>> and also make it easy to migrate to and easier to use, then you will have
>> already "won" as the new way of doing things before you've started.
>>
>> Even Apple, our current purveyors of "fine user experience" and curators of
>> style and design, haven't managed to build a device or user experience in
>> software that allows primarily convention, ease of use and unclutteredness,
>> and yet then the total ability to configure things for people who want
>> things to do exactly what they want them to do (ie coders, programmers, and
>> advanced users). They hit the "80/20" rule quite well in terms of giving 80
>> percent of people everything they need, while leaving 20% of people sort of
>> out in the cold.
>>
>
> I don't think its a good to drive an analogy between end product and tool(s).
> The main difference between them lies in the fact that tools are made
> for professionals, while end products are made for everyone.
> You don't have to graduate college to know how to use microwave, you
> just need to read a short instruction.
> Professionals who basing their choice on popularity are bad
> professionals, the good ones basing their choice on quality of tools.
> Because everyone knows that popularity has a temporary effect.
> Something which is popular today, will be forgotten tomorrow.
That's just silly. Products vs Tools? A toaster is a device that I can use to
toast bread. A coffee machine is a device i can use to make coffee.
Professional people who create coffee or create toasted sandwiches for a living
use different ones, but they're still coffee machines and toasters, and mostly
they're just based around higher volume, and higher quality in terms of
controls.
Popularity doesn't always have a temporary effect. Consider the iPod. It's not
forgotten is it? It's been popular for decades.
Consider the personal computer! The laptop - this is a very popular device.
It's been more than 2 decades that it's been popular for. I think your logic
and reasoning is fairly flawed there.
10 years ago, a soldering iron was considered a tool, but these days, I can buy
one for around $50 that will be of comparable quality to something that would
have cost over $200 back then. Which is a tool and which is a product?
Obscurity vs popularity, along with easy to use vs hard to use should NOT be
mapped on to whether or not something is useful. In other words, consider how
easy it is these days to take what were considered professional quality photos
8 years ago, but with devices that cost less than $200.
Like it or not, "common" people who do not have degrees have something valuable
to input. They have stories to tell and quite good ideas. Children fit into
this category of "common" people, and so does anyone who would like to learn.
My imperative is that the things you learn today should be usable today, not
put off until years from now. Yes, things should be considered, but this
doesn't mean you can't use the knowledge you gain moment by moment. People
should be able to learn how to use a tool or product, and then use it to that
capacity... and the learn some more, and use that...
THAT is the real driver of education, and you have no idea where "the masses"
can take things - who to you, no doubt, appear quite "stupid" because they
don't have a degree or whatever. Let's not forget that some of our best minds
started out without a degree... :) and some of them don't even and didn't have
degrees.
Authorisation of knowledge does not constitute intelligence!
>
> People jumping into Apple's bandwagon.. but what future are there?
> None. Sealed platform, proprietary hadrware, ridiculous and
> over-protective rules for entering the market.
> So, it is easy to predict the outcome: the days of iWhatever is counted.
> For those who thinks that i'm soothsaying - see what happened with Sun
> and what happens with Microsoft.
> If Apple will keep doing things in same way, there is no other end.
>
This is your take. Let's see where it goes, and for this conversation, really,
who cares? I don't think Sun nor Microsoft were as popular as iWhatever, though.
> So, it is maybe great that they can make a lot of money today. And
> then another company will arise and start making money. And again and
> again, people will jump
> into the wagon once a while. And repeat same mistakes. But who cares,
> since it brings us money, today and a little bit for tomorrow :)
I don't think it's about making money primarily. It's mostly about enabling
stuff for people. I think we want to live in a world where we can get whatever
we like, and get whatever we want done done, both quickly and easily.
The web is great because it lets me "just get it done", whatever it is I want
to do... I can go find "that bit of a movie", or find out about "that bit of
code" pretty quickly and easily.
Note that there are better ways... ways that involve less frustration... and
therefore to someone "in the know" enough there are openings where they could
take advantage of this, and leverage "their" solution in to place. Regardless
of whether they're making a profit on it or not.
I'm essentially a pragmatist in search of perfection... basically I want to get
things done as quickly and efficiently as possible, barebones, and then improve
from there... I'll generally choose whatever I can to do the simplest thing
first to that end, and then improve from there...
Julian.
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