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Re:They Will Be Fine

2007-06-06 10:52:40

(Score:5, Insightful)

by noewun (591275) on Thursday March 29, @04:18PM (#18533863)

(Last Journal: Tuesday September 23, @05:07PM)

The iPod was never sold on their specs or capabilities, ever. I have never seen

an iPod add that mentioned anything other than the size of the iPod (space and

actual size) and that it played video.

Actually, that showed that Apple gave people the features they really wanted,

and not the features overly-techy nerds decided they should want.

Here is where the gulf between Slashdot/Nerd culture and wider culture is most

easily seen. Technofetishists see their computers and associated technology as

an end unto itself: the fact that you got Beryl running on an unsupported video

card, or that your mp3 player has two features no other one has, is enough to

make it interesting. Most people in wider culture--the people you need to make

a product a real hit--don't care about the technology in and of itself. They

care about what the tech can do for them. So the fact that the iPod was and is

relatively small and lightweight is a huge selling point. It easily fits into

the pockets of a pair of jeans. I remember a lot of the early commentary on the

iPod, a lot of which started with ,"well, my mp3 player is only 25% larger than

the iPod. . ."

Although I have no insider knowledge, I will bet a month's Manhattan rent that

Apple did a lot of research as to which features people really wanted in their

portable devices before making the iPod. I'm sure they still do this. This is

the reason they're so successful in the mp3 arena. It's not because of the

usual Slashdot reasons, which usually boil down to 'people are dumb sheep and

will buy whatever you tell them to.' It's because they sell a device which is

simple to use and simple to understand.

The OSS community actually needs more thinking like this. The question

shouldn't be, "why is Linux so cool?" The question should be, "how does Linux

make my life easier than other operating systems?"