Cool? Yes. But I Will I Buy One?

No.  Or at least, not yet.

I’m talking about the iPad, of course.  Absolutely I want one–that’s the genius of marketing and the Apple brand.  But in the cold, harsh light of day and my checkbook balance, the answer is, no, I’m not going to buy one, not now at least.

The reason is that it doesn’t respond to my needs.  What does it replace?  I still need my phone; I still need my laptop; I still need my desktop.  So how does it simplify my life?

One of the great things about the iPhone was that on some business trips, it replaced my computer.  If I’m out of town for a day or even two, and I’m not working on a document on the computer, I can just take my phone and do everything I need to do.  Do you know how great it is to go through airports without lugging a laptop (okay…my computer only ways about 3 pounds so “lugging” may be overstating the case.  But still, it’s a hassle).

I would love to be able to look at emails and browse the Internet on a much larger screen than my phone, but the problem is I’ve still got to pack my phone and my laptop, so what does the iPad get me?

Books.  That’s nice.  Magazines and newspapers?  Surprisingly and disappointingly, a big fat no.  I am seriously considering a Kindle because it gives me books and magazines and newspapers.  It’s a full newsstand right at my disposal.  It eliminates my delivery subscription to the NYT, it cuts the cost of my books in half, and it makes it possible to buy one off editions of any other newspaper I want.  Oh…and when I travel, I don’t have to go into Hudson news and plunk down 15 bucks buying reading materials (The Economist, Vanity Fair (if I forgot mine at home), the Atlantic, the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, and my answer to the trashy magazine…Golf Digest)

The Kindle addresses my true need; the iPad, sadly does not.  In it’s current configuration and capabilities, the iPad is not for me, though I’m sure it’s good for some (my wife, for example).

To state the obvious:  one of the keys to good product or service design is to meet your customer’s need.  I recently had a discussion with a potential client that took this idea to the next level.  To really understand your customer’s needs, step through their work flow.  Put your product or service into the context of what your clients are doing on a daily basis.  If you don’t know what they do on a daily basis, then find out.  It will give you a whole new appreciation for the value you provide.

The company I’m referring to has built a technology platform that brings together several different financial and accounting applications for the accounting function.  It’s very good.

This company also has access to a pretty sizable library of digital content.  Their idea is that they can enhance the value of their platform by providing users with some of this content.  This is a good idea–love it.

What they’ve done is taken an inventory of their digital content and started to map that content to the various applications on the platform and maybe even individual modules within that application.  Taking the inventory of content is good, but before going any further, I recommended taking their product development in a different direction.

My advice was for them to get closer to their customers and figure out how exactly those customers are using the platform or want to use the platform.  What are people actually, physically doing when they have a need for information?  What information do they need?  Why?  What will they do with it?  What decision will it inform?

If the company can answer those questions, then they’ll start to hone in on their customer’s true needs. Only after they know that can they decide how best to deploy their digital content.

That was my recommendation, along with the pitch that they hire me to help them sort out these issues, do the research, and map the content to the platform.  Now comes the true test. Will they engage me?  Did I understand their needs well enough to make them say, ‘this guy gets it, I want him on my team.”

Am I the Kindle (right on point, functional, high value for the dollars) or the iPad: good looking, lots of potential, but not really what I’m looking for?

1. Nach-Man Says:
   February 2nd, 2010 at 9:44 am

   As usual, Mike, you’re right on. Apple made some huge strategic mistakes in the design of this device:

   • Not including a webcam for video conferencing and video chat
   • No USB ports to connect to printers or other peripherals
   • Dumbed-down web browsing without the ability to run Adobe Flash content
   • Inability to run more than one application at a time (which would make it a poor substitute for a laptop
   • Tying the cellular capability to only one carrier

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