Feature-laden gizmos does not equal innovation
Just as I was beginning to think that I was getting too old to figure out some of the features on my phone, along comes this piece by Paul Zeven, CEO of Philips Electronics North America.
My favorite quote is the following:
"...the American consumer believes that we are still cramming features and functions into our products simply because we think they will sell or in response to fierce industry competition."
That's because this is largely true. The typical competitive strategy by the less-dominant players in the electronic device market is to add features that the leaders don't have. Often, the features are added and they can check the box that the leader can't check, yet the feature is added in a way that fails to deliver due to a lack of design talent at the firm or a rush to get the product to market.
Most would argue that Apple has succeeded with the iPod due to a number of factors, yet the simplicity and completness of user experience are, by far, the most compelling reasons.
In my opinion, true innovation results in providing a simple, elegant, and usable solution to a seemingly complex problem.