Thursday, July 31, 2008

Attention world: the touch screen isn't what makes the iPhone cool

LG Voyager, Samsung Glide, Samsung Instinct, LG Dare and all you other handsets and handset manufacturers out there trying to play catch-up to the iPhone, here's a tip for you:

Simply making a touch screen handset with movable icons isn't going to cut it. It makes you look like you're trying to rip-off the iPhone, which, let's be honest, you are. And at first glance that's an understandable thing to do: there's a radically different phone that is getting everyone excited so, naturally, you want to do the same thing.

By trying to mimick the iPhone, you aren't creating something different. You're creating something like the iPhone, which means you're always going to be in a second place, "me-too" position. Instead, focus on creating something innovative of your own.

You can react to trends or you can start them.
The same thing goes for advertising and any number of other industries. So how do you start a trend?
"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse.'"- Henry Ford as quoted by Steve Jobs.
Know what people want before they do. Much easier said than done. However, with the resources of these huge, multi-billion dollar companies you'd think they'd step back and do something original and innovative. It worked wonderfully for Motorola with the RAZR (until they got lazy). So why don't more companies try to do it? Are they too focused on immediate, quarterly results to invest in something lasting? Or do they try and they just can't quite swing it? What are your thoughts?

Image courtesy of CrunchGear.

1 comment:

  1. Brilliant analysis. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Ironically Apple has been the only consistent innovator in the industry for years. Contributing to your rant is the fact that many people do want a poorly copied inferior product, especially if the price point is less. Keep in mind, most of these companies just want to make money and don't really care about innovation or genuine satisfaction.

    Other evidence…BMW. The only reason any other car even blips the radar screen, for side by side comparisons, is because of their lower price points. After loosing the performance and handling battle for years they took to maligning Chris Bangle for his edgy designs. Now ironically most competitors are mirroring his styling innovations.

    After decades some automobile manufacturers are finally producing some competitive albeit copycatted vehicles.

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