If we think of technology in it broadest sense, what is the promise of the 'technology brand'? Does it deliver something shiny, new, faster and better? When I take a step back and ask myself has technology delivered on its promise? When I ask myself do I still believe in the 'technology brand'? The evidence would suggest that delivering on the promise of technology is the exception and not the rule.
My PC still boots up in the same amount of time it did 10 years ago. My email experience is broadly similar, my word processing and Internet experience has improved a little.
Today the iPhone launched in the UK and Germany. My crystal ball prediction on June 19th of this year when the iPhone launched in the US was
'Final verdict, before the introduction of the iPod/iTunes Apple were not in the music distribution business, today they are the 5th largest supplier of music worldwide. The iPhone is over priced and over hyped but a key benefit of the iPhone is ego gratification. I think we will see Apple move into the mobile phone space but perhaps not have the 70% market share it does in the MP3 space.'
Research into people's PC usage reveals the top activities are browsing, email and word processing. Other research reveals that people's criteria for purchase of a PC is centered around functionality they infrequently use like digital video and photo editing. Imagine a person needing a family car ignoring the seat capacity and focusing instead on how fast it goes from 0 to 60mph.
The marketing can be fun, the products can be shiny but, please, just give me technology that does the basics brilliantly.
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