Neither iPhone or OpenMoko are revolutionary

Dr. H. Nikolaus Schaller hns at computer.org
Thu Jan 18 09:16:59 CET 2007


Am 18.01.2007 um 08:47 schrieb Gabriel Ambuehl:

> On Thursday 18 January 2007 07:39, andy at zrmt.com wrote:
>> I don't know what it is about the guy who posted this thread, but  
>> I really
>> think that he's got some sort of talent for getting people  
>> talking.  I

Well, my impression was that the second post was very provocative in  
the sense:

"This is not innovative unless there is abc. And I need abc.".

This presses a button on human psychology (especially engineers) to  
defend
our own view and explain why they already are interested and see it  
as innovation
without abc or discuss why abc is not so important.

Basically it is a fight about importance of a feature. And there,  
everybody has a
different view and opinion - you can't measure it without having  
people discuss.

And, as a former product manager I have learned that you simply can't  
judge
the importance of a single feature. It is always the combination and  
relative
importance at a certain timeframe for a certain target group willing
to pay a maximum total price or cost of ownership.

And all this depends on the degree of innovativeness you want to give  
a product.

Apple e.g. decided to be very innovative (in the perceptions of the  
world press)
and add 4/8GB flash, probably 256MB RAM a device position sensor but  
leave
out the GPS receiver, have an average display resolution and have the  
battery
not replaceable. And worst: not have an open platform. The result of  
this is the
$499/$599 price tag.

Is this now more or less inovative?

Usually, as a company you learn from such discussions and then you  
have to simply
(well, it isn't in reality) make a decision to add the feature now or  
in the next generation.

Now, this was some "Meta"-statement, not an answer...

So, let's cross fingers that the devices appear soon (whichever level  
they have - the next
release will be better) and start developing new things.

Nikolaus Schaller




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