The photo above is the 'second step' on the Everest summit block - a fitting image. George Mallory who died on that first ill-fated possible summit attempt on Everest is famously quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort "Because it's there", which have been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering".
Well, they're becoming the most famous 3 words in technology. Unfortunately.
As the cost of implementation falls, the tech race speeds up. We're now at rates of innovation we've never seen before. It's fast isn't it!
Every day we see more and more and more companies launching products "Because they can". Unfortunately, "Because the technology is there". Before you you even drop a dime into the product development budget (R&D is different - I mean real selling products) you need to ask - "What problem am I solving?", "What pain am I preventing or curing?".
The worst thing you can do, is to say "This is cool" - and then go find a problem for it to apply to. A technology solution "Because it's there".
Today, videos are emerging of the Dell Streak tablet - and you can see in this demo by the President of Communication Solutions for Dell (this is a big deal - this is HIS baby) that he hasn't a clue what it's for. They launched it "Because they could".
He says: "This is the largest device that's an internet device, that fits in your top pocket - and that was really the whole design point.".
It's too big to be a phone, it's too small to do any work on. It doesn't have a place. If you watch that video, the President of the device is having to make up uses for it on the spot - he doesn't even know what it's for.
"Obviously it's a great productivity tool, corporate email, corporate directory - you can get your calendar on there". So this is targeted towards corporate IT depts now? They are to buy these touchscreen keyboard devices for their employees rather than Blackberry's?
"It's a great speaker phone", only because it's too big to hold to your ear. When you've got 100% cell phone penetration, who's going to buy this as a speaker phone?
"It does Youtube, and Facebook, and Twitter - in realtime while you're traveling" Hold on, I thought you said Corporate Email? Anyway - my phone already does this.
"It's absolutely a Kid Magnet as well, with great games and TV shows, and pull up different 'stuff'." - are you telling me a kid would prefer this over a game console (or iPhone/iPod Touch)? And what is stuff?
He even gets asked at the end, "Can you give a specific application for this device?" with a response of (let me who you some more technology), "What I think it's really cool is this front facing camera."
For people to be motivated to take their wallet out and buy something - it has to hit a need (even just a need to be cool or trendy is fine - but a need). There is zero product design or user experience thinking been put into this - the tech department rolled something out, who handed it on to the product design department, who handed it on to the marketing dept, who have handed it on to the sales dept.
Where these companies go wrong is it needed to start with the Sales & Design Dept's. and end up in the Tech Dept. trying to find a way to build what will sell. Oh yeh, it'll be around $630 too.
Take this as a failure lesson learnt and ask yourself about your product - have we started with the 'Sales Dept.' rather than the 'Tech Dept.'?
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