http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/ Engadget Comments for http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 3:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
How do I know I'm one of them? Because I want three or four smartphones... but seriously, I can't just waste my money like that! OR can I? >:-)]]>May 13th 2009 4:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 14th 2009 2:35AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Just saying.]]>May 14th 2009 6:08AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
I see what you did there.

Wrong album!

Not diggin' this guy's articles - I just can't get past his background. It feels like he writes with an agenda. Maybe we could balance it out and get Andy Ihnatko to write some Engadget articles too? Or Guy Kawasaki?]]>May 14th 2009 8:42AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:00PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/If you like Yes and haven't heard of the Dutch band 'Focus', check out the albums "Moving Waves", "Focus III", and "Hamburger Concerto".
]]>May 13th 2009 5:04PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 5:28PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 7:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
look at the evolution of iphone. from totally rigid ver 1.x.x to 2.x.x with app store and now to 3.0 with even more openness to the "edge" users with connector opened up and lots of other free choices. but the shift seems quite untrivial and painful too...]]>May 13th 2009 3:55PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 3:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/Why? What has he done to you?]]>May 13th 2009 3:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
"There may be folks that need or desire 100GB+ devices, for example -- they just don't represent the mass market. The mass market is still happy with about 1,000 songs and the capacities that go with that number. The proof? Look how well the iPod nano and iPod touch are doing."

Honestly he made a huge bomb before the end and didn't go through wrapping up a lot of the loose ends in the scenario. For example the market had a huge market for the 120 GB iPod but when you start to loose features from the iPod Touch then it doesn't justify to get the larger storage. I bet tomorrow if they dropped the price down for the iPod Touch and added a 80-120 GB model it'll sell tremendously. It's just more of a company at this time raking their profits on their success.

Really he should've started diving into how much the pricing on some of the technology out is unfair and how in ways it is but he kinda just cut it off there with a big gaping hole in the article. The benefits and the consequences of being an early adopter but he didn't. He just kinda left it up to the imagination of the reader and for us to come up and debate everything else. It's good for the first post in a forum but for a blogsite this is kinda minimal...]]>May 13th 2009 4:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
So let me get this straight. You're saying if the ipod touch were CHEAPER and had an 80-120 GB capacity, tons of people would buy it? I must see evidence for this outlandish claim.]]>May 13th 2009 4:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Agreed. The guy tried to coin a set of laws after himself. Someone has an overactive ego...]]>May 13th 2009 6:41PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 14th 2009 6:11AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Am I mistaken, or was pretty much every point in this article pretty f'n obvious? Oh really, you want to design a product that appeals to beginners, intermediates and experts alike? you don't say?

*sorry, that came out angrier than I meant it. I had a RAID crash today, so I've had better days.]]>May 13th 2009 3:58PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
"No one in this world, so far as I know — and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me — has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."
-H. L. Mencken



]]>May 13th 2009 3:59PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 6:44PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
I enjoy his books, but they're not close to remotely being scientific. Most of the arguments presented are explanations after the fact. This makes it no more credible in my eyes than the latest pop psychology in the pages of Cosmo.

Interesting reads, though.]]>May 13th 2009 4:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:13PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/close to the edge, just by a river
seasons will pass you by

i get up
i get down]]>May 13th 2009 4:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 5:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Especially when "configurable" appeals to the enthusiasts only. A common complaint I see leveled towards operating systems and the like is that you can't easily skin the UI. Yet for the vast majority of users this isn't even something they care about. The added cost to the developer of supporting such a feature just isn't worth it.

Most consumers don't need a laundry list of features or a huge amount of configureability. Most consumers need a product that helps them accomplish something without getting in their way. They don't want there to be a need for vast amounts of technical know how just to take a picture or listen to music.

Engineering is all about tradeoffs.]]>May 13th 2009 4:51PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 14th 2009 4:14AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:01PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Was it one of the doomed products that only sold 50k units?
]]>May 13th 2009 4:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:06PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
It would seem that the key to making a breathtaking device (one that is revered by both the edge and the mass market) is using the intuition of the edge to help develop a target that is understood very well. If you don't know exactly what you're aiming to do odds are it will fail or at best you'll have to rely on luck.

Once you've established that target, start working on developing the business case in terms of what is technologically and financially possible (i.e. it has to hit a certain price point within your design frame), but even more so the product needs to have a logical bridge between an established market (i.e. we know people will pay for CDs) and the target you've established (i.e. what if they could own all their music through a digital store like iTunes). I also believe how you're going to build this bridge from a technology, cost and marketing has to be defined up front otherwise you're back in the hands of lady luck.

From there it's just about execution.

It seems that most product failures tend to either focus on the "edge's" intuition (i.e. making a product that IS the future but is priced or marketed poorly), or the mass market's already known appeal (making a me too product that's sure to sell a few but is already a well established market that is on it's way down).]]>May 13th 2009 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/]]>May 13th 2009 4:07PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
I am curious however where you get that number (50k) from.]]>May 13th 2009 4:08PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.flickr.com/photos/legendmedia/3088992276/ ]]>May 13th 2009 4:10PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:54PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Entertaining article but hardly enlightening.]]>May 13th 2009 4:12PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:26PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Then there are mainstream customers and they tend to adopt in 2 stages there are the first round and then there are the ones that will buy on the tail end of the product life cycle. Then there are those who prefer to buy items at the end of the product lifecycle and this is usually because they don't see a need for it at the products mainstream price, so as the product becomes out dated and gets cheaper they then begin seeing value in the product.

When designing a product you need to keep in mind how you are going to possition the product in the customers mind at all stages as well as how you are going to demonstrate value to the customer. ]]>May 13th 2009 4:30PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
1) Fulfill a need.
2) Be able to "just work."

There are three ways to fulfill a need.

One is to fulfill the "professional" need--to offer a product or service that a small group of people need so badly that they'll pay practically anything for it. There are problems there, though--it's a small market, so competition is vicious, and the professionals know EXACTLY what they want, so your product or service needs to be robust, customizable, and easier than the DIY solution would be.

Another is to fulfill the "mainstream" need--to offer a product or service with obvious appeal. The problem there is that the market's usually already saturated. Unless you can do something better than the other people on the market, there's barely any inroads.

The trickiest one is to target an emerging need--something that people don't know they want, but either have or will soon develop a need for, thanks to either changing societal conditions or growth in technology. Edge users are a great way to identify when technology exists to solve a problem, but a horrible way of identifying when the need will cross-over with the mainstream. The MP3 player market is a great example--it was invented in 1979, and the first commercial MP3 player was made available in 1997, but it took until 2003 for anyone to care. And why did that happen? The iTunes store finally made the MP3 player "just work," no technical knowledge about MP3 bitrates or ripping CDs required.

The biggest obstacle to something "just working" is often infrastructure. The number of things that had to converge to make MP3 players work is mind-boggling--people not only had to be comfortable with computers, not only with the Internet, and not only with the idea of shopping online, but with the idea of paying money for something intangible.

There's a book to be written here. There probably already have been several. Thanks for the food for thought.]]>May 13th 2009 4:32PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
Not trying to be an Apple fanboy but you can't deny everything from them LOOKS sleek as hell! It seems not one other computer manufacturer has figured this out in their product lines...it's hard to find a notebook with killer graphics and good specs all around that doesn't look fug. The Macbook Pro looks great but I can't afford a $3,000 laptop just for looks, when a fugly one with the same or better specs goes for a grand less.

Just talking out loud, even though a product is meant for the masses doesn't mean it can't look a little sleeker or LOOK like an entry level product. I don't have a marketing degree or anything but it just doesn't make sense to me. ]]>May 13th 2009 4:33PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:56PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 5:53PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 4:57PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/May 13th 2009 5:02PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/entelligence-close-to-the-edge/
I still use a first-gen 10gb iPod, I guess that makes me an cheap old-school techno-geek—not a very desirable demographic to market to. ]]>May 13th 2009 5:15PM