Entelligence: Technology is fashion and the new fashion is technology
By Michael Gartenberg 
posted April 30th 2010 11:48AM
posted April 30th 2010 11:48AM
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.
A vendor -- who shall remain nameless -- briefed us in the late 90s with the idea of creating a line of PCs targeted at a mass market audience, with a special focus on the female demographic. The idea was to build PCs in a range of and shapes and focus the marketing efforts through places like Cosmo instead of the usual PC magazines. We were asked to evaluate the plan, and without the slightest hesitation I responded that it was the dumbest idea I'd ever listened to -- period. (This is the tact that only an analyst can bring to the table.) I recall saying something to the effect of no user will ever buy a PC because it comes in five delicious flavors. The vendor forgot all about their plans and our analysis proved accurate -- until Steve Jobs and the iMac came along. If I had to put a stake in the ground that's when technology became fashionable.
It was that long ago that all PCs were created equal. PCs were PCs. If you wanted a server, you turned the box on its side, if you wanted a workstation, you painted it black (or blue), and if it was mobile you desired, you attached a handle to the top. Today, technology is as much about fashion and style as it is about feeds and speeds. Companies like Apple trumpet not only the functionality of their systems, but the fine grained leather cases available as accessories. Nearly every gadget you can think of today has been designed to stress form as much as function, which leads me to think of the classic maxim: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As we saw with the Kin launch, there's a focus on not just functionality but how that functionality is presented.
My wrist watch and automobile were chosen in no small part due to aesthetics -- so why not my phone, desktop or laptop? |
I don't think it's bad trend at all. My wrist watch and automobile were chosen in no small part due to aesthetics -- so why not my phone, desktop or laptop? In fact, if more vendors spent more time on the physical design and attributes of their devices, they'd probably sell more of them.
So I ask you, gentle and tech-savvy readers: do form, color and material matter to you, or is all about feeds and speeds? I know my answer: I'm off to order a new suede case for my iPad.
Michael Gartenberg is a partner at Altimeter Group. His weblog can be found at gartenblog.net. Contact him at gartenberg AT gmail DOT com. Views expressed here are his own.
@John Stathakis
I think that the article is actually interesting and relevant. My wife was sternly against getting a 27" TV in 2000 when we got married because it was too big and "ugly". However, she is perfectly happy having a 46" LCD in our family room now. She never wanted to see a computer around the living areas of the house (kitchen, family room) until I bought a MacBook Pro.
Additionally, there is clearly a battle going on in the handset market for different gender segments - do you think that the Droid is marketed towards women even a little? My wife wouldn't be caught dead with a "Droid" - however, she does have the "Eris" - notice the omission of the D word to make this more palatable.
Heck, I want to ensure that we keep going in this direction - if I have to have a Coach logo on my PS3/Xbox/iPad/Whatever to get my next fix, I am completely ok with that.
@Ineed911
I see who wears the pants in your relationship! :P
I say both are reasons to buy a product. I buy Apple laptops because they work. They are quality machines that do what they should. They also happen to be "fashionable".
@Helblaze Maybe "aborted" would be a better word than "failed" since it never even got into the game beyond some youtube mock-up videos.
"-- until Steve Jobs and the iMac came along. If I had to put a stake in the ground that's when technology became fashionable. "
Technology has *always* been about fashion. It was true about timekeeping devices, it was true about cars, and you can go back thousands of years to the breaking technologies of the Ancient Greeks, and it was true then.
I don't exactly want to criticize anyone for having a different set of priorities from mine, but I can't imagine prioritizing appearance over function when it comes to technology. I certainly can't imagine prioritizing appearance over price. If laptop A does what laptop B does but laptop A costs $200 less and laptop B is made out of titanium or whatever... yeah, I'm going with laptop A.
I agree that there is a sense in which design elements can be considered a feature, such as when a chassis is more robust and thus more resistant to damage, but again, this has to be considered as part of a larger picture. You can buy a $500 laptop every year for three years for the same amount of money as buying a $1500 laptop and using it for three years (or, if you care about portability, a $1300 laptop and a $200 battery after about a year and a half).
I'm not advocating an attitude of disposability towards technology; in fact, I would advocate the opposite as a general rule; but consider a usage profile in which you carry your laptop with you for five days out of the week. Even the most careful precautions can't guarantee that it won't be damaged or stolen... and being out a $500 laptop just means you have to buy its replacement sooner. Being out a $1300 laptop will sting a LOT more.
I've swerved off-topic slightly, so let's return to a strict consideration of form. Consider the Motorola RAZR, which everybody and their grandmother (and my former girlfriend bought) based on its appearance. This might vary from carrier to carrier but that phone was, in my experience, a total piece of junk. Whereas a cheap LG clamshell which was free on contract worked much better (and still works two years later). Basically, the only thing the RAZR had going for it was its looks, and as a phone it was essentially a waste of money.
As a final remark, I'd like to touch on "... there's a reason you're going to see more targeted devices that focus on specific features or form factors to attract a specific audience." Focusing on specific features or form factors does not equate to focusing on appearance. As an example, my personal interest in the Courier (tears up slightly, pours out a 40) had nothing to do with its appearance, or with how many girls I was likely to flirt with while using it. It was based on my personal belief that its form factor would be of real use to me. In that sense, its form factor was a technical specification, and certainly not deserving of the adjective "superficial". This is a very different discussion from "I bought an iMac because it was orange", and conflating this with a discussion of aesthetic appeal is, at worst, disingenuous and, at best, poor writing and a sign that the author has lost track of his original thesis.
@Old fogie late bloomer
I got the RAZR because that was the phone Verizon was offering for a buy one get one free deal. It turned out to be a great piece of hardware, had great battery life and signal strengh but overall poor software. If I was after aesthetics, I would have gone to buy an iPhone, which was the best looking phone at the time.
@Old fogie late bloomer
I hate to be that guy who latches onto one little thing that you say but...yeah, I'm going to do it anyway.
"Even the most careful precautions can't guarantee that it won't be damaged or stolen... and being out a $500 laptop just means you have to buy its replacement sooner. Being out a $1300 laptop will sting a LOT more."
I have owned one laptop or another for many, many years, and I have not once had one lost or stolen. So this argument seems disingenuous.
Are you contending that people should always be as conservative as possible because bad things might happen? I guess that's a way to go, but please understand that most people do not think this way.
And yet, I know I guy who just had his $1400 MacBook Pro stolen, so... You also don't say how you use(d) your laptops, but mine's in a backpack every day with giant math and physics texts squashing up against it; I am cautious with it but you never know when something's going to happen.
To me, I guess this stands in contrast with a desktop purchase, where I would spend as much money as I could afford on it. The desktop stays in one place (typically), is much less likely to get stolen or damaged, and if something goes, I'm just replacing one component rather than having the entire computer suddenly rendered useless.
That being said, I wouldn't buy one of those flashy cases for it, with all the LEDs and stuff. :P
Notwithstanding all the comments from those who care more about the intro than the article's content, I'll return to the topic at hand...
The intersection of technology & fashion has definitely accelerated since Apple took on the challenge. And, to Gartenberg's point, differentiation, margin opportunity and market maturity all play a role.
But, I'd suggest that the biggest factors in this "fashion" focus are the ubiquitous usage of the web and the proliferation of mobile devices.
Years ago, ugly PCs could be stored in a home office, with the door closed. What they looked like was largely inconsequential. Once we started using them for everything from maps to recipes, the PC had to look more presentable - it's out in the open all the time.
Moreover, if we're gonna take a device with us everywhere we go, it damn well better look like an extension of who we are.
So, while there are a multitude of reasons that a manufacturer may *want* to produce more fashion-forward devices, whether those devices will actually succeed is a matter of who's buying them and how they're used.
Looks are extremely important for many people. That's why I don't understand why Apple products look so good compared to the competition (ahem HP, Dell, ETC). Make it look sexy, and people will buy it!
@maattp
Because good industrial design is a process, it requires experienced people with taste, and a connection with their culture and the arts. Look at most tech companies -- many of the smaller ones are run by young people, often nerdy types who openly express disdain for art. Sometimes product designs become expressions of a corporate culture that is far removed from their customers. Microsoft is a good example in this category. Until very recently, the design language for Microsoft products could be summarized as "rumpled brown v-neck sweater". They have all the money in the world and could hire the best ID talent in the world, but their closed corporate culture won't allow it.
I want the products that I use on a daily basis to be well-designed, but usability comes first. Since good design is all about usability, those two often go hand in hand.
With phones, the design of the interface is just as important as the form factor of the case.
Form is kind of a big deal for me, but whether or not it comes before function can really vary. In most circumstances, I'd say that I put function before form. But I'll call up one circumstance where I did the opposite, Nintendo's DSi. The matte case, loss of the logo on the shell (which would have looked bad in matte anyway), and the huge camera 'spot' on the front really ruined the great look the DS Lite had going. The first thing I thought when I saw it was, "It looks like a typical Chinese knockoff." To be fair, I don't like it's 'function' either. I don't want cameras on my handheld gaming system, or a browser, or any of the other stuff it adds. I like game systems to just be game systems. But I can be pretty certain that if the design was a big enough step up from the DS Lite, I would've ended up getting one. I suppose it really comes down to how big the gap is between form and function.
Nope. Don't care at all.
Functionality and performance is what matters most.
Aesthetics do matter to me, but function still comes first (at least I'd like to think so)
And yet, in spite of all Apple's efforts, they still only have a minor fraction of the market share.
@Gandalf20000
They have a pretty good share of their core target markets. Look up the stats on laptops above $1000, mobile phones, media players, and now tablets.
I'm still more interested in what it can do for me more than it's specs, but specs will always be important, since even a well written OS with exceptional software applications will run like crap on a crappy peice of gear.
I like macs... but I use a windows laptop and the only programs I use on it are Google Chrome and Zune. It's much cheaper and more convenient this way.
Gartenberg, you're so fucking gay
I've noticed that a lot of the 'function over form' team sometimes seem to misrepresent what 'functionality' actually is. Two machines which are able to perform the same useful tasks, at two different speeds, can generally be regarded as having equivalent practical functionality. Similarly, the fact that 'I could do x if I wanted to' is actually LESS useful that positive aesthetics and usability in most cases.
The Ipad is the best example of this. Its form factor is of higher value than the fact that it cant run flash (as an example). Im not feeling very eloquent but hopefully ive made my point.
Sure I like my tech to look good but I've never been the one to be all like "OMG I have to have that ______!!! It's the most beautiful thing to come out since I exited my mothers womb!!" As long as it's not homely then it's about what it has to offer my needs speed and application wise first.
I wouldn't go for beautiful product A if nice looking product B has more speed, application capability (or potential), functionality.
Form as much as Functionality. Perfect.
The iMac is a brilliant example of turning the market upside down in subtle but impacting ways typical of apple.
I had at least 50 ppl make conversation with me 'just' because i had the new iPhone4!! This includes multiple good looking women at clubs. Most of them would start with complimenting the phone and then go on to complimenting me.lol.. Everything on you is an accessory so why not make it an attractive one.
Brilliant article as always. Keep it coming sir!
Anand