The Illusion of Choice
Posted by Campbell Williams | 13 Apr 2010
Category: General
Instinctively, we think we want and like choices - the more the merrier. But do we really? Take mobile phones as an example: look at the successes of iPhone and BlackBerry and compare that to the relative struggles of the likes of Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
I used to have a Nokia phone and BlackBerry just for email. The last time I had to choose a Nokia was a nightmare - hundreds of phones from which to choose (or so it seemed), features I couldn't tell the difference between, a bewildering choice. In the end, I just said "I'll have the same one as everybody else".
I'm a BlackBerry kind of guy and a "power" email user. So, like my kin, I think the iPhone is a toy and it takes me 10 times longer to type anything on them. And don't get me started on their infuriating "let me show you my latest app" owners - I'm happy just with BrickBreaker.
(I jest, of course; for the record, I'm a huge Apple fan, I've used Macs since Macintosh Plus in the 80s and I've owned 6 iPods. So please, zealots, don't hunt me down!)
Nobody can deny that the iPhone has been a roaring success, and I can't help but think it's because people say "I want an iPhone" and that's the decision made. It's the same with BlackBerrys - part status symbol and part joy to use - where you've got the choice of the same one as everybody else or the slightly cheaper one or the slightly more expensive one. Easy peasy.
I'm not saying that the technology is easy, it's not. Huge amounts of R&D have been ploughed in by Apple and RIM to make their devices the market leaders they are today. The key for me is that their R&D focuses on crucial elements like the user experience and manageability/security for businesses. Not in spitting out device number 58 in your range because you grew up with Heinz and you love to tinker with variety.
I think there are lessons for everybody in the technology value chain. Manufacturers and suppliers need to make their products easier to understand. Integrators like Charterhouse need to take complicated technologies and turn them into a handful of easy-to-understand solution options. And end-users need to focus on the 2 or 3 business issues that they're trying to resolve. If we can achieve that, collectively, then we can be successful together.
