So Samsung launched a smartwatch today. But click on this picture.
Look closely and there’s something wrong. Can you see it?
I am not a watch wearer, let alone a watch-buyer, but one thing leaps out to me from this image which heads a techcrunch article today.
The screw heads aren’t lined up.
This is a piece of jewelry as well as a functional object and even I know that matters. It’s one of those little details that’s a real giveaway.
If Apple did a smartwatch, they probably wouldn’t have screws anyway, but let’s just say for a moment that they did. They would all be lined up. A real watchmaker would make a feature out of them too. It’s expected. It comes with the territory.
At JFDI.Asia we see this time and again when companies try to cross boundaries. Imagine if most software companies made a car. Sure it would come with a few wheels included. But if you wanted the full set of 4, you’d have to buy the ‘professional’ version, or wait for upgrade 3.7. For some reason we accept that in software but not in other areas of our life.
The other day Leo Shimada came by the Joyful Frog for a coffee. He founded crowdonomic.com and wisely saw from the get-go that his is a financial services company, not a tech business. When he makes a promise to customers he has to deliver from day 1 because that is our expectation. As kickstarter is rapidly finding out, a few projects that go wrong are like bad apples in a barrel – they can rot your reputation. The notion that a financial services company could launch a ‘minimum viable product’ needs close analysis … imagine buying a new kind of mortgage then finding out that not all the money came through.
I had the same conversation with a surgeon the other day. He innovates all the time but he doesn’t have the option of saying to someone: “Hey dude – I’ll give you a discount if you’ll try this new idea of mine … if the leg doesn’t stay stuck back on I’m sure we’ll get around to fixing that in version 2.0”
We make so many assumptions. When we go somewhere new, the depth of experience and tacit understanding from our established field is our strength. But it’s also our weakness. “Never assume”.